In 2011 the UTSA Roadrunners football team took the field for the first time. The fifth game of the season was the Roadrunners first road trip in Texas as they were at Sam Houston State
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the fifth installment of a story series looking back at the 2011 football season.
A first Texas road trip and the first ranked opponent
UTSA has played 21 games outside of the Alamodome in the state of Texas since the first season of 2011. The most recent was the First Responder Bowl last December in Dallas.
In those 21 Lone Star State contests played outside the city of San Antonio the Roadrunners are 11-10. It all began with the first texas road trip in the fall of 2011.
On October 1, 2011 the Roadrunners were 2-2 through their first four games as a football program. UTSA had only played one game away from San Antonio, a loss at Southern Utah on September 17. There was excitement in San Antonio as September turned to October. The Roadrunners would be playing at a fellow Texas school for the first time.
The first Texas road trip was Huntsville where the Sam Houston Bearkats were awaiting. It was the first of a home-and-home series that was originally scheduled to have Sam Houston visit San Antonio in 2012 (That was later postponed to 2015 after UTSA joined the WAC in 2012. To this day Sam Houston has not made the return trip to San Antonio).
Not only would the game in Huntsville be the first road game in Texas for UTSA it would also be the Roadrunners first game against a ranked opponent. Sam Houston entered the game with UTSA as the number 16 team in the Football Championship Subdivision.
"We are going to have to play well in all three phases from here on out," UTSA Head Coach Larry Coker said in the days before the Sam Houston game. "We don't have a lot of margin for error."
The Bearkats were 3-0 on the season. A week before facing UTSA, Sam Houston had gone to Albuquerque and defeated FBS-member New Mexico 48-45 in overtime.
"Sam Houston is a really good team," Coker said. "They showed they were the beter team against New Mexico."
A week after playing UTSA, Sam Houston was scheduled to face their rivals Stephen F. Austin in Houston. The Roadrunners were catching the Bearkats in a week between a big win and a big rivalry game. It might have been the best time to catch Sam Houston.
UTSA had already learned in 2011 that any team could beat a higher caliber team on any given week. The Roadrunners went to Huntsville with a fanbase cautiously hoping that UTSA could shock the FCS world and knock off a ranked opponent for the first time ever.
It was all to be decided on the field at Bowers Stadium on October 1, 2011.
The Roadrunners arrive in Huntsville
Kickoff between UTSA and Sam Houston was scheduled for 6 p.m. on October 1. Sam Houston State was hosting Boy Scout night on October 1. 200 boy scouts helped raise the flag before the game and then would be camping out at Bowers Stadium after the game. It was also Greek night in Hunstville as the Bearkats celebrated their fraternities and sororities charitable efforts in the community.
A boisterous crowd of 6,889--including a strong contingent of Roadrunner fans--made their way into Bowers Stadium for the first football contest between two schools whose other sports were longtime Southland Conference rivals.
The Roadrunners caught a break before the game when the Bearkats regular starting quarterback, Brian Bell, was benched in pregame with concussion-like symptons.
UTSA received the opening kickoff. Erik Brown caught the kickoff at the UTSA three and made it 10 yards before fumbling the ball. Sam Houston recovered. Just nine seconds into the game and UTSA had lost its momentum.
Sam Houston was unable to take advantage of the short field. The Bearkats only picked up two yards and had to try a 29-yard field goal. The field goal attempt was no good and UTSA could breathe a little easier. The score was still 0-0 with 13:27 left in the first quarter.
Both defenses kept the offenses from getting much going. The Roadrunners had to punt on their next two possessions. Sam Houston had to punt on their next possession and their third posession of the game--and first scoring opportunity--was cut short by a Steven Kurfehs interception at the UTSA one yard line.
UTSA had to punt on the next possession. Sam Houston also sent out the punter on its next drive. UTSA started its next drive at the Roadrunner 12 yard line. Eric Soza threw incomplete passes on first and second down. On third down he felt pressure while in the endzone and threw an incomplete pass that was ruled intentional grounding.
It was the first safety called against UTSA. Sam Houston had been given a 2-0 lead with 2:14 left in the first quarter.
The second quarter was much like the first. Both defenses kept the offenses from getting much going and the punters saw a lot of action. UTSA's third drive of the second quarter ended when Soza's pass was intercepted by Sam Houston at the UTSA 41 and returned to the Bearkat 32.
Sam Houston made UTSA pay for that second turnover of the night. The Bearkats scored on a two-yard pass from Richard Sincere to Keyshawn Hall. UTSA managed to block the extra point but Sam Houston had an 8-0 lead with 1:33 left in the half.
Soza threw his second interception of the night on the Roadrunners next possession but Sam Houston only had time to run two plays. The first half ended with UTSA trailing Sam Houston 8-0.
The search for a road win continues
Sam Houston opened the second half with the ball. The Bearkats first drive ended with a punt from the UTSA 43 yard line. Sam Houston was able to down the punt at the UTSA six yard line.
UTSA were beneficiaries of a defensive pass interference on first down and so the ball moved to the UTSA 21. The Roadrunners drive made it to the Sam Houston 39 yard line but it ended in a fumble that was recovered by Sam Houston and returned 17 yards to the UTSA 44. A penalty against Sam Houston cost the Bearkats 15 yards and their offense instead had to start at their own 41 with 8:58 left in the third quarter.
The Bearkats offense only needed one play to cover the 59-yards between them and the endzone. Sam Houston's Torrance Williams ended up with the ball on a reverse and worked his way through the UTSA defense for the touchdown. This time the Bearkats got the extra point and increased their lead to 15-0 with 8:43 left in the third quarter. Sam Houston had scored 13 points off of UTSA turnovers.
UTSA had to punt on their next drive but Sam Houston fumbled on the punt return. The Roadrunners recovered and got another chance at the 6:45 mark of the third quarter.
Soza and the offense used up all 6:45 that was left in the third quarter. When the quarter ended the Roadrunners were sitting at the Bearkat one yard line with second and goal. UTSA had been in possession of the ball for 10:37 of the third quarter but trailed 15-0.
It only took four seconds into the fourth quarter for UTSA to get on the board. Soza ran in from one yard out. Sean Ianno added the extra point. With 14:56 left in regulation the Roadrunners trailed 15-7.
Seven minutes later the Bearkats made the score 22-7 when Tim Flanders scored on a 10-yard run. There was 7:33 left in the fourth quarter but the Roadrunners were running out of chances.
UTSA had two more chances it turned out. The next chance ended with a turnover on downs and the last chance ended when Soza threw an interception. UTSA came up short in Huntsville but they had been in the game against a ranked opponent from beginning until the final minutes. There was reason to feel positive about the program going forward.
"It's encouraging," Coker said after the game. "We gave ourselves a chance to win the game. We weren't soundly outplayed at all.”
The UTSA game was one of the closest games Sam Houston played against an FCS opponent until the 2011 FCS playoffs. The Bearkats eventually finished 2011 with a 14-1 record. Their only loss came in the FCS National Championship Game to North Dakota State.
That was all for the future. As the teams left the field of Bowers Stadium on October 1, UTSA was 2-3. Next up for the Roadrunners would be game in the Alamodome against South Alabama, another school that had recently started football.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
