UTSA hosts Western Kentucky in a matchup of high-powered offenses

The UTSA Roadrunners return home to the Alamodome on Saturday to welcome the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers for a rematch of last year’s Conference USA Championship game. UTSA won that game 49-41 last December in the Alamodome before a crowd of more than 41,000. Four of the Roadrunners’ last five home games have drawn 30,000-plus and this game between two of the nation’s top offenses should be no different.

UTSA Roadrunners (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) vs. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-2, 1-0):

Last week: 

UTSA led wire-to-wire in its 45-30 win at Middle Tennessee. The Roadrunners set a new school record with 423 passing yards in the win against the Blue Raiders.

Western Kentucky hosted Troy in a nonconference game. The Hilltoppers lost to the Trojans 34-27 after leading 17-13 at halftime. 

What they’re saying:

UTSA Safety Kelechi Nwachuku on this year’s Hilltoppers team compared to last year’s: “Those guys, they reloaded. They are loaded at the quarterback position again and they have really good receivers and good running backs.”

Western Kentucky Head Coach Tyson Helton: “They [UTSA] are probably the most talented team in our conference. They’re doing a great job, averaging 500 yards a game and picking up right where they left off last year.”

Key stats:

UTSA’s top three receivers are all ranked in the top 15 nationally for yards this season. De’Corian Clark is seventh with 556 yards. Joshua Cephus is 11th with 503 yards and Zakhari Franklin is 14th with 491 yards.

Western Kentucky’s offense is averaging 500 yards a game this season, just slightly less than UTSA’s 500.8 yards-per-game average. The Hilltoppers are averaging 353.2 passing yards and 147.8 yards rushing.

Players to watch:

UTSA quarterback Frank Harris is second in the country with 1,724 yards passing. He is only 9 yards behind the nation’s leader, the University of Washington’s Michael Penix Jr..

Western Kentucky quarterback Austin Reed has picked up where last year’s quarterback Bailey Zappe, now playing the NFL, left off. Reed is fourth in the country with 1,667 yards passing.