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UTSA Instragram picture of its mascot Rowdy ripping up an Arizona pinata
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Some storylines of the Arizona Wildcats’ first road game at Texas-San Antonio tonight at the Alamodome …
— Just how good is Texas-San Antonio? It’s been widely reported that the Roadrunners have the most returning starters (20) in the nation. Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez mentioned this week that Arizona will play against men, not boys. And UTSA is coming off a 27-7 victory at Houston, which christened its new stadium with an awful, turnover-laden performance. Houston had six turnovers, including one sequence with consecutive interceptions thrown by John O’Korn, who was a freshman sensation last year much like Anu Solomon seems to be this season. It’s difficult to get a good read on UTSA with Houston’s turnover problems and inexperienced offensive line. The Cougars started three linemen against UTSA with no experience at the FBS level. Arizona has an experienced line that evidently is bent on improving itself from the first game against UNLV although the Wildcats gained a school-record 787 yards. A Pac-12 offensive line should not be bullied into allowing four sacks, which Houston succumbed to last week. …
— One thing is for sure: UTSA will play with a chip on its shoulder with its new-kid-on-the-block status as a program. They get that attitude from head coach Larry Coker, who was deemed not good enough to continue to coach Miami’s program despite leading the Hurricanes to a national title in 2001 and winning his first 24 games with that once-proud program. In a well-written report about UTSA’s upbringing this week by USA Today, Coker told his team, which is only in its fourth year of competition, before the Houston game:
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#UTSA students get in free to 2day's football game. Here's how: http://t.co/hhGUWnGFMG. Lets pack the dome!
— UTSA (@UTSA) September 4, 2014
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“(Houston may think) we’re just the startup guys from San Antonio who played a piss-ant schedule and did good (in 2013 with a 7-5 record, including a loss at Arizona). … This isn’t our first rodeo.” He then asked UTSA’s equipment manager, “We’re bringing our big-boy pads, not our little-boy pads, right? You got our big-boy pads?” Expect Coker to use the same motivation tonight, especially playing a Pac-12 team that humbled his squad in a 38-13 loss at Arizona Stadium last September.
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Sean Elliott is a San Antonio resident who broadcasts Spurs games
— The best basketball player in Arizona history, Tucson’s own Sean Elliott, lives in San Antonio with his wife Claudia Zapata, a health food and fitness expert who wrote a column on such topics in the San Antonio Express-News. Elliott, who played 11 seasons with the San Antonio Spurs, is a broadcast analyst with the team. He is active in San Antonio with charity work and community service. Elliott is scheduled this week to speak at a San Antonio marketing class about his experience with sports media. With such an involvement with San Antonio, will that make it difficult for him to cheer for Arizona tonight? Not a chance. If he attends the game, it would be nice for the TV cameras to get a glimpse of him. First and foremost, Elliott is a Tucsonan.
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— UTSA controlled the time of possession in last year’s loss at Arizona — 33:15 to 26:45 — and the Roadrunners were a successful 8 of 16 in third-down conversions. They achieved a first down on their only fourth-down attempt. Expect Coker to talk to his team about that positive as well entering tonight’s game. But consider this: UTSA had only 17 first downs against Houston despite a time-of-possession advantage of 37:46 to 22:14. The Roadrunners had 74 offensive plays, which translates to roughly one play every 30.8 seconds. Arizona had 94 plays in last week’s 58-13 win over UNLV with a time-of-possession of 31:36. That averages to a play approximately every 19.8 seconds. Take away Arizona’s 9:18 possession in the fourth quarter, when it gained 77 yards on 19 plays while milking the clock with backup quarterbacks, the Wildcats averaged about 17.6 seconds per play. Tonight’s game will be interesting to see how each team fares with time management with Arizona averaging a play almost half the time that UTSA takes.
— UTSA senior running back David Glasco II led the Roadrunners with 70 yards on 10 carries in last year’s loss at Arizona. He led the Roadrunners last week against Houston with 81 yards on 25 carries. In his 23 games with UTSA dating to 2012, Glasco has only one 100-yard rushing game — 143 yards gained last year at Tulsa in a 34-15 win for UTSA. UTSA’s new quarterback Tucker Carter is a senior who had a conservative showing at Houston, completing 15 of 24 passes for only 121 yards without a touchdown or interception. Big plays apparently are not a theme with UTSA. Short-gain execution, limiting mistakes and trying to establish field position are elements of Coker’s offense. That sounds a lot like Stanford in the Pac-12. The significant difference is the Cardinal can mix the run with the pass to big-play potential. Arizona’s overall speed and athleticism on offense and defense will prove to be too much (as long as it does not commit six turnovers): Arizona 37-17.
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He also writes articles for Bleacher Report and Lindy’s College Sports.
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