Frank Harris finished 28 of 36 for 206 yards, 3 scores and one interception. Oh yeah and he added 123 yards on the ground on 15 carries and more than a few play-extending scrambles that kept plays alive. UTSA won 35-7 in against fellow San Antonio squad Incarnate Word in the Hometown showdown.
UTSA’s offense was horrible last year. New OC Jeff Kastl was promoted to offensive coordinator before the finale last year to improve that but the real catalyst was always going to be at QB. Frank Harris won the job last year but was injured. The never-ending list of QBs that competed to replace him all underwhelmed overall, however many bright spots there were.
In the Hometown Showdown, as this matchup was dubbed, UIW looked to be spunky and competitive until they had to get Harris in the grasp. He spun, sprinted, and avoided various Cardinals to make plays — or avoid bad ones.
UTSA is no offensive juggernaut, but they are vastly improved simply because of the dynamic dimension brought by their QB. On one play, he avoided a tackle, and pushed-passed it to a RB for a 7-yard gain.
The little things make all the difference in morale. Knowing you have a player that can make things happen galvanizes and entire team. The offense put up 490 yards of offense — they had only one 400 yard game in all of 2018 (finale against NT, the last time Kastl called the game) and only one other 300+ game all season. The last time UTSA had more than 450 in a game was against Texas St in 2017.
This league — and the West division in particular — are wide-open and every team has a weakness. A UTSA squad with an offense? Well, that is a Roadrunner of a different color.
[…] in good shape. Again, when things had not improved after another coordinator change. We had hope after one game, when the offense had then had two good offensive games in a row (last year vs UNT and opener vs […]