A remix of “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” theme blasted from the newly renovated sound system at the Alamodome. Around the sidelines, UTSA athletes bounced up-and-down to motivate the crowd of orange that cluttered the stands.
The song’s name described the Roadrunners’ C-USA schedule pretty accurately; after starting the season undefeated, San Antonio dropped two straight in their conference by a combined five points.
UTSA rectified their losing streak woes Saturday night, besting Rice 20-7 in a game where the score didn’t accurately reflect the wider deficit on the field.
UTSA defensive lineman Marcus Davenport returns a fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter of a C-USA game against the Rice Owls. (Photo: Ozzy Jaime/TexasHSFootball.com)
“We found a way to finish, it’s all that matters,” said head coach Frank Wilson. “It wasn’t the most beautiful win, but our defense played lights out in my eyes.”
As the Roadrunner offense stalled in the first half with short, inefficient yardage, the defense did everything they could to keep the ball in front of them. Earlier in the season, the unit had a pension for holding offense to 300 yards or fewer. After two games of being bludgeoned by opponents with lengthy and explosive drives, UTSA got back on track, limiting Rice to 300 yards of offense.
Spearheading the effort was defensive end Marcus Davenport, who finished with 11 tackles, two sacks and a turnover touchdown return that put the Roadrunners on the board early in the first quarter.
“He played outstanding, he played at another level,” Wilson said.
UTSA defensive lineman Marcus Davenport tackles Rice quarterback Sam Glaesmann during their C-USA matchup on Saturday night in the Alamodome. (Photo: Ozzy Jaime/TexasHSFootball.com)
“I’m trying to take it game by game and put it all out there for my team,” Davenport said following the game, “I don’t know how to describe it, it’s a warm feeling.”
Kicker Jared Sackett continued his streak of perfection, booting in a duo of field goals from 18- and 20 yards respectively.
After a slow start, Dalton Sturm completed 12 of 21 passes for 134 through the air and 79 on the ground. The senior’s lone touchdown throw occurred while Sturm scrambled out of the pocket behind pressure, and rolled out for a 26 yard rocket to Brady Jones.
UTSA will travel west to El Paso to face a winless UTEP team next Saturday night.
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