Undefeated no more: No. 22 UTSA loses 45-26 to North Texas
The 2021 regular season will end with just two undefeated teams.
No. 22 UTSA was blown out 45-26 by North Texas on Saturday. The Roadrunners entered the final week of the season at 11-0 after a last-second win over UAB in Week 12 and were aiming for the first undefeated season in program history.
UTSA's loss means that Georgia and Cincinnati are the only two teams to finish the season without a loss.
The Roadrunners' undefeated season came crashing to a halt against a North Texas team that is now bowl eligible after winning its final five games of the season. The Mean Green took a 17-3 lead at the end of the first quarter and then scored 14 points in less than three minutes in the second quarter for a 31-13 halftime lead.
Twenty-one of those 31 points came off turnovers. UTSA fumbled a kickoff and a punt in the first half. Each of those special teams turnovers turned into touchdowns for the Mean Green on a short field. North Texas then scored its final touchdown of the first half after UTSA QB Frank Harris fumbled the ball.
North Texas also ran all over UTSA. The Mean Green had 340 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground. Ikaika Ragsdale had 20 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns while DeAndre Torrey had 23 carries for 108 yards and three scores.
A lack of a passing attack didn’t help UTSA’s chances either. Three quarterbacks saw time for the Roadrunners after Harris was injured in the first quarter and third-string freshman Eddie Lee Marburger was the only QB to throw a touchdown pass.
UTSA entered the game allowing just 101 yards rushing per game. But UAB rushed for 220 yards a week ago and Roadrunner opponents have rushed for over 100 yards per game in four consecutive games after UTSA allowed teams to rush for over 100 yards just twice in the first eight games of the season.
While UTSA will drop out of the College Football Playoff rankings on Saturday it will still host the winner of the C-USA East on Friday night in the Conference USA title game. A 12-1 season and a conference title would make UTSA an attractive candidate to play BYU in the Independence Bowl unless the Cougars get a spot in a New Year’s Six game.
