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Despite three turnovers vs. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky comes off of a loss to Troy, as it allowed the Trojans to score 34 points on seven trips beyond the yard line. Although the Hilltoppers are still an elite passing offense — similar to last season — there are cracks in the armor worn by Big Red. The loss of Zappe — along with offensive coordinator Zach Kittley — has forced a drop off in several areas.
In 77 red-zone trips, the Hilltoppers offense scored in all but seven tries. This season, Western Kentucky has failed to score in the red zone on six of 26 attempts, with a drop in touchdown rate. It’s all WKUFootball so far in this one pic. The numbers for transfer quarterback Austin Reed look great on the surface only four interceptions with 17 touchdowns , but a closer look exposes 11 Big Time Throws against 10 Turnover Worthy Plays. Helton is fielding similar numbers in stopping opposing offenses, a long shot from the menacing Group of Five units from just a few years ago.
While Western Kentucky has fallen off in generating Havoc and tackling fundamentals, Kahlef Hailassie has been ambiguous at the corner position.
Hailassie has been targeted 38 times so far this season, forcing five incompletions but also giving up yards. The corner is second among all players in FBS when it comes to pass-play stops , a tackle that constitutes a failure for the offense, per PFF.
Head coach Jeff Traylor was tasked with replacing one of the most productive running backs in the nation in McCormick. Arkansas transfer Trelon Smith and fifth-year senior Brenden Brady have yet to fill that role. The running back tandem has produced just 21 missed tackles, with neither averaging more than 2. Thankfully, quarterback Frank Harris supplies more productivity on the ground than almost any quarterback in the nation.
The focus of the offense has moved to a pass-heavy attack without explosiveness on the ground. The defense has maintained a top Success Rate mark from a season ago, but UTSA continues to be shelled by explosive plays.
The Roadrunners are outside the top in opponent yard plays from scrimmage , with the biggest portion of those issues coming on Standard Downs. Most defenses that struggle with tackling are prone to explosive plays, but with a mid-FBS ranking in tackle grading, these issues fall upon missed assignments from the secondary. UTSA has scored more points in the second quarter than any other quarter in all FBS games so far, as each attempt to establish the ground game has been relegated to Harris keeping the ball on zone reads for designed rushing attempts or deep passes.
Western Kentucky is a top defense in terms of Line Yards, which means Harris will take it to the skies often. The fourth-year defender has seen increased targets from opposing quarterbacks, as eight Middle Tennessee passing attempts were directly at the linebacker.
Harmanson has one of the worst coverage grades in FBS for a starter, which is great news for slot receivers Malachi Corley and Michael Mathison. The Conference USA rematch. Will the Roadrunners repeat a winning performance or will the Hilltoppers finally win in San Antonio?
UTSA leads series See draftkings. UTSA and WKU met twice last year and both times fans were treated to an offensive spectacle where the game was not decided until the final play. Second, neither team has really taken a step back and fans will almost surely see a repeat performance on Saturday. Both teams are through five games, average over 35 points and yards of passing offensive per game, and boast quarterbacks that have already thrown for over 1, yards.
While no outcome is a guarantee, it is hard not to believe this rematch will be anything but another shootout. Last year it was UTSA. But the margin of error is narrow enough that WKU is more than capable of claiming the victory. And no matter who prevails this round, both teams have strong chances of making it back to the championship for a second rematch in as many years.
There is little left to say about him and his capabilities. Harris has already racked up three consecutive offensive player of the week awards and he continues, as he did last year, to dominate nearly every defense he plays against.
And he has orchestrated numerous game-winning, or game-tying, drives in his career. In the two matchups last year Harris accounted for passing yards, rushing yards, and nine touchdowns while JT Clark caught 12 passes for yards and four touchdowns. Clark has already eclipsed yards this season, has scored six times, and has gained over yards in each of his last two games.
Franklin and Cephus are not far behind; Franklin has yards with 6 touchdowns and Cephus has yards with two touchdowns. But the Roadrunners continue to be vulnerable on defense, especially when playing WKU.
UTSA is giving up an average of points per game and has been particularly vulnerable in passing defense. Army had a year high passing game when they played the Roadrunners, and the team gets repeatedly exposed on the big plays.
Nevertheless, UTSA has shown a proclivity, both this year and last year, for making the stop when it counts. And the defense has played strong competition—Houston, Texas, and Middle Tennessee—that partially skews the statistics. But against an explosive offense like WKU if the defense cannot find a way to make a stop, it will become that much more important for the offense to pick up the slack. Even so, running backs Brendan Brady and Trelon Smith have been consistent, and with the probable return of offensive lineman Makai Hart the Roadrunners could find some success running the ball.
– Western kentucky football
After a win over Middle Tennessee State on September 30, the UTSA Roadrunners are riding a two-game win streak heading back home for a rematch of last season’s conference championship game. The last time these two teams played against each other was in front of a hyped San Antonio crowd last December. JaQues Evans leads the Hilltoppers’ defense with 4.
He could have a big game in the trenches against UTSA’s offensive line. While Evans causes problems on the defensive side of the ball, quarterback Austin Reed is attacking opposing defenses through the air.
Reed comes into the game with 1, passing yards and 17 touchdowns. He is averaging On the year, Harris has thrown for 1, yards and 12 touchdowns and rushed for yards and four touchdowns. All eyes will be on Harris to see if he can duplicate that performance against another conference foe.
On defense, Jamal Ligon leads the Roadrunners with 38 tackles , two quarterback hurries, and one forced fumble. The Roadrunners have been hit by injuries all season long, but UTSA could see some starters come back.
Two weeks ago, UTSA had 21 players on the injury report. Right tackle Makai Hart, who was injured just six plays into the first game of the year against Houston, will be a game-time decision.
He is one of “four to five” game-time decisions that will be made on Saturday, according to a Express News report. The game will be downtown at the Alamodome with kickoff set for 5 p. Most Popular.
