The gist
- Final: UTSA 31, USF 24. Peterson scored from a yard out with 0:15 left and McCown hit Amador II for the two-point conversion to win it.
- The offense answered. 486 total yards, 277 on the ground, 8-of-14 on third down — a week after totaling 16 points at Rice.
- The defense almost gave it back. USF marched 76 yards in the fourth and took a 24-23 lead with 1:56 to play.
- 5-1, and Navy is next. Home again on Oct. 17 at the Alamodome, ESPNU.
The offense that went missing in Houston came back
Last week in Houston the UTSA offense managed a pair of field goals and a 16-14 escape. Thursday night at the Alamodome the Roadrunners put up 486 yards, 277 of them on the ground, held the ball 32 minutes and 25 seconds, and converted 8 of 14 third downs. That is the game we were asking for.
A'Marion Peterson carried 12 times for 92 yards and three touchdowns — the first a 53-yard answer in the first quarter after USF opened the scoring, the second a 3-yard tie-breaker in the third, and the third a 1-yard game-winner from the shotgun with 15 seconds left. Owen McCown went 22-of-31 for 209 yards. He is not throwing the ball through anybody; he threw zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He is running the offense, hitting David Amador II nine times for 70 yards, and he found Amador again on the two-point conversion that put UTSA ahead 31-24. On a night the offense had to answer, McCown and Peterson answered.
How 24-23 became 31-24
USF scored first on a D.J. Crowther 15-yard run, UTSA tied it on Peterson's 53-yard sprint, and the Bulls walked into halftime up 17-10 after a Bryson Rodgers 42-yard touchdown catch and a Nico Gramatica field goal. UTSA owned the third quarter — Peterson's 3-yard touchdown tied it, Michael Petro's 41-yard field goal put the Roadrunners ahead 20-17 — and Petro added a 31-yarder early in the fourth to make it 23-17.
Then USF put together the drive that could have cost UTSA the game. Michael Van Buren Jr. drove the Bulls down the field and hit Crowther on an 11-yard touchdown with 1:56 to play. 24-23, Bulls. The Roadrunners needed one more drive. They got it. Peterson punched in his third touchdown of the night with 15 seconds left, McCown and Amador II picked up the two, and that was that.
| Stat | UTSA | USF |
|---|---|---|
| Total yards | 486 | 288 |
| Rushing yards | 277 | 111 |
| Passing yards | 209 | 177 |
| First downs | 25 | 19 |
| Third down | 8-14 | 3-11 |
| Penalties | 7-73 | 5-35 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 32:25 | 27:35 |
Those are winning numbers. 486 to 288 in total yardage, better than 2.5-to-1 on the rushing count, and a third-down conversion rate on both sides of the ball that would carry most games by two scores. The scoreboard did not reflect that gap, and that is the part worth sitting with.
What people are saying
GoUTSA led with the obvious: "Late touchdown lifts Roadrunners to 31-24 win over South Florida." That is the headline on this one. The athletic department also noted ahead of kickoff that next week's Navy game has been picked up by ESPNU, which tells you how the league views where this team sits at 5-1. UTSA won its American Conference opener at Rice, won its home conference opener on a Thursday night national stage, and gets to defend the Alamodome again Friday for the Midshipmen.
The social and forum chatter on this one is thin at the moment, so we will let the box score do the talking and come back to the fan read when the dust settles.
Our take
Three honest ones.
First, credit where it is due. We said last week that the offense vanished at Rice. On Thursday the offense traveled 486 yards and converted more than half its third downs. McCown is not a highlight-reel quarterback, and that is fine. He is a 71-percent passer in this game, zero turnovers for the fourth time in six games, and he put the ball in the hands of the two guys who were going to win it — Peterson on the ground and Amador II at the sticks.
Second, the pass defense is a problem that is going to catch up to us. USF rushed for 111 yards on 27 carries. The run front was fine. Van Buren still threw for two touchdowns on 29 attempts, including a 42-yard strike and an 11-yard dagger with 1:56 to play. UTSA has now allowed 24, 14, 45 and 30 points in its last four games. The Colorado State game was 59-45 and this one was 31-24, both won late. At some point the Roadrunners play a team that can throw it and finish — and at some point the offense will not answer with 15 seconds to spare.
Third, 5-1 is 5-1. This program's only loss this season is on the road at a top-tier Big 12 opponent. The team is 4-0 against everyone else, including the win in-state at Texas State and now the conference home opener. The underrated part is not the record; it is that UTSA keeps finding a way to be the last team with the ball.
The offense answered. The defense did not close. 5-1 anyway.
Next up: Navy at the Alamodome, Oct. 17
Navy comes to San Antonio on Oct. 17 for a nationally televised Friday on ESPNU. The Midshipmen bring the triple option, which is a different kind of test for a run defense that just held USF to 3.6 yards a carry but got lit up through the air. If the UTSA front wins its gaps, this is a comfortable night. If it does not, it will be another late-fourth-quarter situation — and sooner or later one of those late drives does not finish on our side.
The marker for next week: if UTSA allows 30 or more to Navy on Oct. 17, the close-win streak cracks. Not might. Does. Four straight wins have come by an average of a touchdown or less; eventually the margin becomes the loss.
Enjoy 5-1. It is the best record this program has had six games into a season in a while, and it is the kind of start that keeps the Alamodome full. The team that got it there is the one that has to defend it — and if you would rather back your reads than just shout them, that is literally the game.