In front of an excited crowd of 30,416 in the Alamodome on Saturday, Sept. 9, the Roadrunners won their home opener beating the Texas A &M-Commerce Lions 27 -16. It was a historic victory for UTSA, giving the Roadrunners their first 2-0 start and their first winning streak in school history.
“The victory should do a lot for their [Roadrunners] confidence too. I know it did a lot for mine. It was a great start for us,”said Head Coach Larry Coker. From the coin toss, UTSA’s offensive unit clicked on all cylinders; led by junior quarterback Eric Soza and sophomore running back David Glasco II. Soza completed four out of seven passes for 58 yards and one touchdown in the first quarter while Glasco II carried the ball five times for 41 yards.
“I’m running the ball with a lot of anger this season a lot of frustration. Last season I didn’t run the ball as well as I wanted. I worked on some stuff over the summer. As a result, I’m running a lot better,“Glasco II said.
For the first quarter, the Roadrunners were in control. UTSA struck first with a Sean Ianno 34 yard field goal. At the 11:14 mark, Eric Soza threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Kenny Harrison. The Runners controlled the possession battle with 10:33 to the Lions 4:27.
The Roadrunners not only clicked on offense, but its defense made it tough for the Lions to complete a first down. UTSA held the A&M-Commerce Lions to only two first downs in the first quarter. UTSA’s sophomore safety, Triston Wade, was a big factor in the Roadrunners’smothering defense. Wade led the team with three tackles in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Roadrunners expanded their lead to 24-3. Again, Glasco II ran with great confidence by rushing for two touchdowns in the same quarter. Glasco II helped the Runners capitalize in the red zone with a two yard touchdown at the 2:59 mark. Glasco’s second rushing touchdown was set up by senior defensive tackle Franky Anaya’s 17-yard interception. Coach Coker said of Anaya’s interception, “You got to score that. You don’t get very many opportunities to score when you’re a defensive lineman. I’m really happy for him.”
“I was surprised when the ball came to me. It wasn’t real. I dream about this, and it really happened,”Anaya said.
Despite holding the Lions scoreless in the first quarter, the Roadrunners managed to hold A&M-Commerce to a field goal.
Although the Roadrunners controlled the first half on both ends of the field, the second half would bring some challenges to the offense and defense. The Lions made some half-time adjustments that held the Roadrunners to only three points in the second half. A&M-Commerce also made some offensive adjustments.
The Lions first touchdown came after quaterback Deric Davis connected with wide receiver Garrett Smith for a 61-yard bomb with 7:14 left in the third quarter.
The Roadrunners’defense thwarted the Lions two point conversion, but the Runners were unable to keep Deric Davis from connecting to his wide receiver Tevin Godfrey for a 5-yard touchdown pass.
In the third quarter, Soza was able to complete only two passes. He completed eight of 15 passes for only 90 yards the entire half.
When asked about the half time adjustments by the Lions, “I don’t know about that. We wanted to pound the ball, get our running game started a little bit. They stopped us a little. This guy to my left [Glasco II] played really well though for us,”Soza said.
While the offense struggled at times in the second half, the defense played really well. Sophomore linebacker Blake Terry led the Roadrunners with 10 tackles.
Despite some inconsistencies with the offense in the second half, the Roadrunners looked really confident. “There’s no team that we can’t beat this year, but at the same time, there’s no school that can’t beat us,”Coker said.
The next game on the schedule for the Roadrunners will be on Sept. 15 against Georgia State in Atlanta, Ga. UTSA’s next home game in the Alamodome will be on Sept. 22 against Northwestern Oklahoma State. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
