SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of Texas -San Antonio got a win and the Northwestern Oklahoma State football team got an experience, playing in front of 25,742 orange and blue-clad fans on Saturday at the Alamo Dome.
UTSA – a provisional member of the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) - scored four touchdowns over one six-minute stretch of the first half, helping them pull away for a 56-3 victory.
"It was a great experience for our kids," said Northwestern head coach Alan Hall. "We sold it to our kids as a big game atmosphere. We are going into (NCAA) Division II and we hope to be in the playoff system. [This atmosphere] is what those games are like."
The Roadrunners (4-0) got a balanced effort from their offense, totaling 235 yards on the ground and 210 through the air.
David Glasco II scored on two of his four carries, finishing with a team-high 69 yards. Evans Okotcha also finished with a pair of rushing touchdowns for the hosts. Nine different Roadrunners logged carries. UTSA also used three different quarterbacks, who combined to complete 15 of 17 passes to a total of 10 different receivers.
"Coming down here, of course, we are going to give it everything we have, but obviously we were outmanned," Northwestern senior quarterback Kyle Jech said. "We came out pretty flat early, and a lot of the young guys were a little nervous coming in, which is totally understandable given the situation. UTSA is a good team."
Northwestern (0-4) was led by Jech, who finished 17 of 31 for 143 yards through the air.
UTSA held junior wideout Andrew King – who came in as one of the nation's top possession receivers – to just three catches for 22 yards. Junior Chris Chamberlain led the Rangers with six grabs for 69 yards.
Defensively, Eric Feemster tallied a game-high 10 tackles – four of them solo. Derrick Thompson added nine tackles.
UTSA wasted little time getting on the board. On their opening drive, quarterback Eric Soza dialed up completions of 21 and 30 yards. The former – a highlight-reel diving catch by Brandon Freeman to convert on a third-and-long – and the latter – a long strike to Cole Hubble - put the ball at the Ranger two-yard line. Evans Okotcha punched it in on the next play for a 7-0 UTSA lead.
Northwestern responded with Jech hitting Jared Jackson for 18 yards and Avery Morris for 13 off of a pair of short screen passes to move the ball into UTSA territory at the 45. The drive stalled, however, after an intentional grounding penalty against Jech.
Neither team had much success moving the ball again until the Roadrunners took over at the 5:30 mark of the first quarter. From there through the end of the half, they could do little wrong.
On their first play from scrimmage David Glasco II found a hole on the right side and rumbled 51 yards out of the backfield to the Northwestern nine. Okotcha finished what he started on the next play with a nine -yard run, pushing the UTSA lead to 14-0 with 4:58 remaining in the first quarter.
The Roadrunners scored again less than two minutes later. On third-and-long, UTSA sent a heavy blitz. Under pressure, Jech launched a pass to the right sideline that was intercepted in stride by Triston Wade and returned 38 yards for touchdown.
The pick snapped a string dating back to last season of 239 straight attempts by Jech without an interception and pushed the UTSA advantage to 21-0 with 3:21 left in the first.
With offense and defense having already pitched in, it was only fitting that the Roadrunner special teams join the party. In the final seconds of the opening quarter, Kenny Harrison returned a punt 54 yards to the Ranger 26, setting up a touchdown. On the ensuing kickoff, UTSA forced a Ranger fumble, leading to another score. Both came on short runs from Glasco II, making it a 35-0 game with 13:47 remaining in the half.
The Roadrunners made it 42-unanswered when Hubble slipped free on a skinny post for a 32-yard touchdown-catch with 9:40 to go in the second.
Northwestern's lone scoring drive came just ahead of halftime with the offense in a two-minute drill situation. Jech completed three straight throws to Chamberlain for a total of 39 yards. He then hit King for 11 more to the UTSA four-yard line with 10 seconds remaining.
The Rangers took two more shots at the endzone, drawing a pass interference penalty on the second that moved the ball to the Roadrunner two-yard line with just a second showing on the clock. After a timeout, Hall opted for the field goal unit, and Edgar Colmenares drilled a 20-yard kick as time expired to put Northwestern on the board.
UTSA added two second half touchdowns for the final margin.
The Ranger defense finished strong, allowing just seven points over the final 25 minutes. Zenario Shuler forced a fumble at the Northwestern 21 that was recovered by Donavon Guidry to stop a UTSA drive late in the third.
"We are going to put this behind us," Hall said. "Now we get into the meat of why we are here and why we do these [games]. Let's get home, lick our wounds, put this one to bed, and look forward to next weekend."
Northwestern continues on the road Saturday, Sept. 29 at Arkansas Tech.
