In 2011 the UTSA Roadrunners football team took the field for the first time. The Roadrunners seventh game involved a trip to California to face the UC-Davis Aggies
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the seventh installment of a story series looking back at the 2011 football season.
On the road again
By the middle of October 2011 the Roadrunner football team had played six games. After winning the inaugural game the Roadrunners had gone 1-4 in the next five games.
The seventh game of the season was scheduled to take place in Davis, California on October 15. There the Roadrunners would play against the UC-Davis Aggies.
UC-Davis were members of the Football Championship Subdivision and playing in their final year as members of the Great West Conference. In 2012 they would move to the Big Sky Conference. The Aggies had been playing football since 1915 but only moved up to the FCS level in 2004.
As the Roadrunners and Aggies prepared to meet there were some similarities between the two. Both teams had lost two games in a row and both teams had lost to a team from a level below FCS.
UTSA entered having lost to Sam Houston and South Alabama in back-to-back weeks. UC-Davis had lost to Division II-member Humboldt State, 23-17, on October 8. The Aggies had also lost at Hawaii on September 24. The Aggies had one win and four losses entering the game against UTSA. On September 17, UC-Davis had beaten San Diego 31-3. That win had come after losses to Arizona State and Montana State to open the season.
Through the first two road games of the season UTSA had shown improvement but the Roadrunners were still searching for the first road victory in program history. There was hope among the fanbase listening to the game on radio back in San Antonio that this could be the saturday afternoon that UTSA got its first road win. It would all be decided on the field at Aggie Stadium.
An early bright spot
The game between UTSA and UC-Davis kicked off at 2:06 p.m. Pacific Time (4:06 p.m. in San Antonio). The Aggies won the opening coin toss and deferred their choice to the second half. UTSA would be the recipients of the opening kickoff.
Kenny Harrison caught the opening kickoff at the UTSA 4 and returned it 27 yards. That proved to be more yards than the Roadrunner offense would get in their first three plays. After only gaining four yards on three plays the Roadrunners had to punt a little over a minute into the game.
UC-Davis faired a little better on their first drive but after getting into UTSA territory the Aggies had to punt. UC-Davis managed to down the punt at the UTSA 1 yard line.
UTSA began its second drive of the afternoon with 8:54 left in the first quarter. Eric Soza and the offense drove 88 yards before the drive stalled out on the Aggie eight yard line. Sean Ianno stepped up and converted a 28-yard field goal with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter.
The Roadrunners held that lead until the 7:31 mark of the second quarter. That was when the Aggies took their first lead of the day with an 18-yard touchdown pass.
UC-Davis added to their lead less than two minutes later. The Aggies took advantage of a Roadrunner turnover to set up their second score. A 42-yard field goal gave UC-Davis a 10-3 lead with 5:54 left in the second quarter.
UTSA made it to the UC-Davis 21 on the next drive but instead of trying a field goal went for it on fourth and three. The Roadrunners couldn't keep the drive alive and turned the ball over on downs at the 2:41 mark of the second quarter.
The Aggies increased their lead to 17-3 soon after. UC-Davis went 81 yards in four plays. The fourth play was a four-yard touchdown run with 53 seconds remaining in the second quarter. UTSA had a chance to cut into the deficit with a 49-yard field goal attempt by Sean Ianno in the last second of the quarter. Ianno's kick was no good.
Another loss on the road
UC Davis opened the second half with a 17-3 lead and the ball. The Aggies had to punt on their first drive of the third quarter. It appeared the Roadrunners might have a chance to cut into the deficit.
It was a short lived chance. Kam Jones fumbled the punt and UC-Davis recovered at the UTSA 31 yard line. Five plays later the Aggies increased their lead to 24-3 with a four-yard run at the 8:29 mark of the third quarter.
UTSA tried for another fourth-down conversion on the next drive but once again it was unsuccessful. UC-Davis took over at their own 34 yard line with 4:55 left in the third quarter.
The Aggies covered the 66 yards between them and the endzone in three plays to go ahead 31-3.
UC Davis made it 38 unanswered with a 21-yard passing touchdown at the 13:29 mark of the fourth quarter. It would prove to be the final points of the afternoon for the Aggies.
UTSA scored on their next drive to cut the deficit to 38-10. Soza and Brandon Freeman connected on a 59-yard touchdown pass with 12:51 left in the fourth quarter.
The Aggies fumbled on the first play of their next drive. UTSA took advantage of a drive starting on the UC-Davis 27-yard line. Soza completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Harrison at the 10:12 mark of the final quarter. Ianno added the extra point to make the score 38-17.
The game would end with UTSA on the short end of the 38-17 scoreline. The Roadrunners had experienced another game on the road that got out of their control early. UTSA was 0-3 on the road with just one more road game remaining in the 2011 season.
UTSA returned to San Antonio on a three-game losing streak and with a 2-5 record. The Roadrunners would get two weeks to prepare for their next opponent. Georgia State would be visiting the Alamodome on October 29.
Among the many things known as October rolled along was that the Roadrunners were a long way off from being a complete team. There was a lot of learning still to be done.
NEXT WEEK: The Roadrunners get an overtime victory
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
