Old Dominion 36, UTSA 31: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19363" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Mary Scott McNabb Photo by Mary Scott McNabb[/caption] UTSA feels like a program is snake-bitten over the past two seasons and the 36-31 loss to Old Dominion won’t do anything to negate that perception. The Roadrunners took a 14-3 lead heading into the second quarter, but were out-played down the stretch in a homecoming loss that drops UTSA to 1-8 on the season. UTSA’s lone win this year came over a month ago against UTEP. The Roadrunners took a 30-29 lead in the fourth quarter, but Old Dominion drove the field with ease and took a lead on a touchdown pass from David Washington to Jonathan Duhart. The play gave Old Dominion the win, but it also demonstrated UTSA’s defensive woes. On the play, Washington was able to escape outside pressure by stepping up and out of the pocket to find a streaking Duhart all alone down the sideline. UTSA excelled on defense early in the season, but the group’s inability to get to the quarterback or off the field on third down is causing the Roadrunners to allow a lot of yardage and points. Defensive ends Marcus Davenport and Jason Neill had strong days, but the defensive tackles couldn’t provide pressure in Washington’s face. That forced UTSA to blitz and leave the team in man-to-man coverage. Old Dominion capitalized, especially on plays where Washington could buy time with his feet and attack an individual matchup down the field. Offensively, UTSA took strides in the right direction. Sophomore walk-on quarterback Dalton Sturm looked much improved in his third career start. Star running back Jarveon Williams was limited, so that put a ton of pressure on a struggling UTSA passing attack. Sturm looked good in the loss, though. He found Aaron Grubb for two touchdown passes and spread the ball around to multiple receivers. UTSA had two chances to win the game late, but each drive ended on failed fourth down attempts inside the red zone. Old Dominion scored six more points in two more trips to the red zone and won the game by five points. UTSA’s offense only converted four third downs, while Old Dominion went 7-for-15. As was the case in the previous eight games, UTSA simply couldn’t make enough explosive plays on offense or get off the field on third down defense. That combined with a few special teams errors and the Roadrunners’ fall continues.