The Texas Longhorns aren’t trying to sugarcoat it, and neither are the UTSA Roadrunners. Saturday’s game is a mismatch on paper, and No. 2 Texas should cruise to victory.
That’s what Notre Dame thought before facing Northern Illinois, too.
The Longhorns (2-0) are 35.5-point favorites going into a night game at Royal-Memorial Stadium against a sister team from the UT System. The Roadrunners (1-1) agreed to a five-year contract worth $8.52 million to come up Interstate 35 every other year through 2030.
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This is a totally different setup than the 2022 matchup. UTSA coach Jeff Traylor had a veteran team then, and it wasn’t until the third quarter that Texas finally got going. The Horns wound up winning 41-20. This time around, the Roadrunners are in a total rebuild mode after going 9-4 last season.
Traylor said this matchup is the biggest talent gap UTSA has faced in his five years in San Antonio. Still, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian challenged his players to keep their foot on the gas in search of “60 minutes of hell.”
“I challenged them. I said this is a leadership week,” Sarkisian said. “You know, our leaders have got to step up. We’ve got to make sure we’re holding everybody accountable to do things the right way. And then we’ll find out Saturday night what that looks like.
“This week is going to really measure the maturity, in my opinion, of this football team.”
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The Horns have gone all week getting multiple pats on the back . Quarterback Quinn Ewers, center Jake Majors, tight end Gunnar Helm and safety Andrew Mukuba all won some kind of recognition for their performances last week against Michigan.
Ewers has now shot to the top of the Heisman board at BetMGM. NFL draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. believes Ewers is the top quarterback on the board for the April draft.
If Ewers and the offense perform as many expect, there’s a strong chance fans will see backup Arch Manning against UTSA.
Sarkisian has hinted that Texas wants to play a lot of players on Saturday. He said the coaching staff will use the same blueprint they did in the season opener against Colorado State. The Horns got 51 different players into the game in the first half and 77 total during the 52-0 blowout.
“We’ve got to do a really nice job of rotating our players and having that rotation tight and on point,” Sarkisian said. “And then we’ve got to trust the guys when they’re in there. They earn that trust by the way they practice. So, I feel very comfortable with that.”
Running back Jaydon Blue told reporters on Monday that he merely rolled his ankle against Michigan and felt good going forward. Blue will get plenty of chances against UTSA, along with Quintrevion Wisner and Jerrick Gibson.
Ewers has been developing his timing with receivers Isaiah Bond, Matthew Golden and Silas Bolden, but look for freshman Ryan Wingo to get a few targets as well.
Defensive coaches have been pleased with the pass rush in the first two games, although the numbers don’t quite reflect that just yet. UTSA will have to watch former Roadrunner Trey Moore now line up against them in burnt orange.
Night games at Royal-Memorial Stadium usually mean school officials will have a drone show. As of now, it’s still unclear whether Texas will get to host an SEC opponent for a night game this season, so better roll out all the surprises this week and next against Louisiana-Monroe (7 p.m. kickoff).
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