Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Friday, September 30
6:30 PM CT
Middle Tennessee
vs
UTSA
Preview: Q&A with the Alamodome Audible’s Jared Kalmus
9/29/2022 1:14:00 PM | Football
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Right from the jump in Rick Stockstill's Monday press conference, the 17th year head coach was effusive in his praise of the UTSA Roadrunners.
"San Antonio, obviously, is a very good football team," Stockstill said. "They're the defending conference champions. Not probably, but they have the best quarterback that we've faced so far this year... Defensively, the thing that stands out the most is just how fast they are at every position. Their defensive line is big and athletic, they can run. Their linebackers and DBs are really fast guys also. It's a really talented team."
It's hard not to be impressed with what head coach Jeff Traylor has put together at UTSA, where the Roadrunners enter Friday night's game against MTSU as the defending Conference USA Champions after a 12-win season in 2021 that saw the Roadrunners reach the Top 25 at different points late in their championship run.
The Blue Raiders, meanwhile, have worked to maintain their focus after grabbing national attention in their upset over then No. 25 Miami ahead of both team's C-USA opener in 2022. With the Friday night kickoff scheduled for 6:30 pm on CBS Sports Network, even more eyes will turn to Murfreesboro to see what the Blue Raiders have in store.
As for the Roadrunners, with the return of all-conference quarterback Frank Harris on offense alongside three stellar senior wideouts (De'Corian Clark, Joshua Cephus and Zakhari Franklin), the UTSA offense is humming despite two tough losses in their first four games to Houston and Texas. The Roadrunners are tossing the ball for 351.5 yards per game, all in route to a scalding 37.0 points per game to start the year.
"They're getting more opportunities this year than they did last year because they are throwing the ball more than they did last year," Stockstill said of the wideout trio. "They are all catching quick screens, fast screens, they're all catching that. They're all throwing deeper balls down the field. You can't look at one and say he's this guy, this guy is their screen guy or this guy is their intermediate guy. They're all involved in the offense."
As for Harris, he presents a particular threat that has plagued MTSU defenses in the past: pass-first quarterbacks who can scramble. Harris is the team's second leading rusher, averaging 5.4 yards a carry while also posting the team's longest run of the year (38 yards) and two touchdowns.
"He gets the ball out quick, he has one of the quickest releases in the country," defensive end Jordan Ferguson said. "He's a very humble kid who's tough. Whenever we hit him, he gets right back up. He can throw the ball deep, he can use his legs.
"We've just got to cage him up this week, keep him in the pocket. And when we do (get home), we've got to get him on the ground quick. We can't have our DBs covering all the time."
On the opposite side of the ball, UTSA has given up plenty of points to start the year, ranking 113th among all FBS teams by averaging 35.0 points given up a game. That doesn't mean the unit is without strengths, thanks to some impressive defensive line play which has resulted in good tackle for loss numbers (6.8 per game, tied for 29th in the nation).
Rick Stockstill, as he did last week against Miami, was sure to praise the speed of UTSA's back-7. But after three straight games of at least 34 points, quarterback Chase Cunningham only projected confidence in the continued development of MTSU's air raid offense.
"I think we've just got to do what we've done the past couple of weeks, focus on ourselves, and that'll take care of it," Cunningham said.
To get a closer look at the Roadrunners, GoBlueRaiders.com Staff Writer Sam Doughton sat down with Jared Kalmus, Publisher & Producer of the Alamodome Audible podcast, giving Roadrunner fans an inside look every week at UTSA athletics. You can find his work, including a game preview of MTSU (and a Blue Raider insider look from Sam Doughton if you subscribe to their Patreon) at https://alamodomeaudible.com.
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1. UTSA has done what any program should do after their first banner season in program history and schedule tough non-conference to continue to build. What's been the fan base's reaction to the 2-2 start against what's likely the toughest non-con slate in Conference USA this season, with games against Houston, Army and Texas?
I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the fan base has responded to the 2-2 start. A strong showing against the Longhorns in Austin definitely helped to keep the casual fans engaged. While the Roadrunners have already tied their number of losses from last season, both losses were incredibly entertaining as the Roadrunners played pretty good football in both games. The fans seem to realize how difficult the non-conference schedule was and are onboard with a "reset" heading into conference play as UTSA seeks to defend their title.
2. Frank Harris seems to be playing at an even higher level this season than he did last year for the Roadrunners, with Rick Stockstill noting that Jeff Traylor seems to trust him even more, giving him about 40 passing opportunities a game. Is that more a product of the graduation of running back Sincere McCormick, or has Harris' development led to that change (or somewhere in between)?
