Harris got knocked out of the game in the first half and was hobbled in the second, but the hundredth touchdown of his career won it in front of a historic crowd.
SAN ANTONIO — A hush fell over the packed Alamodome Saturday afternoon as UTSA’s star quarterback Frank Harris went down in a heap in the first half.
It wasn’t clear if he’d get back into the game against Texas State, and when he started in the second half his mobility was clearly limited. But not only did he gut it out and play, he found a way to pick apart the Bobcats from the pocket and lead the Roadrunners to their first victory of the season by a score of 20-13.
“We got injured out there a little bit, lost some momentum,” Head Coach Jeff Traylor said after the game. “Man, how our kids fought back. Our grit put our greatness on display.”
Fans of both teams packed the dome with an announced crowd of 49,342. That’s the second biggest crowd for a UTSA home game.
The Roadrunners defense held early, forcing a three and out on the first two drives for the Bobcats and then earning a turnover on downs. UTSA opened the scoring with a field goal.
Kevorian Barnes got the majority of the carries for the Roadrunners in the early going, but it was Rocko Griffin who got the rock once and took it 20 yards to the house for UTSA’s first touchdown.
The Bobcats were in danger of falling behind by three scores, but their pass rush helped them steal some momentum back with a big fourth-down stop.
After a controversial spot cost the Roadrunners dearly in last week’s loss to Houston, another one gave Texas State their first third-down conversion of the afternoon and extended the drive into UTSA territory. 6’7″ quarterback TJ Finley unquestionably earned it on his next chance with an 11-yard scramble to pick up 11 on a third and long. A few plays later Finley rifled a pass down the sideline to get them to the two, and on the next play San Antonio native Jahmyl Jeter took the handoff on the option and stretched across the line for Texas State’s first score.
They bobbled the snap on the extra point, but officials gave them another try and they hit it to make it 10-7. Jeff Traylor was not pleased with the spot earlier in the drive, and was also not stoked about the mulligan.
A hush fell over the packed Alamodome crowd on the next drive after star quarterback Frank Harris scrambled for a big first down, but limped off the field. He came off the field for a few plays, limped back onto the field, came under pressure and lobbed up a pass for another big first down, but he went down again and this time limped to the locker room, refusing to get on the cart.
“The way I looked at it, I thought it was the last play of his career, and he executes third down. That kid is just magic,” Traylor said.
The Bobcats smelled blood and sent pressure after quarterback Lee Marburger, stuffing a run and sacking the redshirt sophomore. Starting right tackle Makai Hart went down in a heap and had to be carted off the field, and on the next play Texas State sacked Marburger again for their third tackle for loss in a row to force a punt.
Finley threw three big passes in a row to get the Bobcats to the UTSA 25 with 32 seconds left, but the Runners held on defense. Texas State drilled the field goal to tie it heading into halftime.
PHOTOS: Roadrunners beat Texas State in front of nearly 50,000
UTSA took the field, and so did Frank Harris. He didn’t move his feet all that much on the first few plays, and on third and long the Bobcats sacked him and forced a punt. The ball bounced off the return man and went up in the air, but Texas State dodged a bullet again and fell on it.
“I think you all could probably tell this by our play calls, we had to call the game a different way in the second half just to make sure he was okay,” Traylor said. “He did an unbelievable job being a pocket quarterback. That’s just who he is. I really challenged our team. He’s not going to be able to run around the second half and make those miraculous plays now. He’s going to be a different quarterback. Someone is going to have to make a catch. Someone is going to have to make a tackle.”
Harris and the Roadrunners got it back deep in their own territory, and tried to figure out how to move the ball when the quarterback can’t move so well. The plan involved handoffs and screen passes. Harris did take a deeper shot and hit his receiver in the hands, but it fell to the turf.
On 3rd and 6 he threw a dart to Joshua Cephus for a big first down, but the defense responded with a sack and another tackle for loss. The Birds punted it, and the Cats punted it back.
UTSA extended their drive into Texas State territory with a roughing the passer penalty, then on 3rd and 15 Harris threw a bomb on a free play and Tykee Ogle-Kellogg came down with it at the 20. Harris threw another bomb into the corner of the end zone, and Willie McCoy came down with a beautiful grab for the hundredth touchdown of his college career.
The Roadrunners swarmed on defense and forced yet another punt. Kevorian Barnes ripped off a big run, but lost a fumble on the next play. The play after that, Finley chucked it deep for a 55-yard gain, and it would’ve been an easy touchdown for Kole Wilson if the turf monster didn’t trip him up at the 7. The stumble wound up costing the Bobcats four points. A false start, an intentional grounding penalty, and a big sack pushed the visitors back to the 25 for a 44-yard field goal.
Harris went back to work, throwing a few darts to get near the 50. He snuck behind his center on third and short for a big first down, but it came at a cost. He winced and left the field for the third time, this time grabbing at his groin. He went to the bench for an incompletion, then came back in for a handoff for no gain.
On 3rd and 10, the Bobcats jumped offside again. Harris scrambled away from the free rusher, the most he’d moved the entire second half, and threw it downfield where Texas State committed a costly pass interference penalty. The Roadrunners got it to 4th and 1 at the Texas State 30. Harris took the snap, took it outside, took a shot, but critically he took it past the line to gain.
Harris flipped it down toward the goal line and hit his man in the chest, but the defender popped it out and it fell harmlessly to the turf. The Roadrunners got called for a hold on third down, but Texas State declined and let UTSA kick a 43-yard field goal. Chase Allen snuck it just inside the right upright to make it a 20-13 game.
UTSA stopped a run play in the backfield, then got to the quarterback for a huge sack. The ensuing screen play got blown up from the jump, and the Cats kicked it away again. On the first play of the drive, Barnes blasted through a gigantic hole and rumbled for 23 yards into enemy territory. On 3rd and 8, Barnes lowered his shoulder and got the first to get over 100 rushing yards and seal up the win.
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