COUNTDOWN TO KICKOFF

Bobcats look for their first ever win over Roadrunners

The Countdown to Kickoff takes a look at the upcoming 2024 season for the Texas State Bobcats.

This week takes a look at the Bobcats Week 2 home game against the archrival UTSA Roadrunners.

The Roadrunners are coming off a 9-4 season in their first stint in the American Athletic Conference. UTSA capped off the season by winning the program’s first ever bowl game, beating the Marshall Thundering Herd 35-17 in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl.

UTSA returns a couple of key starters on offense with the majority coming at the running back position, where the top three rushers from last season returning.

Leading rusher Kevorian Barnes, who rushed for 715 yards on 147 carries and six touchdowns, returns as well as running back Robert Henry, who rushed for 588 yards on 127 carries and 11 touchdowns. The Roadrunners third leading rusher Rocko Griffin also returns having rushed for 483 yards on 91 carries and six touchdowns.

UTSA will have to replace starting quarterback Frank Harris and leading wide receiver Joshua Cephus.

On defense, the Roadrunners will also need to replace three of their top tacklers.

The history of the Texas State-UTSA football rivalry dates back to 2012 during both teams first season in the FBS, but the roots of the I-35 Rivalry goes back to 1991 when the Roadrunners opted to join the Southland Conference, which was where Texas State was playing at the time.

Due to the campuses being 53.9 miles apart and drawing their enrollment from the area, the rivalry between the two schools began to develop in volleyball, soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball and softball.

Despite the fierceness of the rivalry, the battle on the gridiron was non-existent through the 1990s and 2000s due to the Roadrunners not having a football team.

But that all changed in 2008 when UTSA announced the formation of their own football team with their first season coming in 2011.

Both the Bobcats and the Roadrunners left the Southland Conference for the Western Athletic Conference in 2012 where both teams would meet on the football field for the first time.

Held on Thanksgiving weekend in front of 39,032 fans, UTSA jumped out to a 17-7 lead over Texas State in the first quarter en route to a 38-31 win to secure the first football victory of the I-35 Rivalry.

Unfortunately, the rivalry took a hiatus due to the ongoing conference realignment taking place at the time. The fragility of the WAC conference led to Texas State opting to join the Sun Belt Conference while UTSA joined Conference USA.

The rivalry was placed on hold until 2014 when both universities agreed to an eight-game series starting in 2017. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemtic, they ended up only playing a one game series in 2020. Then, the series returned for the 2023 season where Texas State and UTSA are scheduled to play every year until 2031.

The Roadrunners have been an constant thorn in the Bobcats side with the series on the gridiron being largely dominated by UTSA. UTSA is currently 5-0 all time against Texas State despite four of the five games being determined by one possession.

In the last meeting between the Bobcats and the Roadrunners, UTSA outscored Texas State 10-3 in the second half to secure the ‘Runners fifth straight win over the ‘Cats.

Game time for Texas State-UTSA is set for 3 p.m. Saturday Sept. 7 at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos. The game will also be broadcast on ESPNU.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc