AUSTIN — Beyond the final score on Saturday was a flex of unseen muscle, a spurt of tangible growth. UTSA played against its highest-ranked opponent in history, No. 2, Texas, knocked a Heisman Trophy favorite out of the game before a national television audience and left with a $1.6 million payout.
That’s one way to measure progress, even if the final score, 56-7, suggested something else. Yes, the Roadrunners entered the game as five-touchdown underdogs and lost by seven touchdowns. And yes, two years ago on the same field, UTSA took a 17-7 lead before falling 41-20.
The Roadrunners of 2022, however, enjoyed less national media exposure, left with a $1 million payout from UT and played with less ambition. Winning the Conference USA championship was the goal.
Today?
“We want that shot at a college football playoff,” UTSA Athletic Director Lisa Campos said in an interview Friday.
That did not sound so crazy at the start of the season. ESPN’s College Football Power Index listed the Roadrunners with the second-best chance of making the playoffs as a Group of Five team at 15.6%, right behind Boise State at 16.4%.
Back-to-back blowout losses to Texas and Texas State have crushed those hopes. But the Roadrunners are building for next season and beyond with a growing brand. How much of America knew of UTSA just two years ago?
The way UTSA head football coach Jeff Traylor remembers it, his stars of yesteryear — quarterback Frank Harris, running back Sincere McCormick, wide receiver Joshua Cephus — played in virtual oblivion. “People didn’t watch us,” he said.
And now?
“The expectations are there,” he said. “And they should be.”
Still, it was hard for Traylor to find much to like about Saturday’s game. The Roadrunners missed tackles, assignments and scoring opportunities. They surrendered big play after big play. And when Texas quarterback and Heisman favorite Quinn Ewers left the game with an injury in the second quarter, his replacement, Arch Manning, all but launched his own Heisman campaign. Manning completed 9 of 12 passes for 223 yards and four touchdowns and ran 67 yards for a fifth touchdown.
“It was a frustrating night,” Traylor said.
Robert Henry provided one burst of light: He ran 53 yards for a touchdown in the second period for UTSA’s only score.
Saturday’s loss will fade. Some will remember it as another growing pain. This is what happens to ascending programs. National stories use two words to describe UTSA football: meteoric rise.
Just last week, when the Pac-12 added four schools for the 2026 season, reports surfaced that UTSA could leave the American Athletic Conference to join the Pac-12. “We’re always flattered to be mentioned in conversions,” Campos said, declining to offer any more clarity on the path ahead.
Has the Pac-12 reached out to UTSA?
“I’m not going to discuss that,” she said. “What I will say is that we’re happy with the American.”
There’s plenty to be happy about. Since the Roadrunners’ last visit to Austin, UTSA has sold more season tickets for football, increased its television exposure and generated more athletic revenue — $50.43 million in 2023, up from $38.18 million in 2022.
In Taylor Eighmy, UTSA has a president who wants to make athletics “the front porch” of the university and plans to invest $57 million in athletics facilities over the next five years.
“We’ve grown and changed in a lot of ways since we played the Longhorns two years ago,” Campos said. “We’re raising more money, getting more community support, gaining visibility. Football has transformed the face of our department.”
Former linebacker Trey Moore is one face of that transformation. He set the school record for sacks in a season last year with 14, was named AAC Defensive Player of the Year and transferred to Texas.
Against his former team, Moore recorded two tackles on Saturday. That’s another measure of growth: Traylor lost his best pass rusher to the No. 2 team in the country.
The biggest growth, however, is in ambition.
The Roadrunners are looking beyond the AAC. Beyond the Pac-12. All the way to something very hard to see after a 49-point loss: a berth someday in the College Football Playoff.
