As the Roadrunners prepare to finish their 10th season of football we look back at the top 10 games in the first 10 seasons. Today the 5th best game, when UTSA beat Houston in the Cougars inaugural game at their new stadium.
Free 30-Days | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
EDITORS NOTE: This is the seventh 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
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 fifth best game in UTSA history. It was the night in August of 2014 when UTSA traveled east on I-10 to take on the Houston Cougars in a Friday game televised on ESPN2. The Cougars were opening their new on-campus stadium.
It was the second meeting in as many years for the Roadrunners and the Cougars. In 2013 the Cougars had beaten the Roadrunners, 59-28, in San Antonio. In 2014 the Roadrunners were out for revenge and to spoil the grand opening of the new Cougar Den.
The Leadup to the Game
It's safe to say that the 2014 season opener was highly anticipated by both the UTSA and Houston fanbases. The Roadrunners were coming off a 2013 season where they went 7-5 and 6-2 in conference. Eric Soza had graduated but hopes were high with Tucker Carter set to be the heir at quarterback.
Houston also had reason to be excited. The game against UTSA on Friday August 29, 2014 marked the opening game of the Cougars new on campus stadium, named TDECU Stadium. TDECU Stadium was built in 18 months on the footprint of the Cougars former stadium, Robertson Stadium which stood from 1942-2012.
The Cougars also entered the 2014 season coming off a 2013 in which they went 8-5 and 5-3 in their first year in the American Athletic Conference.
Houston was led by Tony Levine in his third year leading the Cougars. The Cougars offensive coordinator was Travis Bush, who had that role with UTSA in 2011 before being hired as running backs coach at Houston prior to the 2012 season.
The inaugural game at TDECU Stadium saw a packed house, including a packed section the northwest corner of the stadium set aside for UTSA fans. The total attendance was announced as 40,755. It marked the largest crowd for a football game on campus in U of H history. It remains the fourth largest crowd in the history of TDECU Stadium.
Most of those 40,755 who attended would not be leaving in joy as UTSA jumped on the Cougars early and never trailed in a 27-7 win. It was quite a performance by the Roadrunners before a national TV audience on ESPN U.
What happened in the game
UTSA won the opening toss and deferred to the second half. The sellout crowd was boisterous as the Roadrunners kicked off to the Cougars to open the new stadium. The Cougars had to punt on their first drive. UTSA also had to punt on their first drive. It took a while for both teams offenses to get going as UTSA and Houston traded fumbles early in the first quarter.
The Roadrunners got on the board first with a three yard touchdown run by David Glasco II with 6:50 left in the first quarter. That scoring play came thanks to Houston having a bad snap on a fourth down play. Even though the Cougars fell on the ball it meant the Roadrunners took over at the Cougar three yard line.
UTSA held that 7-0 lead for the rest of the first quarter and much of the second quarter. Glasco II made it 14-0 with 42 seconds left in the second quarter when he scored from two yards out.
The third quarter began with the Roadrunners receiving the kick. UTSA would start their drive at their own 40 after a 27 yard kick return by Jarveon Williams. The Roadrunners drove 60 yards down the field in 13 plays and took 6:53 off the clock. Williams added the third touchdown of the night when he scored on a run from 11 yards out with 8:07 left in the third quarter.
UTSA would add to the lead later in the third quarter. Sean Ianno added a 26-yard field goal with 1:15 on the clock to put the Roadrunners up 24-0.
In the fourth quarter, Ianno added a 30 yard field goal with 4:04 left to put UTSA up 27-0. The Cougars would score on their next drive to give the game its final score of 27-7 and prevent the Roadrunners from shutting out an opponent for the first time in program history. The late touchdown also allowed Houston to avoid its first shutout loss since a 48-0 loss to Texas in September 2000.
Aside from giving up a late touchdown, the Roadrunners defense kept the Cougars from gaining anything positive. UTSA set a school record with six takeaways. In all of 2013 the Cougars had only had 18 takeaways in 13 games. Houston finished the night with negative-26 yards rushing and 234 yards passing.
What happened after the game
There were many ramifications from the game for both teams. Houston would finish 2014 with an 8-5 record but only 4-3 at home. After 2014 the Cougars didn't lose a home game again until 2017.
The Roadrunners seemed to be on cloud nine, starting 2014 1-0 after going 8-4 and 7-5 in the two previous seasons. A week after the win over Houston the Roadrunners hosted Arizona in another nationally televised game. UTSA nearly pulled off the upset of Arizona but lost 26-23.
UTSA eventually finished 2014 with a 4-8 record as injuries to the quarterback position led to the Roadrunners inability to find any consistency. By the end of the year the Roadrunners found their quarterback of the future in Dalton Sturm.
At the end of 2014 the Cougars fired Tony Levine as head coach and entered into the Tom Herman era. Levine switched professions and became owner of Chick-fil-a franchises in the Houston area.
This remains the last time the Roadrunners and Cougars met on a football field. A game between the two was scheduled to be the 2017 opener in the Alamodome but Hurricane Harvey caused the cancelation of that game.
What makes this a top 10 game
This game will hold a special place in the Roadrunner fanbase for as long as TDECU Stadium is home to the Houston Cougars. Forever it will say under "First game at TDECU Stadium": UTSA 27 Houston 7.
After the first three seasons it seemed everything was coming together for UTSA in the fourth season. The Roadrunners had come just 64 seconds away from shutting out an opponent for the first time in school history. Like the kickoff return touchdown, a defensive shutout remains as elusive as Bigfoot for the Roadrunners.
With this also being the most recent meeting between the two schools UTSA continues to hold bragging rights over Houston. The third meeting between the two, whenever that comes will mark as something of a rubber match, even though by then the competitors from the first two will have long hung up the pads.
Houston fans might not have looked fondly on that inaugural game at TDECU Stadium but it marked the beginning of the end of the Tony Levine era there. Within a year the Cougars were led by Tom Herman and beating Florida State in a New Years Six bowl.
To this day though, some UTSA fans still fondly call the Cougars stadium "TDEC-UTSA Stadium".
TOMORROW: Game Number 4: UTSA comes close to its first bowl win
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
