UTSA Roadrunners: CFN College Football Preview 2021
College Football News Preview 2021: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the UTSA season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– UTSA Schedule Analysis
– UTSA Roadrunners Previews
2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2020 Record: 7-5 overall, 5-2 in Conference USA
Head Coach: Jeff Traylor, 2nd year, 7-5
2020 CFN Final Ranking: 102
2020 CFN Preview Ranking: 119
2019 CFN Final Ranking: 118
UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Offense
– It wasn’t all that long ago when scoring was optional at UTSA. The 2018 team scored a grand total of 170 points, and it was like pulling teeth to get steady scoring out of the 2019 attack. Enter new head coach Jeff Traylor and the O started to work.
It wasn’t Alabama, but for this program, coming up with 415 yards and 28 points per game was fantastic. The passing game was okay and the rushing attack was the second best in Conference USA because of …
– Sincere McCormick came up with a massive season. The junior ripped off close to 1,500 yards and 11 scores as a workhorse with some flash. He wasn’t alone with senior Brenden Brady showing some flash and with the talent to take a whole lot of pressure off of the main man.
Everyone returns to the offensive front that was just okay in pass protection but was fantastic for the ground attack. There’s excellent size and enough depth to count on around all-stars Ahofitu Maka at center and Spencer Burford and Makai Hart and one tackle.
– Frank Harris just needs to stay healthy. The senior was second on the team with 528 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, and he hit 64% of his passes for 1,630 yards and 12 scores with six picks. The knees are the problem – he’s been banged up throughout his career.
Josh Adkins came in from New Mexico State and got a little work in, and before suffering a leg injury, 2019 starter Lowell Narcisse saw time in the middle of last year after Harris and the offense started to sputter.
The receivers are good enough to start stretching the field more. 6-1 Zakhari Franklin led the team with 694 yards and seven scores even though he missed a few games, 6-3 Joshua Cephus led the way in receptions with 58 as a short-range target, and 6-4 Tykee Ogle-Kellogg adds even more size.
– What You Need To Know: Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– UTSA Schedule Analysis
NEXT: UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Defense
UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Defense
– The defense cranked up the pass rush, was solid against the run, and ended up allowing just 383 yards and 26 points per game. It gets ten starters back to keep it all going, starting with a great-tackling safety pair.
All-Conference USA performer Rashad Wisdom led the team with 95 tackles with four picks and Antonio Parks is a super-senior who added 50 stops. The corners are experienced and can tackle, too – Corey Mayfield is the No. 1 guy who’s great in the open field.
– The three man front is looking to bring the bulk. Trumaine Bell led the team with 4.5 sacks, but 300-pound Brandon Matterson is the main man at one tackle job. The 6-2, 290-pound Jaylon Haynes is the veteran anchor on the nose – he can get into the backfield with four sacks in nine games.
– The Roadrunners have two great-sized all-star linebackers to help clean things up. The 6-3, 230-pound Trevor Harmanson finished second on the team with 73 stops and 6-3, 245-pound Jamal Lingon joins on the inside with 72 stops.
If that wasn’t enough bulk, 245-pound Charles Wiley is used on the outside – he led the team with ten tackles for loss – and Clarence Hicks is a 48-tackle veteran on the other side.
NEXT: UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Top Players
Best UTSA Roadrunners Offensive Player
RB Sincere McCormick, Jr.
Iowa State’s Breece Hall had one extra game and ended up winning the national rushing title. McCormick was No. 2 with 1,487 yards and 11 touchdowns to go along with 20 catches. The 5-9, 200-pounder isn’t huge, but he’s able to take a pounding with 19 carries or more eight times.
The wheels are there, but he has no problems grinding when needed. Now he’s trying to generate a better second-level burst to come up with even more big plays.
2. OT Spencer Burford, Sr.
3. C Ahofitu Maka, Sr.
4. OT Spencer Buford, Sr.
5. QB Frank Harris, Sr.
Related
UTSA Football Schedule 2021, Analysis
Best UTSA Roadrunners Defensive Player
S Rashad Wisdom, Jr.
The 5-10, 205-pounder stepped into the lineup as a freshman and made an impact with 44 tackles and a pick six. Last year he got in on everything with a team-high 95 tackles with four interceptions and – for the second straight year – taking one for a touchdown. An intimidating force and a big hitter, he’s a lock for All-Conference USA honors again.
