NCAAF
SAN ANTONIO — If there’s a better way to exorcise early-season frustration than four forced turnovers and a 74-yard soul-snatching touchdown run, UTSA hasn’t discovered it yet. The Roadrunners didn’t just beat No. 8 (FCS) UIW on Saturday — they rearranged the furniture in the Alamodome, jumped on the couch, and told the Cardinals to make themselves comfortable in a 48–20 checkup that never felt close.
This one was supposed to be the scrappy crosstown test that reveals flaws, exposes weaknesses, and sends fanbases into Monday with message-board anxiety. Instead, UTSA walked out with their first win of the season and UIW walked out wondering if the dome lights were a little too bright.
Turnovers will ruin your day faster than an 8 a.m. lab, and UIW opened the game like they were speedrunning a cautionary tale. On the Cardinals’ first drive, the ball hit the turf and Jimmy Wyrick jumped on it like he had inside info on where it was going. Six plays later, Owen McCown dropped a dime to Devin McCuin, and UTSA was up 7–0 before the nacho cheese even cooled.
UIW kept trying to get their bearings and UTSA kept snatching the compass. Shad Banks Jr. decided he wanted the ball more than anyone wearing red, picking off a pass and later recovering a fumble. Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ offense looked like someone kept unplugging the controller.
A 26-yard field goal pushed UTSA to 10–0, and by early in the second quarter, Robert Henry Jr. punched in a 3-yard touchdown like it was another item on his grocery list. McCown then found Dan Dishman standing so alone in the end zone he could’ve opened his own Etsy shop, giving the Roadrunners a 24–0 lead that had the home crowd swaying like it was Fiesta.
And that wasn’t even the haymaker.
Every great team needs a superpower. For UTSA, it’s having a running back who treats the second half like he’s speed-boosted in Mario Kart.
On the third play after halftime, Henry went full track star for 74 yards, hitting the gas so hard the Cardinals defense turned into background blur. That run extended his mind-melting streak: five straight games with 144+ rushing yards, two touchdowns, and a run of at least 74 yards. Folks, that’s not a stat line — that’s a lifestyle brand.
By that point, 31–0 felt less like a score and more like a public service announcement.
Credit where it’s due: UIW didn’t just lay down and take it. They threw in backup quarterback EJ Colson at halftime, and the guy played like someone who found the "live reps only" setting on Madden.
Seventeen completions, 213 yards, three touchdowns, and a whole lot of “why didn’t he start earlier?” energy. His connection with Chedon James gave UIW actual life — not just oxygen, but vibes. Their first score, a 38-yard rope from Colson to James, snapped the Roadrunners’ shutout and reminded everyone UIW didn’t accidentally land top-10 (FCS) status.
But just when the Cardinals started to look functional, UTSA hit them with the biggest haymaker of the day: a 77-yard bomb from McCown to AJ Wilson. That was the Roadrunners’ longest passing touchdown in over a year, and it sent the Alamodome into “postgame parking lot bragging rights” mode.
UIW managed two more touchdowns via the Colson-to-James hotline (seriously, get those guys a NIL deal with Verizon), but the hole was too deep and the clock was too rude.
Lost in the chaos was Owen McCown playing football like he subscribed to the premium version of efficiency.
30-of-36. Four touchdowns. Zero nonsense.
At one point, he completed 11 straight passes, which is the football equivalent of sitting down to play beer pong and hitting everything without touching the rim. He spread the wealth, too — six different receivers snagged passes, with McCuin catching two touchdowns and Wilson racking up 104 yards like it was nothing.
It wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t loud. It was that kind of QB performance where defenses start questioning their life choices.
If you hold a team to 33 rushing yards, you’re doing something right. If you also force four turnovers, you’re probably playing UTSA on a Saturday afternoon.
Banks, Martin, Wyrick — the whole gang showed up. Brandon Tucker led the team with eight tackles, while Davin Martin added a pick and six tackles of his own. UIW couldn't run, couldn’t hold onto the ball, and couldn’t stop UTSA from treating the afternoon like a physics experiment on momentum.
This was the Roadrunners at their best: swarming, dictating, forcing UIW into one-dimensional football. And when you’re one-dimensional against a team that loves takeaways, you’re essentially announcing your location like you're in a horror movie.
Here’s the good stuff — no box-score spam, just the numbers that told the story:
These weren’t empty stats. They were the blueprint: UTSA controlled the tempo, UIW chased the game from the jump, and the tale of the tape never changed.
For UTSA, this wasn’t just a win — it was a recalibration. After a rocky 1–2 start, the Roadrunners looked like the version of themselves that rattles off conference wins and makes bowl games uncomfortable for higher-ranked teams.
Henry reaffirmed that he’s one of the most electric backs in the country, while McCown showed the kind of clean, decisive quarterbacking that lets offensive coordinators sleep eight uninterrupted hours.
The defense? Nasty. Exactly what they’ll need next week when they travel to Colorado State for a late-night FS1 game that suddenly looks much more interesting.
UIW, meanwhile, got a rough reminder that jumping tiers — even into the lower half of the FBS — requires more than ranking and swagger. But the second-half spark from Colson and James isn’t nothing. That’s momentum they can carry into next week’s road matchup at Northern Arizona.
UTSA needed a statement win. They delivered one with neon lights and subwoofers.
UIW needed a test. They got a midterm and a final on the same day.
And somewhere in all of it, Robert Henry Jr. probably jogged back to the locker room wondering how many more 70-yard touchdowns he has left this season.
(Spoiler: probably more.)
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