Southern Miss 32, UTSA 10: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_17805" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] A new low for the UTSA program was reached in a lopsided 32-10 loss to Southern Miss on the road Saturday night that felt much worse than the final score indicates. The defense created five turnovers, but the Roadrunner offense managed just three points off of those turnovers and never found a rhythm due to inconsistent play in the passing game and a poor performance from the offensive line. The lack of depth at QB is hurting UTSA. The quarterback issues at UTSA carried over from 2014 to 2015. UTSA had three quarterbacks – Austin Robinson, Zach Conque and Russell Bellomy – leave the program on their own between 2013 and this season and a concussion to starting quarterback Blake Bogenschutz left the Roadrunners with Sturm and two true freshmen as options. Instead of burning the redshirt of backup Manny Harris, UTSA stuck with Sturm despite just two completions in the first half and a lackluster performance in the second half. But there are plenty of other issues after all of these weeks.  It is hard to fault Sturm, however. He received no help from the offensive line, as he ran for his life for much of the game and was sacked five times. He ended the game 6-for-22 for 66 yards and a touchdown. He did have a costly turnover in the first half with UTSA driving and still in the game, but Southern Miss turned the turnover into a turnover and added three more field goals in the first half to take a 16-0 lead into halftime. Southern Miss continued to pile it on in the second half, as a struggling offense created a tired defense. The Golden Eagles had 556 yards on 76 snaps compared to 205 total yards of offense on 63 plays for UTSA. The Roadrunners picked up just 12 first downs in the game and held the ball for nearly 10 minutes less of game time than Southern Miss. UTSA tight end David Morgan, who is the team’s best offensive player, was held to one catch for nine yards. Thomas was the only UTSA player with more than one catch. But hey, how about that running back?  The bright spot on offense was Jarveon Williams. The junior running back from Converse Judson finished the game with 88 yards on 16 carries and broke the single-season rushing record for UTSA, which was previously held by David Glasco II. Williams’ 47-yard run in the third quarter set up the lone UTSA touchdown of the game, which was a one-yard touchdown pass from sophomore walk-on quarterback Dalton Sturm to Kerry Thomas. The Roadrunners get a much-needed bye next week before taking on North Texas on the road on Halloween.