2. LB Trevor Harmanson, Sr.
3. DT Brandon Matterson, Sr.
4. DT Jaylon Haynes, Sr.
5. CB Corey Mayfield, Sr.
Top Incoming UTSA Roadrunners Transfer
WR Tre’von Bradley, Jr.
Combining with Kennedy Lewis from Texas, Bradley gives UTSA even more pop, size, and firepower for the passing game. The former Houston Cougar made 37 grabs over his three seasons for 613 yards with a score. He didn’t get the ball enough his way, but he averaged close to 17 yards per catch.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Keys To The Season
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– UTSA Schedule Analysis
NEXT: UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
UTSA Roadrunners Biggest Key: Offense
The passing game needs to be more consistent. The running attack will be the main mode of transportation, but it would be nice if the Roadrunners could rely on all of the parts working week in and week out.
There wasn’t anything happening through the air against UAB, and then everything sharpened up against BYU. Frank Harris hit 79% of his throws against North Texas, but hit just 38% of his passes earlier in the year against Army.
Overall Harris and the passing game were fine, but the team completed fewer than 50% of its throws three times and had way too many games where there weren’t any downfield plays.
UTSA Roadrunners Biggest Key: Defense
Load up and keep stopping the run. UTSA was a rock against the run for years, but the 2019 defense allowed over five yards per carry and never seemed able to get control of games.
The 2020 defense struggled against Army and Louisiana, but both of those teams are outliers. The defensive front was great at generating pressure in the backfield, there’s enough size to hold up, and the Roadrunners have safeties who can hit.
They were 5-0 last year and 8-0 over the last two seasons when allowing fewer than 125 rushing yards
UTSA Roadrunners Key Player To A Successful Season
DT Jaylon Haynes, Sr.
The Roadrunners need a big season out of the quarterbacks, but it’s a deep group with plenty of options. RB Sincere McCormick has to stay healthy, and a few more receiver weapons have to rise up.
However, the defense mostly needs its veteran 6-2, 290-pound anchor to be the one everything can work around. He came up with 40 tackles with two sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss in 2019, but he was only able to go in nine games last year and yet still came up with four sacks. If he’s an all-star, this might be the best D in Conference USA.
UTSA Roadrunners Key Game To The 2021 Season
UAB, November 20
Is UTSA really ready to win the Conference USA West? The rest of the schedule isn’t all that bad, and that includes key late season games against Southern Miss and UAB at home.
The Roadrunners lost 21-13 to the Blazers last year after dropping the 2019 game 35-3 – those were the only two times the two have played.
2020 UTSA Roadrunners Fun Stats
– UTSA Scoring: 1st Quarter 29 – 2nd Quarter 125
– Fumbles: Opponents 20 (lost 8) – UTSA 10 (lost 4)
– Average Yards Per Carry: UTSA 5.2 – Opponents 4.3
NEXT: UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
UTSA Roadrunners College Football Preview 2021: What Will Happen, Season Prediction
UTSA flirted with being terrific since rising up into the FBS world back in 2012, but it hasn’t quite been able to get there.
That all could change this year.
It was good out of the gate when it was a member of the WAC, but there were a whole slew of wins against a whole slew of really mediocre teams to build up the early totals.
Offense became optional for a while, a great defense wasn’t quite enough to push through a few decent seasons, and in comes Jeff Traylor to be that extra spark needed last season in his first head coaching gig.
It’s what you want in the opening year of a new regime – a plan.
Of course going to a bowl game and coming up with a winning season was nice, but more than that, UTSA showed what life is probably going to be like under Traylor with a great ground game, a defense that can get into the backfield, and a whole lot of fight in tight games.
Set The UTSA Roadrunners Regular Season Win Total At … 8
And now he’s got a loaded team returning.
UTSA might have the best player in Conference USA in RB Sincere McCormick, the defense is full of veterans who’ll be all over the all-star teams, and the lines are in place to hold up well against a schedule that works out almost perfectly.
There might be a few rocky spots against Illinois, Memphis and a strong WKU team on the road, but the big games against Southern Miss and UAB from the West are at home, and after winning seven games last season, the expectations are reasonably there to do a little more.
That includes at least playing for the Conference USA title, and maybe winning it.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Keys To The Season
– UTSA Schedule Analysis
