OPINION / EDUCATION
For over a decade, Texas State football was firmly stuck in the shadow of UTSA.
Despite having a football team for over 100 years while the Roadrunners played their first season in 2011, Texas State had been surpassed by UTSA in the FBS level since they first played one another in 2012.
UTSA qualified for their first bowl in 2016 before four straight years of bowl game invitations between 2020 through 2023. The Roadrunners during that span had also won consecutive conference championships during the 2021 and 2022 seasons while “upgrading” conferences by moving from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.
Meanwhile, Texas State was passed up on a bowl invitation during the 2013 and 2014 seasons despite having a 6-6 and 7-5 record. Between 2015-2022, Texas State had a record of 23-73 while going through three head coaches.
On the field it was even worse.
5-0. That was the overall series record between UTSA and Texas State in football before their showdown last Saturday.
In all five games, the Bobcats led the Roadrunners for a grand total of 25 seconds.
Despite four of the five games being determined by one possession, the series was also defined by one thing, Texas State finding ways to lose the game in jaw-dropping fashion.
In 2012, it was the Bobcats losing the first ever I-35 Rivalry football game against a UTSA team that was starting its second full year as a football program.
In 2018, Texas State looked to go on their John Elway-esque 98yard game winning drive only to be sacked in the endzone on a quarterback draw play for a safety to hand the Roadrunners the win.
In 2020, the Bobcats had tied the game on a spectacular 91-yard punt return with just minutes left in the game despite trailing by two possessions only to miss the game winning extra point and send the game into overtime. Texas State later missed a field goal in the second OT, allowing UTSA to walk it off.
Even in 2023 where the Bobcats were significantly better, a phantom tackle on what should have been a walk-in touchdown pass to tie the game allowed the Roadrunners to hold Texas State to just a field goal and help seal UTSA’s fifth win over the Bobcats.
While Texas State later would go on to have their best season in FBS history by winning the program’s first ever bowl game, the UTSA loss still stung. It was a steep reminder that the Roadrunners were still the kings of the roost, lauding from their castle in San Antonio as the premier Group of Five team in the Lone Star State.
Going into their 2024 showdown, the goal was clear for the Bobcats. In order to compete for a conference championship and the coveted Group of Five spot in the now expanded 12-team playoff, Texas State needed to get rid of the UTSA boogeyman that has haunted the program for over a decade.
Needless to say, the Bobcats found their own version of a Bobcat Bulldozer this weekend and proceeded to demolish the UTSA castle leaving nothing but Roadrunner tears.
Texas State’s longawaited 49-10 win over UTSA wasn’t just the first victory over their hated rivals. It was also the biggest blowout in the history of the rivalry, beating out UTSA’s 44-14 win over Texas State in 2017. It was the biggest blowout loss in Jeff Traylor’s career at UTSA, the most points ever scored on a Traylor led defense and the least amount of points scored by the Roadrunners in the I-35 rivalry.
Simply put, a decade of pain and anger were taken out on the Roadrunners to the tune of over 500 yards of offense on national television for everyone to watch.
The perfect chef ’s kiss. When I wrote about the expectations of the 2024 season, one of those goals was the need to beat UTSA and establish themselves as the premier Group of Five team in Texas.
I’m happy to say that the Bobcats passed with flying colors. On to Arizona State.
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It’s no longer about UTSA. It is about us now.
–JOSH EATON
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