‘It starts in practice’: UTSA gelling at the right time for trip to Florida

The UTSA Roadrunners will begin the second half of the regular season Saturday when they travel to Boca Raton, Florida, to face the Florida Atlantic Owls in a game featuring two teams with identical records. 

Both UTSA and Florida Atlantic are 3-3 overall and 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play. Both enter Saturday’s game on two-game winning streaks. The Roadrunners have come a long way from their bumpy 1-3 start, with the offense starting to click and the defense coming off one of its best performances of the season.

“Our kids like coming to work everyday. They enjoy being here,” UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor said. “There is a standard that we hold ourselves to on the field and off the field. We just play that standard and try to drown out all the outside noise.”

Two of UTSA’s nonconference losses came without Frank Harris at quarterback. His return has certainly helped lift the Roadrunners to wins over Temple and the University of Alabama-Birmingham, but there have been other reasons for the team’s improvement.

In its two conference games, UTSA has run for 340 yards and seven touchdowns after being limited to just 209 yards and one touchdown in the final two nonconference games. The Roadrunners’ success on the ground can be attributed to the rise of a trio of running backs: Kevorian Barnes, Robert Henry and Rocko Griffin.

Barnes has 413 yards and four touchdowns this season. Henry has 306 yards and four touchdowns. Griffin has run for 116 yards and a touchdown.

“We all have something we bring to the table,” Henry said. “Every day we compete with ourselves, not each other, and every day we try to get better.” 

A year ago it was UTSA’s trio of wide receivers that were getting the attention on offense: Zakhari Franklin, De’Corian Clark and Joshua Cephus. Franklin transferred to the University of Mississippi and Clark has yet to return from a leg injury suffered last November. A week ago Cephus set the school record for career receptions previously held by Franklin and needs 55 yards to become the second Roadrunner receiver with 3,000 career receiving yards.

The Roadrunners have had others step into the roles left open by departures or injury. Tykee Ogle-Kellogg has been UTSA’s No. 2 receiver with 18 catches for 307 yards and three touchdowns. Leading the newcomers is Devin McCuin, a true freshman who is third among Roadrunner receivers with 18 catches for 262 yards and two touchdowns.

“We feel the energy and are having really good practices,” McCuin said. “I’m still learning, and as I continue to learn I will be better. I’ve been learning from these older guys. I’ve been working for this my whole life.”

UTSA’s defense has also done its part to help turn the season around. After not forcing any turnovers in the first four games, the Roadrunners have gotten five in the last two contests. The Roadrunners’ special teams also recovered a fumble on a muffed punt against Tennessee.

The play of defensive leaders like outside linebacker Trey Moore, inside linebacker Martavious French and safety Rashad Wisdom has made a different in getting those turnovers. Moore is third in the nation with 7.5 sacks after recording 3.5 in the win over UAB. In the secondary, Wisdom remains the leader but he has been joined by impact players such as cornerback Kam Alexander and safety Elliott Davison. 

“We just played our brand of football finally [against UAB],” Wisdom said. “We play physical, fly to the ball and pay attention to detail. Now the challenge is we have to do that every week. It starts in practice.”

UTSA will need a full team effort to beat Florida Atlantic for the first time. The Owls are 3-0 against UTSA, having won in 2014, 2019 and 2020. The Roadrunners are also 1-4 in games played in Florida, having gotten their first win in the Sunshine State last year at Florida International.

The Roadrunners return home next Saturday to host East Carolina.