2013 UTSA Spring Football Analysis

The 2013 UT San Antonio Roadrunners ... Head Coach: Larry Coker

UTSA Roadrunners

2013 Schedule
8/31 at New Mexico
9/7 Oklahoma State
9/14 at Arizona
9/21 at UTEP
9/28 Houston
10/5 at Marshall
10/12 Rice
10/19 OPEN DATE
10/26 UAB
11/2 at Tulsa
11/9 Tulane
11/16 OPEN DATE
11/23 at North Texas
11/30 Louisiana Tech

Why To Get Excited … the Roadrunners have a veteran quarterback and a veteran coach to help guide them into a new conference. Eric Soza was the catalyst for last year’s 8-4 debut in the FBS, while Larry Coker has a long and impressive resume that will continue to serve UTSA well. The program is taking a three-game winning streak into the 2013 campaign.

Why To Be Grouchy … the D had all kinds of problems when facing WAC and Conference USA teams a year ago. And will likely continue experiencing many of those same issues again this fall. Still in the embryonic stages of even participating in college football, it’s going to take a while before the Roadrunners have the depth and talent to compete on a week-in, week-out basis.

The Number One Thing To Work On Is … ramping up the maturity of the defensive backs. Everyone is back in San Antonio, and CB Erik Brown and safeties Nic Johnston and Triston Wade flashed potential last season. However, they were also part of a defensive backfield that allowed 26 touchdown passes and picked off half that number of throws. This unit has to take a step forward in 2013.

Non-Conference Games: at New Mexico, Oklahoma State, at Arizona, Houston
Games Against the East: at Marshall, at UAB
Realistic Best Case Record: 4-8
Worst Case Record: 0-12
Likely Finish: 0-12

Pre-Preseason Projected Wins: None

Pre-Preseason Projected Losses: at New Mexico, Oklahoma State, at Arizona, at UTEP, Houston, at Marshall, Rice, UAB, at Tulsa, Tulane, at North Texas, Louisiana Tech

Schedule Analysis: The days of playing Texas A&M-Commerce and Northwestern Oklahoma are over. The Roadrunners might be full of experience, but where are the wins going to come from? Starting out against New Mexico would be a plus if it wasn’t on the road, and while UAB and Tulane might not be great, they’re better than Larry Coker’s club. North Texas and UTEP are other winnable games that are away from the Alamodome. Hosting Oklahoma State will at least be interesting, but that could get ugly in a hurry as could the road trip to Arizona. Four of the first six games are on the road before getting a home game against Rice leading into a week off.

Team Concerns For 2013: Head coach gets back all 11 starters on an offense that stalled way too often running the ball against the better WAC defenses. Out of the 21 touchdown runs, just one came in the four losses. The defense got ripped apart by most passing games over the second half of the season allowing 324 yards or more in each of the last five games and gave up 17 touchdown passes with just three picks in the last six outings.

The 2013 Class Is Heavy On ... FBS talents. It's not like the Roadrunners are taking any prospects away from Alabama, but after not needing to come up with too many bodies in the 2012 class, this one is full with a variety of different prospects for all spots. The line isn't getting a slew of top-shelf stars, but running backs Jalen Rhodes and Jarveon Williams were nice gets, and corner Nkeal Bailey will soon be a key part of the secondary.

2012 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 123. That Class Was Heavy On ... The Roadrunners haven’t had too much time getting ready for life in the WAC, but head coach Larry Coker has a young, YOUNG team without many glaring personnel needs. Redshirt freshmen are the norm across the board with only two upperclassmen among the 24 players on the offensive two-deep, and there’s only one player needing to be replaced on defense.