Louisiana Tech 34, UTSA 31: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19363" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] Despite an impressive performance in the second half, UTSA fell to 1-5 on the season and 1-1 in conference play with a 34-31 loss at home to Louisiana Tech. The Roadrunners scored two touchdowns in the third quarter and tied the game at 31 with 13:38 left in the game, but Louisiana Tech was able to put together a drive late in the fourth quarter and connect on a 32-yard field goal to escape with the win. A slow start gave the Roadrunners an uphill climb.  Louisiana Tech dominated the first half and built a 24-10 lead as UTSA struggled to find consistent offense with sophomore walk-on Dalton Sturm leading the offense with regular starter Blake Bogenschutz out with an injury. Sturm’s first pass of the game was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. He threw another interception later in the first quarter that led to a field goal. UTSA’ defense played well in the first half, even registering an interception of its own that turned into a field goal. Sturm started to find a rhythm late in the second quarter when he hit JUCO transfer JaBryce Taylor for one of his two touchdowns receptions of the game. Taylor also scored the final touchdown for UTSA early in the fourth quarter. Uncertainty at QB may not spell doom.  It is unclear how long Bogenschutz will be out with injury, but UTSA fans walked away from the game feeling good about the Sturm the team saw in the second half. He went 8-of-11 for 101 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter after going just 5-of-9 for 41 yards and two interceptions in the first half. His favorite target was David Morgan, who is building a season worthy of all-conference honors. The ground attack didn't live up to its usual billing.  Ironically, it was the UTSA running game and that let the Roadrunners down. Junior running back Jarveon Williams, who is on pace for a 1,000-yard season was held to only 27 yards on 16 carries. The team itself averaged less than two yards per carry in the game and Sturm found himself scrambling on passing downs for much of the game. UTSA is better than the 1-5 record suggests with losses to Arizona, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Colorado State and Louisiana Tech, but a 1-5 record is still troubling for a program searching for momentum in recruiting. The Roadrunners face Southern Miss next week in a must-win game to stay in contention for a bowl berth.