What You Need To Know About UTSA
The Roadrunner’s head coach, Larry Coker, was hired by UTSA in March of 2009 to start their program. He was voted National Coach of the Year two times and won the 2001 National Championship as the first-year coach of the Miami Hurricanes. Coker has coached 26 first-team All-Americans, 96 first-team All-Conference selections and 63 academic All-Conference honorees.
Texas-San Antonio’s junior quarterback returns to lead the team after taking almost every offensive snap last season. That was his first time playing since his senior year of high school. He completed 172-of-307 passes (56%) for 2,148 yards and 14 touchdowns. He also added 285 yards on the ground with three touchdowns.
Wide receiver Kam Jones, a sophomore, converted from quarterback to play all 10 games, eight starts, for the roadrunners. He accounted for a team-leading 88.1 all-purpose yards per game while leading the team with 39 receptions for 578 yards (14.8 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He added 22 rushes for 127 yards (5.8 yards per rush) and a touchdown. Jones also averaged 24.4 yards per kickoff return in his seven returns.
Sophomore wide receiver Brandon Freeman was the roadrunners deep threat last season. He was second on the team with 30 catches for 419 yards (14.0 average). He lead the receivers with four touchdowns. Against UC Davis, he caught five passes for 108 yards including a 59-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Actually, he averaged 42 yards per touchdown reception.
The roadrunner defense was very good at converting turnovers into points. They forced 21 turnovers in all, 11 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions. They converted those turnovers into 15 scores with 12 of them being touchdowns.
Linebacker Steven Kurfehs finished third on the team in tackles with 61 (32 solo, 29 assists) although he missed the final three games due to injury. He moved from safety to linebacker in the 2010 “practice” season. Senior linebacker Brandon Reeves started all 10 games and led the team wtih 69 tackles (27 solo, 42 assists).
Sophomore safety Nic Johnston played ‘Dawg’ in the roadrunners 4-2-5 defensive scheme. He recovered three fumbles while forcing two and intercepted two passes in the teams 10 games. He also finished fourth on the team with 59 tackles (30 solo, 29 assists) with nine of them being for losses.
Sophomore safety Triston Wade forced three fumbles, recovered two and also picked off two. He also had 39 tackles (23 solo, 16 assists) last season.
The roadrunners blocked five kicks last season, three field goals, one punt and an extra point. However, it was a blocked field goal of their own that allowed the Jaguars to defeat UTSA in the Alomodome last season.
Texas-San Antonio had an average attendance of 35,521 last season in their first season. They set a record for a start-up program with 56,743 atendees to their first ever game.
As UTSA makes the move to the FBS ranks, they will be the youngest team in the nation with only six seniors (five scholarship) on their 97 man roster. Additionally only 16 juniors are on the team. The remainder being made up of 42 sophomores and 33 freshmen. Head coach Larry Coker and his staff have filled a vast majority of their team with Texas natives. 87 players are from the state, which makes up 89.7% of the roster.
Fox Sports Southwest will be airing a 30-minute show titled “UTSA Football Insider”. Additionally, they are scheduled to have three games streamed online including the season opener at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
The coaching staff has made some changes on the defense by going with speed in their starting defensive ends. COdy rogers played mostly in the ‘Hawk’ and safety positions last season will make the move to add speed at that position.
UTSA will have several freshmen in major starting or backup roles. True freshman Zach Hester will start at right guard. Freshmen will back up the Center, left and right tackle.
The roadrunners use a running back by committee approach and are loaded with veterans in the backfield. They caused problems running the option against the Jags last season as did Cal Poly in the season finale.