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The West can be won at home

UTSA hosts UAB in the final home game of the regular season this weekend. A Roadrunner win would be the 11th of the season and also give the Roadrunners their first ever west division championship. 

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UTSA has only beaten UAB once. That was in the 2013 season. If the Roadrunners win on Saturday it will be the biggest win so far in program history
UTSA has only beaten UAB once. That was in the 2013 season. If the Roadrunners win on Saturday it will be the biggest win so far in program history (Burk Frey)

The magical 2021 season for the UTSA Roadrunners is nearing its completion. This Saturday marks the Roadrunners final regular season home game in the Alamodome this season. If the Roadrunners want to have one more game in the Alamodome--the conference championship game--they will have to beat the team that has won the Conference USA West Division three years in a row. That team is the UAB Blazers.

To be the best in the west the Roadrunners will have to beat the best in the west. A win on Saturday would also give the Roadrunners their 11th win of the season and allow the Roadrunners to finish 6-0 at home for the first time ever.

Just getting to 10-0 has put the Roadrunners in a historic club among the 12 FBS schools in Texas. UTSA is just the ninth school among the 12 to start 10-0. With the 10-wins this season UTSA joins the other 11 Texas schools at the FBS level to have at least one 10-win season.

It won't be easy for the Roadrunners to reach the 11-0 club, but then, aside from the middle portion of the season, most of the games for UTSA this season have been tough contests. This one with UAB will be the toughest yet for the Roadrunners. There are a lot of similarities between UTSA and UAB on and off the football field.

Both UTSA and UAB are located in major cities at the southwest corners of major metropolitan triangles. To the north of Birmingham is Nashville and to the east is Atlanta. Those three form the southeastern triangle. In San Antonio's case it has Dallas to the north and Houston to the east as the points on the Texas metropolitan triangle. There is a slight age range between the cities of San Antonio and Birmingham. While San Antonio has been a city since 1718, Birmingham is a comparable youngster having only been founded in 1871.

Another similarity between UTSA and UAB is the fact that both were officially established in June of 1969. UTSA was born on June 5, 1969. UAB had existed as an extension of the main Alabama campus starting in 1936 but became a four-year institution known as the University of Alabama at Birmingham on June 16, 1969. So officially UTSA is just 11 days older than UAB as a university.

It took awhile for both schools to field athletic programs and even longer to start football. UAB began playing sports in 1978. UTSA started in 1981. In 1991 the Blazers football team began. UTSA football began 20 years later in 2011.

UAB football played at the Division III level for the 1991 and 92 seasons. From 1993-95 the Blazers played as FCS Independents. In 1996 UAB moved its football program up to the Division I FBS level as an independent from 1996-98. In 1999 UAB joined Conference USA. In two years UAB will be trading in its C-USA membership for American Athletic Conference membership with UTSA and four others.

UTSA and UAB first became conference mates in 2013 but only played once (A UTSA win in San Antonio) before UAB decided to end its football program after the 2014 season. The demise of the UAB football program was short-lived as the Birmingham community rallied to save football. By the summer of 2015 the Blazers football team was back and in 2017 they played their first game since the end of the 2014 season.

Historically UAB has been an ok football team. The Blazers have an all-time record of 159-172-2. Since the start of the 2011 season UAB is 55-53. Since their rebirth in 2017 the Blazers are 41-19.

UAB leads the all-time series with UTSA, 4-1. UTSA won the inaugural meeting back in 2013 when UAB was in the C-USA East Division. In 2017, UAB moved to the west division and hasn't lost to UTSA since. UAB has also made itself at home in the penthouse of the division since 2018.

It will now be up to the Roadrunners to try and evict the Blazers from the top of the west division.

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UTSA and UAB: The Young Schools
Southern Miss UTSA

Year school was founded

1969

1969

First year of football

1991

2011

First year in current conference

1999

2013

Record since 2011

55-53

62-66

Record last season

6-3 (3-1 C-USA) Gasparilla Bowl canceled

7-5 (5-3 C-USA)

Lost First Responder Bowl

Last Week

11.13.21 W 21-14 at Marshall

11.13.21 W 27-17 v. So. Miss

Next Week

11.26.21 v. Louisiana Tech 1 p.m.

11.27.21 at North Texas 1 p.m.

Many things are on the line in the Alamodome on Saturday

It is probably safe to say that when the season began this game between UTSA and UAB was circled on the calendar of both fanbases. Especially after last season's race ended with UAB as the division champions by virtue of its head-to-head victory over UTSA last October in Birmingham. That win allowed UAB to have a better win percentage, despite playing fewer games--and having few conference wins--than UTSA in 2020.

UTSA has certainly made it known that they are a forced to be reckoned with on their way to a 10-0 record. The Roadrunners have outscored opponents 386-190 through the first 10 games. That is an average of 38.6-19.0 per game.

The Roadrunners have set a new school record for points scored in a season with at least two games remaining. The previous high was 379 set back in 2016. The 190 given up would be the second fewest in program history if the season ended today. UTSA has also had two shutouts this season after having none in the first 10 seasons. If they get a third shutout it certainly won't be this weekend.