I think it's a bit of both, in addition to how opposing defenses have played UTSA this year. I have no doubt that UTSA would like to see a better distribution of carries to passes but the Roadrunners have had their hand forced a bit. Defenses continue to defend heavily against the run, while the Roadrunners have suffered injuries to four running backs and three offensive tackles. Thankfully for Jeff Traylor, Frank Harris and his receivers have done a great job of minimizing the risks of throwing the ball around the yard.
3. De'Corian Clark, Joshua Cephus and Zakhari Franklin are lighting it up at receiver this year for UTSA. Stockstill said they all can play multiple roles in the Roadrunner offense, but would you say is the best trait for each receiver?
Starting with De'Corian (JT) Clark, the 6'3", 210 wideout has the sheer physicality to win a 1:1 jump ball with any defender. Josh Cephus excels at adding yardage after the catch, while Zakhari Franklin has a silkiness to him that allows him to get open seemingly on demand. Each bring their own flair and talent to the roster, but all three will leave UTSA as the top receivers in program history.
4. Advanced analytics have not been kind to the UTSA defense this season, with Bill Connelly's SP+ having the Roadrunners' defense ranked 105 out of 131 FBS teams at the start of this week. Is that more a product of a tough opening schedule, or are there bigger problems on that side of the ball that has the coaching staff worried at this point in the season?
The Roadrunners have struggled with a different facet of defense in each game, surprisingly enough. UTSA's defense played spectacularly well against Houston until quarterback Clayton Tune started to scramble for first downs down the stretch. Jess Loepp's defense completely shut down Army's triple option offense, but selling out to stop the run left them in a lot of 1:1 mismatches that Army was able to exploit in the passing game. Jumping ahead to the game against Texas, UTSA simply couldn't bring down the Longhorns' two NFL-talent running backs. Then lastly, we saw UTSA fail to fill gaps in the run game against Texas Southern.
While UTSA returned almost all of their offense this year, the defense features a lot of first-time starters so growing pains have been evident. Most notably, the Roadrunners have struggled to convert quarterback pressures to sacks, something that UTSA didn't have a problem with last year before losing two of their top pass rushers to the NFL.
5. UTSA is slightly favored heading into Friday night. What do you think the keys will be for the Roadrunners to start off on the right foot in defending their C-USA title in conference play?
Due to the injuries listed earlier, UTSA is down to just a true sophomore walk-on right tackle. The Roadrunners will need to scheme around that poor fortune to make sure Jordan Ferguson doesn't live in the backfield on Friday. Defensively, the Roadrunners will need to avoid the same mistakes Miami made last week in giving up big gains through the air while in zone coverage. It's been a consistent problem for the Roadrunners dating back to last season.
"San Antonio, obviously, is a very good football team," Stockstill said. "They're the defending conference champions. Not probably, but they have the best quarterback that we've faced so far this year... Defensively, the thing that stands out the most is just how fast they are at every position. Their defensive line is big and athletic, they can run. Their linebackers and DBs are really fast guys also. It's a really talented team."
It's hard not to be impressed with what head coach Jeff Traylor has put together at UTSA, where the Roadrunners enter Friday night's game against MTSU as the defending Conference USA Champions after a 12-win season in 2021 that saw the Roadrunners reach the Top 25 at different points late in their championship run.
The Blue Raiders, meanwhile, have worked to maintain their focus after grabbing national attention in their upset over then No. 25 Miami ahead of both team's C-USA opener in 2022. With the Friday night kickoff scheduled for 6:30 pm on CBS Sports Network, even more eyes will turn to Murfreesboro to see what the Blue Raiders have in store.
As for the Roadrunners, with the return of all-conference quarterback Frank Harris on offense alongside three stellar senior wideouts (De'Corian Clark, Joshua Cephus and Zakhari Franklin), the UTSA offense is humming despite two tough losses in their first four games to Houston and Texas. The Roadrunners are tossing the ball for 351.5 yards per game, all in route to a scalding 37.0 points per game to start the year.
"They're getting more opportunities this year than they did last year because they are throwing the ball more than they did last year," Stockstill said of the wideout trio. "They are all catching quick screens, fast screens, they're all catching that. They're all throwing deeper balls down the field. You can't look at one and say he's this guy, this guy is their screen guy or this guy is their intermediate guy. They're all involved in the offense."
As for Harris, he presents a particular threat that has plagued MTSU defenses in the past: pass-first quarterbacks who can scramble. Harris is the team's second leading rusher, averaging 5.4 yards a carry while also posting the team's longest run of the year (38 yards) and two touchdowns.
"He gets the ball out quick, he has one of the quickest releases in the country," defensive end Jordan Ferguson said. "He's a very humble kid who's tough. Whenever we hit him, he gets right back up. He can throw the ball deep, he can use his legs.
"We've just got to cage him up this week, keep him in the pocket. And when we do (get home), we've got to get him on the ground quick. We can't have our DBs covering all the time."
