UTSA holds off Kennesaw State for 28-16 win in season opener
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For the first time since 2021, the UTSA Roadrunners are 1-0 after week one.
It may not have been as pretty a win as people expected but UTSA was able to come away with a 28-16 win over the Kennesaw State Owls. It was the Roadrunners 50th home win of all time as UTSA improves to 50-30 in the Alamodome and 85-75 overall in program history.
There were bright spots for the Roadrunners and there were things that need to be worked on before tougher games come up on the schedule.
"It wasn't peak form for sure. We got a lot to improve on. So obviously defense is really good because they're mostly all returners. They're really good," UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor said. "Offensively I would say we're a work in progress. Disappointed in our field goals because Chase (Allen) is a returner. He was really good last year. New holder and I didn't think we punted the ball very well."
At one point on Saturday afternoon, the Roadrunners were building up a pine curtain offense. East Texans were leading the Roadrunners in passing, rushing, and receiving in the first half.
Owen McCown had a great debut to the 2024 season completing 28 of 38 pass attempts for 340 yards and three touchdowns. McCown also scored a rushing touchdown in the first quarter that gave UTSA a 14-3 lead.
"The first three drives we executed really well. Obviously, we had some bumps in the road in the second half, but overall got the win and that's part of starting fast," McCown said. "It's a team game. Defense played a heck of a game. We're glad we got the win."
McCown's top target was a fellow native of Cherokee County Devin McCuin. McCuin finished with 11 catches for 79 yards and two touchdowns. McCuin caught his first touchdown three minutes into the game to give UTSA a 7-0 lead and his second touchdown with 10:40 left in the second quarter gave UTSA a 21-3 lead and it appeared the Roadrunners were on their way to a convincing victory.
"At the end of the day, we won the game, but we know we can do better. We will be better next week," McCuin said. "Owen is a dude. I love him as my quarterback. He played really well today."
UTSA's defense did well against the Owls option attack, limiting Kennesaw State to just 51 yards on the ground. The Owls made up for that with 202 yards passing. The Roadrunners defense kept the Owls at bay by forcing three of their drives to end with field goals although the Owls touchdown drive was kept alive by the Roadrunners committing a 15-yard penalty on third and 14.
"Everybody is happy to get a win, but we all know that we're better than that, better than what we put on today," UTSA safety Ken Robinson said. "Really just comes down to a lot of the pre-snap and post-snap issues and penalties and things like that. So, we go into next week and clean those up and we should be fine."
On special teams, UTSA missed two field goals as the connection between incumbent kicker Chase Allen and new holder Caile Hogan is still a work in progress. Hogan, who is also filling the shoes of Lucas Dean at punter, finished with five punts for 197 yards. The Kennesaw State punter, Jacob Ulrich, had five punts for 273 yards.
Room for growth across the board
UTSA built a big lead early, but the game seemed to flip near the end of the second quarter. The Roadrunners were driving with a chance to go up 28-3 but Kevorian Barnes fumbled at the Owls 36 and the Owls recovered with 2:40 left in the first half. Kennesaw State then drove down the field in a minute and 41 seconds before settling for a 34-yard Austin Welch field goal to cut UTSA's lead to 21-6.
The Roadrunner offense sputtered in the third quarter with just 30 yards of offense in that frame. UTSA's defense kept the lead intact as Kennesaw State only managed a 31-yard field goal with 2:06 left in the third quarter to cut the Roadrunner lead to 21-9.
"The first half was really well. We executed really well," McCown said. "The second half was self-inflicted wounds, whether that was penalties, sacks, or just not executing up to our standards. Just little things like that that we'll fix."
Kennesaw State made most of the 25,911 in attendance nervous when Davis Bryson threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Carson Kent that cut UTSA's lead to 21-16 with 9:23 left to play.
UTSA went three and out on their next possession and it looked like the Owls were going to have a chance to complete their comeback. UTSA's Jimmy Wyrick had other plans as he forced a fumble on the Owls first play of the drive and Syras Dumas recovered the ball for the Roadrunners at the Kennesaw State 44.
"The turnover was the play of the game. Jimmy Wyrick, that's big time. That was big time. He's a wonderful human. Graduated from Stanford, and that was a big-time play," Traylor said. "I think Stitch recovered it, who has been playing his tail off as well."
UTSA took advantage of the fumble as they got inside the Kennesaw 10 before facing a 4th and 1. McCown converted the 4th and 1 but even if he hadn't the Owls had 12 men on the field and so UTSA got a first and goal at the Owls 3 thanks to that illegal substitution penalty. Two plays later McCown threw to a wide-open Oscar Cardenas to give UTSA its final touchdown of the day and the breathing room of a 28-16 lead.
The road gets tougher for the Roadrunners as they begin a two-game tour of I-35 starting next week at rivals Texas State. UTSA will clean up what they need to clean up and learn lessons from the game against Kennesaw State. Kennesaw State will probably surprise more teams the rest of the way.
UTSA has things to work on but the mood around the hills of oak and cedar will be mostly positive as the Roadrunners are still undefeated in 2024.
FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way