UAB enters with a 7-3 record. The Blazers three losses have come to Georgia, Liberty and Rice. The loss to Rice was the only shocking result of their first 10 games this season. Through their first 10 games this season UAB is outscoring opponents 280-215 which averages out to 28.0-21.5 per game.

Both teams have strong offenses. UTSA has a total of 4462 yards on offense (446.2 per game). The Roadrunners have thrown for 2570 yards (257 per game) and run for 1892 yards. UAB's offense has 3810 yards of offense (381 per game). The Blazers have 2131 yards passing (213.1 per game) and 1679 yards rushing (167.9 per game).

On defense the Roadrunners have given up 3231 yards (323.1 per game). The Roadrunner opponents have thrown for 2332 yards (233.2 per game). Even with the weirdness of last week when Southern Miss had their star running back at quarterback, the Roadrunner defense has given up 899 yards rushing through 10 games (89.9 per game). UAB's defense has given up 3202 yards (320.2 per game). Opponents of the Blazers have thrown for 2103 yards (210.3 per game) and run for 1099 yards (109.9 per game).

INDIVIDUAL STARS

Frank Harris will enter Saturday's game needing just one passing touchdown to take sole possession of the school record. Harris is currently sitting on 20 touchdown passes which is tied with Eric Soza (2012) and Dalton Sturm (2016). The 20 touchdowns by Harris are tied for 23rd among all quarterbacks at the FBS level. Harris has completed 190 of 284 pass attempts for 2306 yards. Harris has thrown five interceptions this season.

UAB's leading quarterback is Dylan Hopkins. Hopkins has completed 106 of his 170 passing attempts for 1723 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hopkins has also thrown four interceptions.

Both teams boast excellent running backs. Sincere McCormick leads the Roadrunners with 1150 yards and 11 touchdowns on 230 carries. UAB is led in the run game by Dewayne McBride. McBride has 945 yards and 10 touchdowns on 145 carries.

UTSA's receiving corps is led by the trio of Zakhari Franklin, Joshua Cephus and DeCorian Clark. Cephus holds the school record for receptions in a season with 59. Cephus has 682 yards and six touchdowns. Cephus's yards are 12 yards off of second most receiving yards in a season in UTSA history. The most yards in a season is the 750 from Franklin this season. Franklin has 750 yards on 58 catches and eight touchdowns. Franklin needs one touchdown to set a new school record for touchdowns in a season. Clark has 33 catches for 485 yards and five touchdowns.

UAB's leading receiver this year is Gerrit Prince. Prince has caught 26 passes for 571 yards and seven touchdowns. Trea Shropshire has caught 21 passes for 540 yards and four touchdowns.

SPECIAL TEAMS AND TURNOVERS

Both UTSA and UAB have had to call on their punter this season. Lucas Dean has had two games where he didn't attempt a punt this season. In his eight games of action Dean has 33 punts for 1464 yards (44.36 per punt). Dean has had six punts go for 50+ yards and 14 punts downed inside the opponents 20-yardline.

UAB's punter is Kyle Greenwell. Greenwell has 47 punts for 2030 yards (43.2 yards per punt). Greenwell has had nine punts go for 50+ yards and 14 punts downed inside the opponents 20-yardline.

On the other side of things UTSA's Sheldon Jones has returned 20 punts for 262 yards and a touchdown. UAB's Thomas Starling has returned eight punts for 71 yards.

When it comes to field goals both teams have good kickers. Hunter Duplessis has made 18-of-20 attempts this season. Duplessis is one field goal away from tying the school record for makes in a season. Everett Ornstein accounts for a made field goal on his only attempt this season for the Roadrunners. UAB's kicker is Matt Quinn. Quinn has made nine of his 14 field goal attempts this season.

On the defensive side of things both teams are on the plus side of turnover differential. UTSA has a plus-11 turnover differential. The Roadrunners have nine interceptions on defense to five interceptions thrown by the Roadrunnner offense. UTSA has recovered 11 fumbles on defense and lost four fumbles on offense.

UAB has a plus-two turnover differential. The Blazers defense has nine interceptions and recovered six fumbles. On offense UAB has thrown seven interceptions and lost six fumbles.

UTSA last hosted UAB in October 2019. The Roadrunners lost that game 33-14.
UTSA last hosted UAB in October 2019. The Roadrunners lost that game 33-14. (Burk Frey)

Prediction time

This Saturday is the final regular season game of 2021 in the Alamodome. If the Roadrunners want to get the chance to play another home game on December 3 and host the conference championship game they will have to play a complete game against UAB.

UTSA has played more complete games than not this season. Add to that an Alamodome that has been getting more and more raucous as the season goes along and the ingredients for a great season has been there for the Roadrunners.

At this point the Roadrunners have the feeling of a team of destiny but standing in the way of that destiny is perhaps the best team they have faced in more than a month. This game will be a heavyweight fight. UTSA will be out to prove themselves after the close win over Southern Miss last week. This is the best chance the Roadrunners have had to beat the Blazers since the boys from Birmingham restarted their program.

These Roadrunners will take that chance and keep the magical season moving along. But it won't be easy.

My pick: UTSA 31 UAB 24

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way

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