Kansas State 30, UTSA 3: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_18544" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] UTSA fell to 0-2 on the young season with a loss to Kansas State on Saturday. What did we learn about the Roadrunners? DCTF's Mike Craven breaks it down. UTSA faced its second straight Power opponent and for the second time in as many tries, mistakes added up and cost the Roadrunners a chance at an upset. The Roadrunners took a 3-0 lead on the first drive of the game when Daniel Portillo hit a 51-yard field goal, but the Kansas State defensive line and untimely penalties by the UTSA offense resulted in a 30-3 loss at home. The new up-tempo offense looked great in the road-loss to Arizona last week, but Kansas State’s front-four dominated the trenches and forced Blake Bogenschutz and the passing offense to win the game. The final stats for Bogenschutz weren’t bad, but the lack of running game allowed the Kansas State defensive line to force early throws and prevented big plays from developing down the field. Defensively, UTSA played great through the first two-and-a-half quarters of the game, but the lack of help from the offense eventually wore down the Roadrunner front-seven. The Wildcats took advantage on the ground and made a few key throws against 1-on-1 coverage on the outside to build on a lead that was just 10-3 at halftime. UTSA had a chance to tie the game late in the first half, but a fourth-and-goal pass by Bogenschutz was batted down. It was a good play call because the receiver was open in the end zone, but coming away with no points after its second best drive of the first half was deflating and the offense never recovered. The Kansas State lead swelled to 20-3 when the Wildcats scored a touchdown 10 seconds into the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were simply the stronger and faster team as the game wore on. Depth along the UTSA defensive line hindered the defense and the UTSA offensive line caused no movement after the first quarter. UTSA had 91 yards in the first quarter, but only 59 yards combined in the second and third quarter. Tight end David Morgan was again a bright spot for UTSA, as was the defensive line and linebackers Drew Douglas and Marcos Curry. The issue for UTSA is the second-team defensive ends. When Jason Neill and Marcus Davenport were on the sidelines, UTSA got no penetration on the edge. UTSA is better than many expected going into the season, but this was a reality check of sorts for the Roadrunners.