On the opposite side of the ball, UTSA has given up plenty of points to start the year, ranking 113th among all FBS teams by averaging 35.0 points given up a game. That doesn't mean the unit is without strengths, thanks to some impressive defensive line play which has resulted in good tackle for loss numbers (6.8 per game, tied for 29th in the nation).
Rick Stockstill, as he did last week against Miami, was sure to praise the speed of UTSA's back-7. But after three straight games of at least 34 points, quarterback Chase Cunningham only projected confidence in the continued development of MTSU's air raid offense.
"I think we've just got to do what we've done the past couple of weeks, focus on ourselves, and that'll take care of it," Cunningham said.
To get a closer look at the Roadrunners, GoBlueRaiders.com Staff Writer Sam Doughton sat down with Jared Kalmus, Publisher & Producer of the Alamodome Audible podcast, giving Roadrunner fans an inside look every week at UTSA athletics. You can find his work, including a game preview of MTSU (and a Blue Raider insider look from Sam Doughton if you subscribe to their Patreon) at https://alamodomeaudible.com.
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1. UTSA has done what any program should do after their first banner season in program history and schedule tough non-conference to continue to build. What's been the fan base's reaction to the 2-2 start against what's likely the toughest non-con slate in Conference USA this season, with games against Houston, Army and Texas?
I've been pleasantly surprised at how well the fan base has responded to the 2-2 start. A strong showing against the Longhorns in Austin definitely helped to keep the casual fans engaged. While the Roadrunners have already tied their number of losses from last season, both losses were incredibly entertaining as the Roadrunners played pretty good football in both games. The fans seem to realize how difficult the non-conference schedule was and are onboard with a "reset" heading into conference play as UTSA seeks to defend their title.
2. Frank Harris seems to be playing at an even higher level this season than he did last year for the Roadrunners, with Rick Stockstill noting that Jeff Traylor seems to trust him even more, giving him about 40 passing opportunities a game. Is that more a product of the graduation of running back Sincere McCormick, or has Harris' development led to that change (or somewhere in between)?
I think it's a bit of both, in addition to how opposing defenses have played UTSA this year. I have no doubt that UTSA would like to see a better distribution of carries to passes but the Roadrunners have had their hand forced a bit. Defenses continue to defend heavily against the run, while the Roadrunners have suffered injuries to four running backs and three offensive tackles. Thankfully for Jeff Traylor, Frank Harris and his receivers have done a great job of minimizing the risks of throwing the ball around the yard.
3. De'Corian Clark, Joshua Cephus and Zakhari Franklin are lighting it up at receiver this year for UTSA. Stockstill said they all can play multiple roles in the Roadrunner offense, but would you say is the best trait for each receiver?
Starting with De'Corian (JT) Clark, the 6'3", 210 wideout has the sheer physicality to win a 1:1 jump ball with any defender. Josh Cephus excels at adding yardage after the catch, while Zakhari Franklin has a silkiness to him that allows him to get open seemingly on demand. Each bring their own flair and talent to the roster, but all three will leave UTSA as the top receivers in program history.
4. Advanced analytics have not been kind to the UTSA defense this season, with Bill Connelly's SP+ having the Roadrunners' defense ranked 105 out of 131 FBS teams at the start of this week. Is that more a product of a tough opening schedule, or are there bigger problems on that side of the ball that has the coaching staff worried at this point in the season?
The Roadrunners have struggled with a different facet of defense in each game, surprisingly enough. UTSA's defense played spectacularly well against Houston until quarterback Clayton Tune started to scramble for first downs down the stretch. Jess Loepp's defense completely shut down Army's triple option offense, but selling out to stop the run left them in a lot of 1:1 mismatches that Army was able to exploit in the passing game. Jumping ahead to the game against Texas, UTSA simply couldn't bring down the Longhorns' two NFL-talent running backs. Then lastly, we saw UTSA fail to fill gaps in the run game against Texas Southern.
While UTSA returned almost all of their offense this year, the defense features a lot of first-time starters so growing pains have been evident. Most notably, the Roadrunners have struggled to convert quarterback pressures to sacks, something that UTSA didn't have a problem with last year before losing two of their top pass rushers to the NFL.
5. UTSA is slightly favored heading into Friday night. What do you think the keys will be for the Roadrunners to start off on the right foot in defending their C-USA title in conference play?
Due to the injuries listed earlier, UTSA is down to just a true sophomore walk-on right tackle. The Roadrunners will need to scheme around that poor fortune to make sure Jordan Ferguson doesn't live in the backfield on Friday. Defensively, the Roadrunners will need to avoid the same mistakes Miami made last week in giving up big gains through the air while in zone coverage. It's been a consistent problem for the Roadrunners dating back to last season.
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