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EDITORS NOTE: This is the ninth in a series counting down the top 10 games of the first 10 seasons of Roadrunner football. The series will run between now and the New Year

Previously in the Top 10 Greatest Games Series: Honorable Mention Games | Greatest Game #10 | Greatest Game #9 | Greatest Game #8 | Greatest Game #7 | Greatest Game #6 | Greatest Game #5 | Greatest Game #4

The Roadrunners have now finished the 10th season of football. To celebrate the 10th season of football we have been looking back at the 10 best games in the first decade of UTSA football.

Today in our series counting down the top 10 games in program history we look at the third best game in UTSA history. It was the night in September 2017 when the Roadrunners got their first win over a power five opponent by beating Baylor on the banks of the Brazos in Waco.

UTSA entered the game 0-9 all-time against power five opponents. Baylor was in the midst of a down year in 2017 as they started 0-8 and finished 1-11 in their first year under head coach Matt Rhule. That wasn't important to Roadrunner fans. What was important was the fact that the 10th time was the charm for UTSA when it came to finally beating a power five opponent.

As the 2017 season dawned it was clear that both UTSA and Baylor were at different points on the spectrum of program success.

UTSA was entering its second season under Frank Wilson. The Roadrunners were coming off their first bowl trip and the feelings in the early stages of 2017 were that the Roadrunners would have a good chance of making it two years in a row with a bowl trip.

The game at Baylor was scheduled to be the second game of the season. That was until Hurricane Harvey hit the city of Houston and prevented the Houston Cougars from making the trip to San Antonio for the season opener.

Baylor was something of a hibernating bear. Or maybe a wounded bear. Baylor was on their third head coach in as many seasons. Art Briles had been fired after the 2015 season as a result of the sexual assault scandal that rocked Baylor. In 2016 the Bears had been led by Jim Grobe as an interim head coach. Grobe made his case for the full-time job by leading the Bears to a 7-6 record and a bowl win.

The Bears went in another direction. They hired Matt Rhule from Temple prior to the 2017 season. A week before UTSA came to town the Bears had opened their season at McClane Stadium with a 48-45 loss to Liberty.

If ever there was a time for UTSA to get their first win over a power-five opponent this was as good a time as any they could find.

Both teams punted on their first possessions of the game. On the Bears second possession of the game the Roadrunners Nate Gaines intercepted a pass from Anu Solomon. Gaines intercepted it at the UTSA 45 and returned it two yards to set UTSA up with 8:29 left in the first quarter.

The Roadrunners were unable to capitalize on the Gaines interception. UTSA drove to the Baylor 30 but had to settle for a 47-yard field goal attempt by Victor Falcon. Baylor blocked the kick to keep UTSA off the board at the 4:32 mark of the opening quarter.

That proved to be the last good chance of points in the first quarter for either team. It would remain scoreless into the second quarter. The Roadrunners and Bears traded punts to start the second quarter. On the Bears punt the Roadrunners muffed the return and Baylor recovered the fumble at the UTSA 20 yard line.

It only took Baylor one play to cover the 20 yards. Solomon threw a 20-yard touchdown pass and the Bears took a 7-0 lead with 8:33 left in the second quarter.

Undeterred, the Roadrunners mounted a 16 play, 75 yard drive that took 8:06 off the clock. UTSA quarterback Dalton Sturm ended the drive with a seven yard touchdown pass to Josh Stewart. Falcon added the extra point to tie the score at 7-7 with 0:27 left in the first half.

UTSA scored on their first drive of the third quarter. It didn't take as long as the second quarter drive. Sturm and the Roadrunners went 78 yards in three plays. The third play was a 29-yard touchdown pass from Sturm to Kerry Thomas, Jr. to give UTSA a 14-7 lead at the 13:35 mark of the third quarter.

That ended up being the last points scored in the third quarter. The Roadrunners went into the fourth quarter with the lead and possession of the ball. The drive that began near the end of the third quarter ended up with a Victor Falcon field goal at 14:12 in the fourth quarter.

UTSA held that 17-7 lead for the next 11:32 of the game. Baylor cut into the deficit with a 20-yard field goal with 2:40 left to play. UTSA went three and out on their next drive and with Baylor calling its three timeouts only 32 seconds elapsed off the clock. The Bears went back on offense at their own 39 yard line, down seven points, with 2:08 left in the game.

Baylor never made it past their own 39. Four straight incomplete passes gave UTSA the ball back and the chance to run out the final 1:38. The Roadrunners did just that and left Waco with their first win over a power-five opponent.

It turned out that 2017 would be a forgettable year for Baylor. The Roadrunners had dropped Baylor to 0-2 on the season. Baylor went on to lose six more in a row before getting their first win over fellow Big 12 pillow fighters Kansas. After the win over Kansas the Bears ended 2017 with three straight losses to finish 1-11.

For the Roadrunners the win over Baylor jump started a 3-0 start to the season. UTSA beat Southern a week later in the home opener. A week after that UTSA went up to San Marcos for the first time and threw several parties in the Texas State end zones on their way to a 44-14 win.

After the 3-0 start UTSA fell in back-to-back close games to Southern Miss and North Texas before going 3-3 in the final six games to finish 6-5. The early season hopes of a second bowl trip in as many years would be dashed in the cold of December after UTSA was one of three teams with six wins who didn't make a bowl game.

In terms of the three-game series with Baylor the 2017 game proved to be the high point for the Roadrunners. In 2018 Baylor went into the Alamodome and came away with a 37-20 win over the Roadrunners. In 2019 the Bears exorcised their demons from 2017 and bible-thumped the Roadrunners 63-14.

Everybody remembers the first time they beat a power-five opponent. UTSA had come close before against Arizona in 2014 and Arizona State in 2016. On September 9, 2017 it all came together for the Roadrunners on the north bank of the Brazos River in Waco.

It is safe to say that if UTSA had beaten a non-power five team 17-10 on September 9, 2017 it would not have made the top-10 greatest games list. But because of what had come before and what came after in terms of games against power-five foes the win over Baylor, the first win over a power-five, has a place in the top-10 list.

Depending on how the next victory over a power-five plays out for the Roadrunners it is likely that the win over Baylor will remain one of the 10 greatest games in program history for some time to come.

UTSA will have their next chance at a power five to start the 2021 season when they are scheduled to travel to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. If they win that it will be an enjoyable trip for the Roadrunners and the fanbase. It probably won't feel as sweet as the win over Baylor did.

TOMORROW: Game Number 2: UTSA beats a rival in a double-overtime thriller

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