Stevens: A Look at the UTSA Roadrunners

By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com

UTSA lineman Nate Leonard says he expects the Roadrunners’ record in 2013 to be 12-0. There is nothing arrogant about that expectation. There aren’t too many athletes who compete expecting to lose.

But if the Roadrunners go 12-0 in 2013 that means a program in its third year of existence will leave Branch Field Saturday with a significant road win. For sure, the Roadrunners have a better chance of going 1-0 than 12-0. The Roadrunners are a team the Lobos have to take seriously. Consider:

UTSA (University of Texas at San Antonio) already is a huge success story. Sure, the Roadrunners used a cushy schedule in 2012 to help them win eight games. However, they did win eight games and beat two teams that the Lobos used to get to four wins.

“We’re looking forward to the step up in competition. I mean, this is what we came here for,” said safety Cody Berry 

“We have some Lobos to prove wrong…”Nate Leonard, UTSA center.

There are obvious hurdles to clear when you are starting up a program, but one advantage – depending on the quality of the talent – is that you return a whole lot of folks. The Roadrunners had six seniors in 2012 (nine scholarship seniors in 2013) and return 20 starters.

There is great familiarity on the Roadrunners’ roster – and great youth. UTSA has 19 sophomores and 33 freshmen.

In some ways, the Roadrunners’ season of 2012 mirrored the Lobos’ season of 2012. The Roadrunners found a competent offensive attack and used that attack to score points, establish field position, burn the clock – and keep the defense off the field.

UTSA also honored possessions, tried to create turnovers and optimized success with the special teams. When you are building a program, it’s important to eliminate any aspect of the game that can hurt you – and taking advantage of any aspect that can help you. This is something Coker and Davie stress.

The Roadrunners were seventh nationally with a 1.17 turnover margin per game. UTSA had 29 forced turnovers in 2012.

The Roadrunners moved the football in 2012 and averaged 31.2 points a game. The Roadrunners bent too much on defense – 28.8 points per game – and need to do better on that side of the ball especially with a tougher schedule that includes a home game vs. Oklahoma State and an away game at Arizona.

In UTSA’s four losses in 2012, the offense averaged 20.5 points. Not bad. The defense gave up an average of 46.3 points in those same games. Bad.

The Roadrunners won’t have it as easy on the field in 2013 as they did a year ago. The competition jumps up as they jump out of the Western Athletic Conference and into Conference USA. The Roadrunners non-conference schedule includes UNM, Oklahoma State, Arizona and Houston.

The youth in this program and its 2013 schedule make the Roadrunners somewhat of a mystery in 2013. One football publication predicted they would go 1-11 in 2013 and another had them at 6-6 with a win over New Mexico.

It’s unlikely UTSA will repeat its 8-4 mark, but difficult to see a skid to 1-11. The key is obvious: win the winnable games, the 50-50 games, and pull a few upsets.

Soza gives the Roadrunners a go-to player, who can move the football. He is a good one. He threw for 2,085 yards in 2012 with 20 touchdowns and only three picks. One question about Soza is will he be “good” again in 2013 as the competition – and the pass rush – goes up a notch. He threw 256 passes last year without an interception.

Soza finds good protection behind a veteran O-line that gave up only seven sacks in 2012. The O-line actually lost a starter, but return four and most of the depth.

Soza likely will be the Lobos’ No. 1 target on Saturday. He is a dual threat and ran for 364 yards last year. The Roadrunners also return their two top rushers in David Glasco (537 yards) and Evans Kootchar, who has 776 yards in two seasons. UTSA adds a heralded freshman to the backfield in Jarveon Williams.

An interesting match will be the Roadrunners’ defensive front vs. a Lobo running machine that was No. 5 in the nation in 2012. Again, the Roadrunners return a lot of folks and Coker had added some young talent. UTSA expects the defense to be improved and needs the defense to be improved especially in the secondary. UTSA gave up 2,927 passing yards last year.

The Roadrunners got a decent pass rush out of their 4-2-5 look and return three starters off that front. The secondary, like the Lobos’, was young and often – too often – burnt. The Roadrunners recruited seven defensive backs to add to a foundation that lost only one player from 2012. The defense is led by linebacker Steven Curfews (41 solos) and safety Tristan Wade (45 solos).

Coker, like UNM’s Davie, calls his team “a work in progress.” Coker has been working the football-rich state of Texas in order to make that progress. The Roadrunners’ roster is 86.8 percent Texas talent – 92 players.

San Antonio – the nation’s sixth largest city – got behind the Roadrunners in 2011 as UTSA sold 11,369 season tickets and bumped that number to 13,646 last year. UTSA has averaged 32,373 in its 12 home games over two seasons in the Alamo dome and drew 56,743 in the program’s first game on Sept. 3, 2011 vs. Northeastern State.

The Roadrunners will not be eligible for a bowl game until the 2014 season.