For the first time in a month, UTSA is back in the Alamodome on Saturday night. The Roadrunners will welcome a familiar foe, the University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers, to open their home portion of the American Athletic Conference schedule.
The Roadrunners and Blazers played seven times as members of Conference USA between 2013 and 2022, with UAB holding a 4-3 edge in the series but UTSA having won the last two meetings. Both teams are newcomers to the American this season.
“They’ve got a lot of tradition there and they’ve been playing good football for a long time,” UTSA Head Coach Jeff Traylor said. “UAB is kind of the bar we were all setting ourselves for when we got the job. We knew that was who we were going to have to beat. They are still that team. It’s a good program.”
UAB (2-4 overall, 1-1 AAC) hasn’t visited the Alamodome since Nov. 20, 2021. On that night the Blazers were the defending Conference USA champions and looking to return to the championship game. UTSA was 10-0 and looking to dethrone the Blazers.
A last-second touchdown pass from quarterback Frank Harris to tight end Oscar Cardenas helped the Roadrunners win the CUSA West Division on their way to the first of two conference championships in a row. Now in a new conference, the Roadrunners are looking to win a third straight conference title.
UAB (2-4 overall, 1-1 AAC) at UTSA (2-3, 1-0)
When: Oct. 14, 7 p.m.
Where: Alamodome
If you go: VIA Park & Ride service is available from Crossroads Park & Ride. For UTSA’s annual Hispanic Heritage Game, players will wear special helmets and Ballet Folklórico Sol de San Antonio and Mariachi Los Paisanos will perform at halftime.
How to watch: ESPNU
“Each and every time we play those guys they give us their best and we give them our best,” Harris said. “It’s always a great game. It’s going to be an exciting game. Those guys are always good.”
A year ago UAB stormed back from a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime before UTSA won in double OT. It was the Roadrunners’ first win in Birmingham.
A week ago UTSA (2-3, 1-0) opened its time in the American with a 49-34 win over the Temple Owls in Philadelphia. UTSA’s defense got its first two takeaways of the season on a pair of fumble recoveries against Temple.
“Conference play drives us harder,” linebacker Martavius French said. “We’re trying to go back-to-back-to-back as champions. We’ve been hunting turnovers all season but it was like now that it’s conference play, we need them. It’s urgent, and the guys showed up.”
It was also a historic day for the Roadrunners as Harris surpassed the 10,000-yard mark for passing yards. It was the quarterback’s first game back from a turf toe injury that caused him to miss the previous two games.
Harris passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns against the Owls, including his milestone 16-yard pass to wide receiver Joshua Cephus to get past the 10,000-yard mark.
“It means a lot, especially with all the adversity I’ve been through in my career,” Harris said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates. Credit to the O-line and to the receivers for catching those passes.”
Last week the Blazers, who are in their first year under Head Coach Trent Dilfer, won at home 56-35 against South Florida.
Dilfer came to UAB after four years as a high school head coach in Tennessee. Prior to coaching, the former NFL quarterback Dilfer was an analyst on ESPN and won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens in 2000.
“Coach Dilfer is going to take them to a whole other level,” Traylor said. “They’ve done a good job.”
