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EDITORS NOTE: This is the eighth story in a series of stories counting down the best games in the Jeff Traylor era at UTSA

Previously in the Series: HONORABLE MENTION GAMES | GAME 10 | GAME 9 | GAME 8 | GAME 7 | GAME 6 | GAME 5 | GAME 4

The third-best game in the Jeff Traylor era came on the first Friday of December in 2021 when UTSA put a bow on the magical 2021 season by beating Western Kentucky 49-41 to claim the first conference championship in program history.

UTSA was in the midst of a magical season in 2021. The Roadrunners had started 11-0 and won the Conference USA West Division over defending champs UAB. North Texas had kept UTSA from a perfect 12-0 season with a win the week before UTSA was set to host the Conference USA championship game, but that loss was used by UTSA to redirect its energy. 12-0 was off the table but the first conference championship in program history was there for the taking.

Arriving in the Alamodome that night as champions of the east division was the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, and their high-powered air-raid offense led by quarterback Bailey Zappe. Western Kentucky had started the season 1-4 including a loss to UTSA in Bowling Green but then reeled off seven straight wins after the loss to UTSA to earn the east division crown. It wasn't until the week before that WKU claimed the east by beating Marshall in West Virginia.

The Roadrunners were making their debut in the Conference USA championship game. Western Kentucky had been twice before and won in 2015 over Southern Miss and in 2016 over Louisiana Tech. Both of their previous times in the conference championship game Western Kentucky had been the hosts. This time they'd have to go on the road to an Alamodome where UTSA had won nine straight games going back to the 2020 season.

Western Kentucky got the first win of the night when they correctly called the coin toss. The Hilltoppers elected to receive the opening kickoff, and the high-powered offense was ready to go. On the Hilltoppers fifth play of the game, Zappe uncorked a 60-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Tinsley to give WKU a 7-0 lead with 14:04 left in the opening quarter.

UTSA was almost as quick to respond to the HIlltoppers. On the Roadrunners seventh play of the opening drive, Frank Harris ran in from 24 yards out to tie the score at 7-7 with 11:49 left in the first quarter.

The Hilltoppers added points on their next drive to retake the lead but it came in the form of a 33-yard field goal from Brayden Narveson at the 10:07 mark of the quarter, giving WKU a 10-7 lead. UTSA took its first lead of the evening, 14-10, on a two-yard scoring run from Sincere McCormick with 4:59 left on the first quarter clock.

Western Kentucky's next drive got into the red zone in front of the UTSA student section but appeared to stall out as time ticked down on the first quarter. The Hilltoppers were faced with a third goal and were set to try their luck on that play to start the second quarter. Traylor sensed an opportunity and called timeout with three seconds left to keep WKU in front of the student section for one more play. On third and goal, the last play of the first quarter, Zappe threw an incomplete pass. WKU would have to open the second quarter with a 34-yard field goal attempt. It was good and cut UTSA's lead to 14-13 just three seconds into the second quarter.

Nobody knew at the time but that was the closest the game would be the rest of the night. UTSA pushed its lead to eight, 21-13, on the next drive when Brendan Brady scored on a six-yard run with 11:50 left in the second quarter.

After Western Kentucky missed a 53-yard field goal on its next possession UTSA wasted little time in pushing the lead to 28-13. Sincere McCormick took the handoff on the first play of the drive and went 65 yards for a touchdown at the 9:10 mark of the second quarter.

McCormick's touchdown proved to be the last points of the second quarter. WKU and UTSA swapped punts on the next possessions before WKU's last possession of the half ended with a missed field goal with seven seconds left in the half.

UTSA builds a big lead and hangs on in the second half

UTSA carried its momentum into the third quarter. The Roadrunners first drive ended in a punt, but that punt was muffed by Western Kentucky's Jerreth Sterns at the WKU 14-yard line and the Roadrunners recovered. Two plays later the Roadrunners were up 35-13 when Harris threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Zakhari Franklin with 11:13 left in the third quarter.

