College Football News Preview 2020: UTSA Roadrunners Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The UTSA Roadrunners Offense
Throw the ball down the field. There was a bit of a passing offense now and then – it went for over 200 yards in five of the last six games – but there was a whole lot of dinking and dunking.
The Roadrunners only managed to bust past eight yards per throw once – in the win over Old Dominion – and it averaged a mere six yards per pass attempt on the season.
And that was an improvement – the 2018 offense was brutally painful when it came to throwing it, averaging fewer than five yards per toss.
Just press a bit more. The 10.28 yards per completion didn’t keep things moving. Get it to around 12, and average around six yards per play overall, and there will be a huge difference.
The flip side of that is …
Biggest Key To The UTSA Roadrunners Defense
The secondary has to tighten up. Overall, the pass defense wasn’t totally miserable – allowing 231 yards per game – but it gave up close to 13 yards per catch and got hammered late in the year.
The Roadrunners gave up fewer than 200 passing yards in each of the first three games – however, Army threw a total of two passes in one of them – and then got hit for that many or more in eight of the final nine and for over 330 in each of the final two.
Interceptions have been an issue, too. The defense failed to come up with more than one in any game, and picked off just six on the season.
Key UTSA Roadrunners Player To A Successful Season
QB Josh Adkins, Jr.
Lowell Narcisse can run the offense. Frank Harris was the starter early on, and he was the best of the quarterback lot before getting knocked out for the year. Narcisse came in and was fine, but he’s not the passer Harris is.
And neither one is the experience thrower that Adkins is.
The New Mexico State transfer has to cut down on his mistakes and interceptions, and he’ll only add a minimal rushing threat, but he’s got close to 500 college throws under his belt. If he’s not the guy for the new coaching staff, then that means Harris or Narcisse stepped it up in a big way.
Key Game To The UTSA Roadrunners Season
at UAB, Oct. 3
Where does the program stand? The new coaching staff has a lot of work to do to make a massive improvement, but playing Texas State and Grambling should mean a 2-2 start. Can it handle the defending Conference USA West champ?
UTSA got by UAB in their first ever meeting in 2013 with a 52-31 blasting, and it’s been all Blazers ever since with three straight wins from 2017 to 2019 including a 33-14 blowout last year.
It’s the Conference USA opener for the Roadrunners, and it’s on the road. Win it, and it would be a massive instant boost.
– UTSA Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 UTSA Fun Stats
– 2nd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 114 – UTSA 37
– Penalties: UTSA 89 for 829 yards – Opponents 60 for 555 yards
– Total Yards: Opponents 5,149 – UTSA 4,139