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EDITORS NOTE: This is the seventh 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

The fifth-best game in the Jeff Traylor era came in UTSA's final game as a member of Conference USA before its departure to the American Conference.

It was the first Friday of December 2022, and UTSA hoped to celebrate a second straight Conference USA championship by beating rivals North Texas. The Roadrunners had earned the right to host the Conference USA Championship with an 8-0 record in conference play that included a come-from-behind win over North Texas in October of 2022.

That North Texas was the opponent in the conference championship game was in large part due to the conference realignment that would lead UTSA and North Texas into the American just a few months after meeting in the Alamodome.

In past years Conference USA was divided into two divisions with the division champions reaching the conference championship game. It was this system that led to UTSA facing east champions Western Kentucky (WKU) in the Alamodome in 2021. The departures of Marshall, Old Dominion, and Southern Miss before the 2022 season led to the conference going to single-table standing and the top two teams in the standings meeting in the conference championship game.

North Texas and WKU finished tied for second in the standings with 6-2 records, but the Mean Green earned their spot in the conference championship game by virtue of a head-to-head win over WKU, 40-13 a week after losing to UTSA in the Alamodome.

The game between UTSA and UNT in the Conference Championship was the 11th meeting all-time between the two schools. The previous 10 games had been split 5-5 with UTSA holding a 4-1 record against the Mean Green in the Alamodome. North Texas had outscored UTSA 274-262 in the first 10 games of the series but in the five games in the Alamodome UTSA had outscored UNT 166-112.

While UTSA was looking to repeat as Conference USA champions, North Texas was looking to win its first conference championship since the 2004 season when the Mean Green won the Sun Belt. North Texas was 0-1 in Conference USA championships after losing to Florida Atlantic in 2017.

With all that build-up, it was left to the two teams to play the game and see who would be the ones walking out of Conference USA as champions.

North Texas won the toss and deferred their choice to the second half. UTSA received the opening kickoff and did not waste time in scoring. Just three minutes into the game Kevorian Barnes had UTSA in front 7-0 when he scored on a 27-yard run with 12:04 left in the first quarter.

The Mean Green answered with their first drive of the game when Ikaika Ragsdale scored on a two-yard run on fourth-and-goal. North Texas tied the score at 7-7 with 8:09 on the first quarter clock.

UTSA looked like they might take the lead on their next drive, but the Roadrunners turned it over on downs after not scoring on 4th and goal from the UNT 1 with 44 seconds left in the opening quarter.

North Texas went 93 yards on their next drive but were forced to settle for a field goal. The Mean Green got the field goal with 10:34 left in the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead.

After the Roadrunners punted North Texas got the ball back up by three but the Mean Green did not have the ball long as Clifford Chattman intercepted an Austin Aune pass at the UNT 42 and returned it to the UNT 15. Two plays later Frank Harris ran in from 11 yards out to give UTSA the 14-10 lead with 8:25 left in the first half.

UTSA pushed its lead to 17-10 on its next possession when Jared Sackett booted a 42-yard field goal through the uprights with 1:12 left in the quarter.

North Texas then went three and out to give UTSA the ball back at its 38-yard line with 37 seconds left before halftime. On the third play of the drive Harris connected with Zakhari Franklin for a 32-yard touchdown pass to give UTSA a 24-10 lead with 11 seconds left in the half.

UTSA rolls out of Conference USA with second straight championship

Facing a 14-point deficit going into the second half North Texas was able to score on its first drive. Fortunately for the Roadrunners, it was just a 24-yard field goal from Ethan Mooney with 12:26 on the third quarter clock to cut UTSA's lead to 24-13. It was the start of a high-scoring third quarter.

UTSA pushed the lead up to 18 on its next possession when Harris threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Zakhari Franklin. Sackett added the extra point and UTSA held a 31-13 lead with 10:33 left in the third quarter.

North Texas got their first touchdown since the first quarter on their next drive when Aune threw a 36-yard scoring pass to Jyaire Shorter with 8:42 on the clock. That score cut UTSA's lead to 31-20.

The Roadrunners completed the third quarter scoring on their next drive when Sackett connected on a 43-yard field goal with 1:47 left on the clock to give UTSA a 34-20 lead going into the fourth.

UTSA's lead was cut in half early in the fourth quarter. North Texas took the ball after UTSA's field goal and drove 64 yards with Isaiah Johnson scoring on a one-yard run to cut the Roadrunner lead to 34-27 with 13:34 left in the final quarter.

As they had much of the night UTSA had an answer for North Texas's score on its next drive. This time Harris and Franklin connected for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 11:09 left in regulation to give UTSA a 41-27 lead.

The Mean Green's hopes of answering UTSA were quickly snuffed out on their next possession when Ken Robinson intercepted a pass from Aune at the UTSA 31 on the first play of the possession.

UTSA was not able to take advantage of the interception and had to punt but North Texas faired a little better on the next possession and turned the ball over on downs at their own 21 with 4:29 to play.

Just 22 seconds later the Roadrunners pushed the lead to 48-27 when Harris threw his fourth touchdown of the night, this one a 16-yard score to Oscar Cardenas with 4:07 to play.

After North Texas went three and out on their final possession UTSA got the ball back at 3:06. The Roadrunners were able to clear that time off the clock and the celebration which had been building for most of the night was finally official.

For the second season in a row, the Roadrunners stood atop the mountaintop as champions of Conference USA. Their final season in the conference had finished with an 11-2 record and 8-0 in conference play. They would leave Conference USA in the summer of 2023 to try and climb a taller mountain in the American Conference but as the confetti fell in the Alamodome on December 2, 2022, nobody seemed too worried about that.

All that was yet to come. In the moment UTSA was celebrating something few teams have accomplished, back-to-back conference championships.

Next Week: Top Traylor Game Number 4

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