Western Kentucky's poor turnover luck continued on its next possession. On second and 10 from his own 20, Zappe threw a pass that was intercepted by UTSA's Antonio Parks at the WKU 27 and returned to the WKU 17. UTSA paid off the interception on the very next play when McCormick scored on a 17-yard run with 10:16 left in the third quarter to put UTSA up 42-13. The Roadrunners appeared to be on their way to a conference coronation.

The Hilltoppers didn't get the memo. With their turnover bug kicked the Hilltoppers got back into the game with an eight-play, 66-yard drive that ended in a 12-yard pass from Zappe to Tinsley to cut UTSA"s lead to 42-20 with 8:17 left in the third.

UTSA was unable to answer when their next drive ended with a turnover on downs after McCormick was stopped for no gain on fourth and one from the WKU 47. Western Kentucky took advantage of the short yardage and drove downfield. Sterns made up for his muffed punt when he scored on a 13-yard pass from Zappe to cut UTSA's lead to 42-26 with 3:01 left in the quarter. The Hilltoppers went for two but Zappe's pass attempt fell incomplete.

The Roadrunners next drive carried the game into the fourth quarter but ended with a missed 46-yard field goal by Hunter Duplessis.

Western Kentucky took the ball at its own 29 after the miss and needed just five plays to go the 71 yards needed for a touchdown. The Hilltoppers cut UTSA's lead to 42-32 when Kye Robichaux scored on a one-yard run with 11:01 left in the fourth quarter. The lead got trimmed even more, to 42-34 when Zappe and Sterns connected to convert the two-point conversion.

UTSA was able to snap out of the offensive doldrums on its next possession. Harris and the Roadrunners went 75 yards in 10 plays and took nearly five minutes off the clock before pushing the lead to 49-34 with 6:18 to play when Harris threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to DeCorian Clark.

The Hilltoppers weren't going away. On their next drive, Western Kentucky covered 72 yards in nine plays and took 2:20 off the clock. The drive ended when Zappe threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Sterns to cut UTSA's lead to 49-40. Western Kentucky opted to go for the extra point to cut UTSA's lead to 49-41.

UTSA got the ball back with 3:58 left in the fourth quarter. If they could run out the clock they'd be champions. The Roadrunners were able to run 2:53 off the clock and made Western Kentucky burn all of its timeouts. The Roadrunners had to punt and Western Kentucky got the ball back with 1:05 left to play needing a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie.

In the October meeting of UTSA and Western Kentucky that year the Hilltoppers had gotten the ball back down six and drove downfield only for their drive to end in an interception. Now it looked like history might repeat itself. Western Kentucky fans hoped it would be a different result while UTSA fans hoped another hero would come up with an interception.

The Hilltoppers converted a fourth down early on the drive and eventually got to the UTSA 47 with seven seconds left. After Zappe threw an incomplete pass the Hilltoppers were left with a second and 10 and one second on the clock. The refs reviewed to make sure there was still time on the clock when the ball hit the ground and found it landed with one second left on the clock.

Zappe dropped back and heaved a ball downfield, hoping it could be caught by a Hilltopper in the end zone. Instead, the ball's journey ended in the hands of UTSA's Jahmal Sam who jumped up to meet the ball at the UTSA six-yard line.

Sam and the Roadrunner players immediately began to celebrate along with the third-largest crowd in Conference USA championship game history at that time (UTSA's second championship a year later would bump the 2021 crowd to the fourth-largest crowd for a C-USA championship game).

Fans and players alike gathered together on the field after the game. It was a throwback to UTSA's inaugural game in 2011 when fans stormed the field, although in 2021 the field storming was allowed. The highlight for many came when the Roadrunners lifted that conference trophy for the first time. The 2021 season had a bow on it and Jeff Traylor had his first championship as a college coach.

Next Week: Top Traylor Game Number 2

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