2016 Recap
Record: 6-7
Wins: Alabama St, Southern Miss, Rice, North Texas, MTSU, Charlotte
Losses: Colorado St, Arizona St, Old Dominion, UTEP, La Tech, Texas A&M, New Mexico
Notes: The Roadrunners took a step forward in 2016 under new head coach Frank Wilson. After spending 10 years as a position coach at some high profile schools, Wilson had yet to move up to a coordinator position. However, Wilson was known as an "Ace" recruiter and UTSA decided to take the gamble by naming him head coach. The gamble paid off quickly as UTSA picked up one of the top recruiting classes in the conference and went to a bowl game all in Wilson's first season. This gives reason to look forward to the future and the possibility that the Roadrunners could take another leap forward this coming season.
2017 Preview
Offense:
Former walk-on QB Dalton Sturm has shown some positive signs in his time with UTSA despite being inconsistent. Under new offensive coordinator Frank Scelfo (former Jacksonville Jaguars assistant coach), Sturm was still inconsistent, but saw his avg yards per completion go up by 2 yards. Sturm is back for his senior season and will have his top 4 receiving targets from 2016 all back. Kerry Thomas Jr, Brady Jones, Josh Stewart, and Marquez McNair may have experience, but just like their QB, they have been widely inconsistent. Thomas was the only receiver in the group to average a success rate of over 50% in 2016.
Junior running back Jalen Rhodes adds a ton of potential to this offense however. Rhodes is the definition of a duel threat from the backfield. He averaged an impressive 5.3 yards per carry in 2016 while racking up 867 yards on the ground to go along with 9 touchdowns. Rhodes also caught 85% of the passes thrown his way despite only catching 17 passes for 160 yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Brent Winnegan could also potentially be a break out man in 2017. A huge track star in high school. Winnegan has reportedly bulked up this off-season and is ready to make an impact in a somewhat inexperienced back field.
Whenever you run a more traditional power offense rather than the spread offenses that dominate college football you are going to need more production from your tight ends. With senior Shaq Williams, JUCO transfer Robert Ursua, and 3-star freshman Chance McLeod the Roadrunners have plenty of solid options to make an impact in the game
Defense:
To say the Roadrunner defense has a lot returning would be an understatement. The defensive line returns 4 of its top 5, linebackers return 3 of the top 4, and 9 of the top 11 defensive backs are back as well. Defensive end Marcus Davenport definitely looks the part at 6'7" 250 lbs. Davenport finished 2016 5th on the team in total tackles with 68, while also accounting for 10 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks.
At linebacker, the Roadrunners have a couple of guys that can cause havoc for opposing offenses in Josiah Tauaefa and La'Kel Bass. Tauaefa led the team in tackles with 115 total and had nine tackles for loss and six sacks as a freshman last year. While Bass was 2nd on the team in total tackles at 87, with a team high 11 tackles for a loss and 5 sacks.
At the back of the defense the Roadrunners must replace both starting safeties. However, it seems that reports out of fall camp from our good friends at Birdsup.com are that junior safety Darryl Godfrey is set to be a serious contributor for the defense in 2017. Junior safety CJ Levine looks to fill the other vacated starting role at the back. Levine finished 9th on the team in 2016 in total tackles with 32.
Special Teams:
Return man Matt Guidry averaged a respectable 22.8 yards per kick off return in 2016 while also averaging 15.6 yards on punt returns. That should give Roadrunner fans some excitement about the special teams unit. Victor Falcon made 12 of 17 field goals in 2016 and was basically automatic on FG attempts inside of 40 yards going 11 of 12. While he struggled outside of 40 yards hitting just 2 of 6.
Summary:
UTSA has a lot of returning talent in 2017. Add to that the #1 ranked recruiting class in CUSA and the Roadrunners could be poised to take another step forward this season. Led by a decent defense the offense will have to put more points on the board this season in order for UTSA to be more successful in the win/loss column. A far less demanding OOC schedule should help matters as well. The Roadrunners conceivably should win the games they are supposed to aside from maybe a slip up against Rice following a couple of tough games against Southern Miss and North Texas. The Roadrunners stayed fairly injury free in 2016 and that can sometimes put the football gods curse on teams the following season. Still, the Roadrunners take another leap ahead in the CUSA standings this season and start worrying about hanging on to head coach Frank Wilson.
Schedule & Prediction:
Sept. 2 vs Houston
Sept. 9 @ Baylor
Sept. 16 vs Southern U
Sept. 23 @ Texas State
Oct. 7 vs Southern Miss
Oct. 14 @ North Texas
Oct. 21 vs Rice
Oct. 28 @ UTEP
Nov. 4 @ Florida International
Nov. 11 vs UAB
Nov. 18 vs Marshall
Nov. 25 @ La Tech
Record: 8-4
Projected Wins: Southern, Texas St, Southern Miss, UNT, UTEP, FIU, UAB, Marshall
Projected Losses: Houston, Baylor, Rice, La Tech
Previous Rankings:
