In 2011 the UTSA Roadrunners football team took the field for the first time. The Roadrunners closed out the month of October by hosting Georgia State in the Alamodome
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EDITORS NOTE: This is the eighth installment of a story series looking back at the 2011 football season.
Back in the Alamodome after a bye week
After losing to UC-Davis on October 15 the Roadrunners had to wait two weeks for their next game. The bye week of October 22 was the first week off for the Roadrunners in the 2011 season.
On October 29 the Roadrunners returned to the Alamodome. There they would welcome the Georgia State Panthers.
Georgia State was in their second season of football. In 2010 they had gone 6-5. The 2011 version of Georgia State faced a tougher schedule and entered the game on October 29 with a 2-5 record. A week before traveling to San Antonio the Panthers had beaten South Alabama in overtime.
The trip to San Antonio was the Panthers' second visit to Texas in 2011. On September 24, they had visited the University of Houston where they lost to the Cougars, 56-0.
UTSA also entered the game with a 2-5 record. While Georgia State had snapped their losing streak a week earlier, UTSA was in the midst of a three-game losing streak. The game against Georgia State would provide the Roadrunners a chance to snap their streak. The question on the minds of most of the 25,977 fans who entered the Alamodome was would the streak be snapped.
The Roadrunners fall behind early
The game between the Roadrunners and Panthers began at 12:36 p.m. UTSA won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
Kenny Harrison caught the kickoff at the UTSA seven and returned it to the UTSA 47. The Roadrunner's first drive went 43 yards in nine plays before it ended with Georgia State intercepting an Eric Soza pass at the Georgia State 10 yard line.
Georgia State was unable to take advantage of the turnover. The Panthers had to punt the ball away. UTSA then had to punt on their next possession.
The Panthers second possession of the game brought their first chance at getting points on the board. Georgia State started the drive at the UTSA 35 after a 14-yard punt return. The Panthers only managed three yards and had to send out the field goal unit but their 49-yard field goal attempt was wide left.
Both teams punted one more time before the first quarter ended scoreless. The second quarter would provide points for both teams.
Georgia State's first drive of the second quarter began at the 10:39 mark with the ball at their own three yard line. The Panthers drove 97 yards in eight plays. The eighth play of the drive ended up being a 24-yard rushing touchdown. With 6:28 left in the second quarter the Roadrunners found themselves trailing 7-0.
UTSA came close to getting on the board on their next drive. Sean Ianno was brought on to attempt a 50-yard field goal. It was no good and with 5:02 left in the second quarter the Roadrunners were still searching for their first points.
Georgia State only needed three plays on their next drive to score their second touchdown. The third play of the drive was a 54-yard touchdown pass that gave the Panthers a 14-0 lead with 3:44 left in the second quarter.
The Roadrunners got their first points of the day on their next drive. UTSA would go 48 yards in 10 plays and take 3:38 off the clock before Ianno converted a 30-yard field goal with six seconds left in the half.
"We didn’t have a lot of rhythm on offense in the first half and didn’t do much scoring, UTSA Head Coach Larry Coker said after the game. "The guys fought hard and stayed the course."
A program first and a much needed victory
The third quarter began with Georgia State receiving the kickoff. The Panthers opening drive ended when their field goal attempt from 47-yards out was blocked by UTSA. It proved to be the best chance either team would have for points in the third quarter. The rest of the third quarter was marked by both teams punting back and forth.
UTSA's second possession in the third quarter would lead to their first touchdown. It happened a minute into the fourth quarter when Chris Johnson scored on a nine-yard run. The Roadrunners went for two and converted when Eric Soza threw a completion to Brandon Freeman. There was 14:00 left in regulation and UTSA had cut the deficit to 14-11.
Georgia State got a chance to add to their lead at the 1:59 mark of the fourth quarter. The Panthers set up for a 45-yard field goal but once again the kick sailed wide left of the uprights.
The Roadrunners took over with less than two minutes to play and needing three points to tie the score at 14 or six points to likely win the game. UTSA certainly tried for the win but the offense stalled at the Panthers 22-yard line with 24 seconds left in regulation. Ianno came on to try a 39-yard field goal. The kick was straight through the uprights and the score was tied at 14-14.
There wasn't enough time for Georgia State to run much offense and so both teams settled in for overtime.
For both teams it would be the second overtime game of the 2011 season. Both of their previous overtime games had come against South Alabama.
UTSA won the overtime coin toss and elected to go on defense first. Georgia State's possession lost six yards in three plays and the Panthers had to trust their kicker with a 48-yard attempt. Once again the Panthers missed a field goal. UTSA would get the ball knowing a field goal would win the game.
The Roadrunners got the ball into Sean Ianno-range and Ianno stepped up to kick the Roadrunners to victory.
"Sean Ianno had one blocked against South Alabama but today he hit three to win the football game," Coker said after the game.
It was not only the first overtime victory in program history but also the first time UTSA had come from behind to win a game. UTSA had also snapped a three game losing streak. The Roadrunners would have two weeks to prepare for a road trip to McNeese State on November 12.
As far as overtime games were concerned Georgia State would play another overtime game a week later. UTSA would not play another game that went to overtime until the 2015 season. Of course all that was still unknown on October 29, 2011. On that day UTSA was 3-5 and had two games left in the inaugural season.
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