Search the Community

A season can change directions like a Saquon Barkley jump cut. As an illustration, let’s look back at where things stood in Conference USA four weeks into 2017. Lane Kiffin’s FAU Owls were desperate for traction. They had just fallen to 1-3 after an upset loss at Buffalo, only we didn’t know it was an upset at the time. Butch Davis’ FIU wasn’t faring much better. The Panthers got destroyed, 61-17, by a UCF that had gone just 6-7 in 2016, and they beat bad Alcorn State and Rice teams by just a touchdown each. North Texas was treading water, having lost by a combined 39 to SMU and Iowa and barely beaten a UAB start-up we assumed would be pretty bad in 2017. UTSA was the class of the league. Frank Wilson’s second Roadrunners squad had beaten Baylor and had beaten Southern U. and Texas State by at least 30 points each. Weather had prevented them from getting a shot at Houston in Week 1, but with the way both teams had played to that point, it was fair to think UTSA would have beaten the Cougars, too. The offense was good, the defense was great, and UTSA was a serious C-USA contender. Wilson had come to San Antonio with a reputation as one of the best recruiters, and he had honed his reputation by doubling the Roadrunners’ win total and taking them to their first bowl in 2016. And now UTSA was 3-0. Wilson’s stock as a future power-conference head coach was rising quickly. From September 30 onward, FAU won out, and FIU and UNT finished the regular season 13-2 against teams not named FAU. UTSA lost heartbreakers to Southern Miss (31-29) and North Texas (29-26) and only barely recovered. The defense hit a hiccup, and the offense hit a wall. And that win over Baylor looked less and less impressive as the Bears crashed to a 1-11 season. read more: https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2018/3/6/17072224/utsa-football-2018-preview-schedule-roster