Craven: Relief in short supply for UTSA

[caption id="attachment_19274" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] UTSA can’t catch a break. The Roadrunners finally won a game in 2015 when they traveled to El Paso last weekend and beat UTEP, 25-6. It was the first conference game for UTSA after Larry Coker’s team faced P5 programs like Kansas State, Arizona, Oklahoma State and the Mountain West’s Colorado State. Unfortunately, the momentum UTSA picked up by becoming 1-0 in conference play was slowed with the news that starting quarterback Blake Bogenschutz is ruled out for the upcoming Louisiana Tech game. The former Carthage High School state champion took a few big shots against UTEP and was seen on the sideline looking woozy and without his helmet in the later part of the win against the Miners. Bogenschutz missed Monday and Tuesday and was officially ruled out today when Coker spoke to the media. The coaching staff won’t officially say Bogenschutz is out with a concussion, but all signs seem to point in that direction. The team has repeatedly used variations of the word “clear” when discussing Bogenschutz’s status, indicating a doctor must clear him before he can return to football activities. That is usually associated with concussion protocol. Without Bogenschutz at the helm, UTSA will hand the reigns over to former walk-on Dalton Sturm. The Goliad native played a few snaps in 2014 and became the backup this fall despite the graduate transfer of former Michigan quarterback Russell Bellomy. The offense should look different under Sturm, considering he is more advanced as a runner than a passer. His legs alone won’t beat a Louisiana Tech team favored to win the Western Division of Conference USA. The Bulldogs will stack the box and force Sturm and the offense to prove it is willing to take shots deep in order to keep the safeties honest. UTSA wants to rely on a running game led by Jarveon Williams, but it will be impossible to do against a team with eight or nine men within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage. The same thing happened to UTSA last season. The Roadrunners suffered injury at quarterback and could never rebound, finishing 4-8 on the season. At 1-4 and with similar issues at quarterback, UTSA is in danger of facing the same fate in 2015 if Sturm can’t rally the team and look impressive against Louisiana Tech, even in a loss.