- Analysis
- The 2nd play of my STP is an 8* on La Tech at 7:00 ET.
Clemson (No. 3), Iowa St (No. 7) and North Carolina (No. 10) were all ranked in the AP's preseason top-10 but are all currently unranked (and own a combined SEVEN loses), yet UTSA has opened 7-0 (3-0 in C-USA) and with road wins at Illinois and Memphis, Roadrunners are ranked for the first time in program history, at No. 24. Can't make this stuff up! The question UTSA must answer Saturday night when the Roadrunners visit Ruston, La., for a C-USA matchup with Louisiana Tech is, "can they handle success?". UTSA surely had no problem with Rice last Saturday, blanking the Owls 45-0. Second-year coach Jeff Traylor called it the team's most complete game. "It was by far the best game we have played in all three phases," he said. "This was a big game with a lot of pressure on those kids. Those kids understand the pressure. They came out and played as good as I have seen them play." This is the 11th year of the Roadrunners' program, which was started in 2011 under former Miami coach Larry Coker. He went 26-32 in five years and was replaced by Frank Wilson, who posted a 19-29 mark from 2016 to 2019 and took the school to its first bowl game. Traylor came aboard in December 2019 after serving as running backs coach at Arkansas and posted a 7-5 mark last year, guiding the program to its second bowl appearance. A third bowl game is all but assured now.
Louisiana Tech is just 2-4 (1-1 in C-USA), after a 19-3 conference loss last week at surprising UTEP. The Roadrunners are the second ranked team Louisiana Tech has played in 2021, In that one, the Bulldogs could have forced overtime at N.C. State before a final-snap interception allowed the Wolfpack to close out a 34-27 win in Raleigh back on Oct 2. "It doesn't get any easier," Louisiana Tech head coach Skip Holtz said. "It's going to be a great challenge for us. I'm glad we have the opportunity to come back home." Holtz knows more than a little bit about winning, as he led La Tech to SIX consecutive bowl wins from 2014-2019, before losing 38-3 to Ga Southern in last year's New Orleans Bowl.
UTSA's offense is led by QB Frank Harris, who has completed 69.2 percent of his passes for 1,600 yards, with a 14-3 touchdown-interception ratio. RB McCormick has rushed for 778 yards on 4.7 YPC with six TDs (team averages 18.0 YPG on the ground to rank 48th). A trio of WRs, Joshua Cephus, Zakhari Franklin and De'Corian Clark, have combined for 113 receptions and accounted for 14 TDs. UTSA's defense is allowing just 19.1 PPG (22nd) on 323.3 YPG (31st) and is greatly helped by having forced 14 turnovers.
La Tech averages 28.3 PPG, led by QB Austin Kendall, who has thrown for 1,342 yards and 10 TDs in five games, with eight INTs (he's completing 59.5%). He has a mediocre receiving corps and the Bulldogs' running game averages only 123.8 YPG (98th).The La Tech defense is allowing 31.0 PPG (99th) on a whopping 457.3 YPG (118th).
Clearly, La Tech does NOT match up well on paper but we all know games are NOT played on paper. The Bulldogs, particularly under Skip Holtz own a fairly impressive history. Look how close La Tech came to NC St on the road (see above). This marks the Bulldogs first home game since a 24-17 conference victory over North Texas back on Sep 25. Note that last season, that UTSA was only able to eke out a 27-26 victory in San Antonio and that Louisiana Tech owns a 7-2 lead in the all-time series, First-ever game as a ranked team and the Roadrunners draw a La Tech team that is 5-0 when hosting UTSA, winning by a margin of 19 PPG! 'Bow Wow!' Take the points. Upset Alert? Just maybe.
Good luck...Larry
