University of Texas-San Antonio preview
The Jaguar Offense lining up against the Lamar defense.
UTSA is 2-3 on the season and is lead by former University of Miami head coach Larry Coker who was hired on March 6, 2009. He has been named National Coach of the Year twice. He posted a 60-15 record at Miami in his six seasons there. He won his first 24 games there and the first since Walter Camp in 1888-1889. He also led the Hurricanes to the 2001 National Championship in his first season and only the second coach in NCAA history to do so.
Through five games UTSA has outscored their opponents 135-101 or an average of 27-20.2. In first downs, they are fairly even with 105 for the season with a slight majority of them coming from the passing game with 52 with another 41 on the ground and 12 through penalties. While defensively they have allowed 74 first downs with 46 coming through the air and only 21 on the ground and a mere 7 by penalty.
Yardage wise they are still fairly balanced with 760 yards on the ground for the season so far. They have gained a total of 904 yards but lost 144 yards to attain that total. They have rushed 176 times for an average of 4.3 yards per rush and an average of 152 yards per game and 9 touchdowns.
Defensively they have held opponents to a total yards rushing gained of 606 yards but 156 yards lost brings that total down to 450 yards on the season. Opponents have rushed 157 times for a rushing average of 2.9 yards per carry and only 90 yards per game and 5 touchdowns through their five games this season.
Through the air, the UTSA offense has racked up 1056 yards during the season on 86-of-163 passing. They average 211.2 yards per game passing and 12.3 yards per catch with 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on the season.
Defensively they have given up 1263 yards passing on 95-of-164 and an average of 13.3 yards per catch. They give up on average 252.6 yards per game passing. They have 5 interceptions to 6 touchdowns allowed.
Total offense, UTSA edges out their opponents 1,816 to 1,713 with an almost identical yards per play average of 5.4 to their opponents 5.3. Per game, UTSA averages 363.2 yards of total offense while giving up 342.6 yards per game.
UTSA has been flagged 27 times for 249 yards this season for an average of 5.4 penalties per game for 49.8 yards per game.
Time of possession is almost even, with UTSA holding an ever so slight edge of 30:28 to 29:32. They are also converting 36% of their third down attempts and 57% of their fourth down conversion attempts.
When in the red zone, UTSA comes away with points 85% of the time. 65% of those trips are touchdowns. Their opponents only score 61% of the time in the red zone and of those trips, only 44% of them are touchdowns.
Scoring by quarters is pretty even for UTSA, their best quarter, the second quarter with 37 ponits, is only eight points better than their worst quarter, the fourth quarter with 29 points.
Defensively, their best quarter is the first quarter by only allowing 19 points which is pretty even with quarters two and three. However the fourth quarter they have given up 35 points. Being a new team, that stat doesn’t really surprise me, they would probably have depth issues considering they are a first year program.
UTSA’s quarterback, Eric Soza, is their second best rusher with 178 net yards on the season, though he does have 240 total yards gained before subtracting the negative yardage. Which is only one yard behind their best rusher Evans Okotcha with 179 net yards.
They also have two receivers that stand out from the rest so far. Both have 17 receptions and over 200 yards receiving through five games. Kam Jones has 261 yards and a touchdown while Brandon Freeman has 213 yards and two touchdowns. The next closes receiver has 9 catches for 153 yards and a touchdown. The rest of the receiver corps all have less than 100 yards receiving.
Kam Jones is the team’s leader in all-purpose yardage with 413 and an average of 82.6 yards per game. Kenny Harrison is second on the team with 286 yards with 199 yards of them coming from kick returns.
In short, UTSA is a pretty balanced offensive team with a defense that is strong against the run but susceptible through the air. Coach Jones said that this team reminds himself of the Jags just two short years ago when they began playing football.
I don’t think UTSA will win this game because of depth and size issues the Jags present. The Jags will have something to prove after back-to-back losses to FBS teams, though both times they did have stretches of very good play against bigger and faster opponents. With a week off to rest and prepare, the Jags will be ready to play and win.