Looking ahead to UTSA
Middle Tennessee State has been truly throttled in back-to-back weeks. They were embarrassed by Army, losing by 42 points, and then lost to the Troy Trojans by a whopping 34 points.
Due to changing circumstances, MT will face off with UTSA this Friday evening.
Let's now look at the UTSA Roadrunners:
Competition level?
This contest is hard to get a grasp and a read on. The Roadrunners haven't exactly faced off against top notch competition. UTSA narrowly escaped in week one, beating Texas State in a barn burner, 51-48.
Then UTSA turned around and defeated Stephen F. Austin by two touchdowns, specifically 24-10.
Long story short, it's hard to get any indication as to how good UTSA is, considering their overall competition in the first two ballgames.
Ground and pound
UTSA really stuffs the stat sheet with a run heavy offensive scheme. In two outings UTSA has rushed the ball 99 times. The UTSA quarterback, Frank Harris, has toted the rock a total of 28 times.
The signal caller Harris has accumulated 155 yards on those 28 carries, adding to 5.5 yards per carry.
The bell cow in the backfield is Sincere McCormick. His average is even better than Harris', adding up to an impressive 6.1 yards per carry.
McCormick has 295 yards on 48 carries.
The Roadrunners have had seven guys take off with carries over the past two weeks. Even wide receivers Brennon Dingle and Joshua Cephus have gotten involved, rushing the ball.
Steady quarterback play
We touched on quarterback Frank Harris' rushing ability. Harris really is steady Freddie as the QB1 for the Roadrunners.
Do not get it twisted, even though UTSA relies on their rushing attack, they are not afraid of tossing the rock for the sake of the passing game.
Harris has completed 46 passes on 68 attempts. He has accumulated 438 yards on those 46 completions, boasting a 68.7 completion percentage.
Harris' stats balance out as he has five rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns so far this season.
Harris has turned the ball over one time this season, tossing just a single interception.
MT defense must get off the field
UTSA strikes me as a squad that will attempt to establish the run against MT this Friday. If MT can't simply get off the field they will be doomed and likely blown out for the third straight time this season.
Look for the Roadrunners to churn clock with the effort of just wearing down the Middle Tennessee State defense.
UTSA should put up points on the scoreboard; after all, they are averaging 37.5 points per game. To win, MT's offense will has to put up points and go blow to blow with UTSA's scoring attack.