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Previously in the series: Honorable Mention | Game 10 | Game 9 | Game 8 | Game 7 | Game 6 | Game 5 | Game 4 | Game 3 | Game 2

Two weeks after beating UAB to claim the Conference USA West Division Title, UTSA was back in the Alamodome to host the Conference USA Championship Game against the East Division Champion Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.

It was December 3, 2021. It was the first time the city of San Antonio had a team playing for a conference championship since the 2016-17 Spurs had lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA's Western Conference Finals in May of 2017.

The Alamodome, which had three times before hosted the Big 12 Conference Championship game, had not seen anything like UTSA v. Western Kentucky. A crowd of 41,148 made their way into the Alamodome for what was considered a "neutral site" game even though it was in UTSA's home stadium. It also is officially considered a postseason game but it belongs on the list of UTSA's greatest conference games.

UTSA had earned the right to host the conference championship game thanks to their 52-46 victory over Western Kentucky in Bowling Green on Oct. 9. That was the Hilltoppers only loss in conference play as they rolled off seven straight wins to win the East and finish the regular season with a 7-1 conference record and 8-4 record in the regular season.

The Roadrunners had started conference 7-0 and 11-0 overall but a week before had lost to rivals North Texas in a game that allowed the Mean Green to get their sixth win and reach bowl eligibility.

A GAME OF LEAD CHANGES

The 2021 Conference USA Championship game began six minutes after 6 p.m. in the Alamodome. Western Kentucky won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff. The Hilltoppers started their first drive at their own 22-yard-line. It took them five plays to score with the points coming off of a 60-yard touchdown pass from Bailey Zappe to Mitchell Tinsley. The extra point was good and WKU led 7-0 with 14:04 left in the first quarter.

Just like the October meeting, the December meeting had the appearance of a shootout in the early going. UTSA answered the Hilltoppers on the Roadrunners first drive of the game. The Roadrunners got on the board with a 24-yard touchdown run by Frank Harris with 11:49 left in the first quarter. Hunter Duplessis added the extra point to tie the score at 7-7.

WKU retook the lead on their next drive but fortunately for the Roadrunners it was a 33-yard field goal that made the score 10-7 with 10:07 left in the first quarter. UTSA took the lead for the first time a little over five minutes later when Sincere McCormick scored on a two-yard run with 4:59 left in the first quarter. The Roadrunners 14-10 lead held up the rest of the first quarter.

The Hilltoppers added another field goal on their next drive. The kick was made on the first play of the second quarter. UTSA's lead was cut to 14-13 with 14:57 left in the second quarter.

UTSA PULLS AWAY IN MIDDLE QUARTERS

UTSA pushed their lead to 21-13 on the next drive when Brendan Brady scored from six yards out. There was 11:50 left in the second quarter and so far both offenses had scored on every possession.

That changed on the Hilltoppers next possession as they missed a 53-yard field goal attempt with 9:21 on the clock. UTSA's offense made it 4-for-4 on scoring drives on its next possession. McCormick took the handoff at the UTSA 35 on the first play of the drive and rolled 65 yards to the endzone. With 9:10 left in the second quarter UTSA led 28-13. Neither team was able to score the rest of the second quarter and halftime arrived with UTSA ahead by 15 points.

The third quarter began with UTSA receiving the opening kickoff. The Roadrunners first drive ended with a punt but WKU muffed the punt and the Roadrunners recovered at the Hilltopper 14-yard-line. Two plays later the Roadrunners went up 35-13 with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Frank Harris to Zakhari Franklin. There was 11:13 left in the third quarter but it began to look like UTSA fans would get a jumpstart on Fiesta.

That party seemed to be well on its way when Antonio Parks intercepted a Zappe pass on the Hilltoppers next possession. UTSA took over with 10:24 left in the third with the ball on the WKU 17. It only took one play for McCormick to go those 17 yards and put UTSA on the board again. With 10:16 left in the third quarter UTSA led 42-13.

UTSA HAS TO HOLD ON FOR FIRST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

WKU snapped out of their doldrums on the next possession. Zappe drove the Hilltoppers down the field and threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Tinsley. With 8:17 left in the third quarter UTSA's lead had been dropped down to a 22-point advantage.

After UTSA was unable to convert a 4th-and-one on their next possession, WKU continued to chip away at the Roadrunner lead. Zappe threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Jerreth Sterns. The Hilltoppers went for a two point conversion but were unsuccessful and had to settle for cutting the deficit to 16 points, 42-26 with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter the Hilltoppers continued to cut the Roadrunner lead down. WKU scored with 11:01 left to play when Kye Robichaux scored on a three yard run. Zappe and Sterns connected on the two-point conversion to cut UTSA's lead to 42-34.

UTSA increased their lead on their next possession when Frank Harris threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to De'Corian Clark. Duplessis added the extra point and UTSA's lead was back to 15 points, 49-34 with 6:18 left to play.

The Hilltoppers scored again just over two minutes later when Zappe threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Sterns with 3:58 left to play. WKU went for the extra point and got it to cut UTSA's lead to 49-41.

UTSA had to punt on their next possession giving WKU a chance with 1:05 left to play. The Hilltoppers got to the UTSA 47 with a few seconds remaining. Zappe threw a Hail Mary that was intercepted by Jahmal Sam at the UTSA six yard line as time expired.

A CELEBRATION LIKE NO OTHER

After Jahmal Sam helped wrap up the biggest win in UTSA football history the celebration began all around the Alamodome. Like a reenactment of the inaugural game, the crowd made their way from the seats to the field, although unlike that game in 2011, the fans in 2021 were allowed onto the field and even encouraged to be on the field by the Public Address Announcer.

A good number of the 41,148 in attendance took advantage of the opportunity to go down to the field. The crowd that attended the conference championship game marked the third largest crowd in both UTSA football history and Conference USA Championship Game history.

The UTSA fans got about 30 minutes to celebrate on the field with the players and coaches. During that time the Conference USA championship trophy was presented to Head Coach Jeff Traylor and the game MVP trophy was given to Sincere McCormick.

By getting the first conference championship in program history, the 2021 Roadrunner football team raised the bar for all future Roadrunner teams. They showed what it takes to win a conference championship. UTSA will have one more season in Conference USA before joining the American in 2023. Roadrunner fans will be hoping they go into the new conference as two-time champions. It won't be an easy road to repeat.

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way