August 15, 2025 • 20 mins
A former UTSA football player, turned media member, outlines how the Roadrunners reach the conference title & beyond.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Thank you for joining us wherever it is that you
may be around the city of San Antonio, in your car,
in your office, still at home, on the iHeart app,
the free iHeartRadio app where you can make tickets seven
sixty a pre set. We thank you for being part
of our discussion in the world of sports today, the
big news of the day is that Michigan's football program
(00:26):
has been slapped with some hefty penalties for the Conner
Stallion's sign stealings scandal, and Jim Harbaugh needs to show
cause for the next ten years if he wants to
venture back into college sports. My guess is he's pretty
happy where he is with the Chargers and that will
probably be the last job that he ever has. We
(00:47):
may get into some of that in a little bit.
We are two weeks away from the start of the
UTSA football season. Two weeks from tomorrow they'll be in
College Station to take on Texas A and M.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Was announced today.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
We can tell you now where our location will be
this year for the Jeff Trailer radio Show, starting on Wednesday,
the twenty seventh.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
We will be at Ro Rocca and Martillo.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
It is the restaurant out at the Rock behind the
shops at lock in Tara. I believe the street is
Via Mercado and it kind of backs up to Fiesta,
Texas a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But if you have it, or have been out to.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
The Spurs practice facility, their Victory Capital Performance facility, it's
the restaurant. It's a part of that courtyard and everything.
We'll be upstairs on the patio for most of the year,
and we'll look forward to all those of you that
want to come out to enjoy the Jeff Trailer show
from time to time. I think you'll enjoy the experience
(01:48):
out there as well, and the partnership that play Flight
Sports and UTSA now has with the Spurs in that restaurant.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So Ever been to Rocca and Mortillo.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I haven't even been up to the rock yet.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
They don't. They don't allow me up there the like
there's I haven't been printed to access. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Have you crossed to eighty one other than the show
up here at the radio station, Yes, several times, Yes,
I have crossed. How about iten going west? Yes, I
have gone past it west as well, just making sure. Yes,
So Raca and Martillo is our new destination or two
weeks out of or less than two weeks out from
that Wednesday, the twenty seventh will be the first show.
(02:28):
The first date or nine weeks are on Wednesdays, and
then a combination of other things take place, including a
couple of Wednesday or Thursday games, which means that Wednesday
is either a travel day or get out of the
go to a hotel.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Day on the home game.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
And so we'll move those shows to Tuesday, and once
the basketball season comes out, hopefully we can keep everything
on Tuesday. Darien Starling played football for UTSA and the
Larry Coker era, and Darien was a defensive back, played
very well for them. You know, it's kind of interesting
when you look at the roster and we look at
(03:05):
the players that UTSA had for the first handful of years,
and then you compare them to now, it's night and day.
The talent level. A few years ago, about two years ago,
Nate Leonard, who was utsa's starting center was what was
got the head coaching job at Canyon High School up
in New Bronfels, And we had him on the air
(03:27):
and I was talking to him about his perception of
the way that UTSA grew and he said, as far
as I'm concerned we did exactly what we wanted to do.
He said, I was the starting center for that twenty eleven,
twelve and thirteen team, but I couldn't even make the roster.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Now, I wasn't good enough. I know how good I was.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I know how much I love the game, but I
knew what my limitations were. And as I got older,
and even his senior year, he got banged up a
little bit and got beat out for the center job
most of his senior year. And as he looks back
at the program, he says, look at all the players
they have now, and how much more athletic talent they have,
(04:06):
and you know, stronger, faster, bigger, all of those things.
And Darien Starlin did some great things in the Larry
Cocher era for UTSA, but he is now a freelance
writer for The Sporting News and he works with sb
Nation and Viacom. He also has a mixed martial arts
training and he's once he's continuing his work in sports media,
(04:29):
contracts manager for a company and provides n IL compliance
and inside as well. In Iole was not around when
he was around, so I'm sure he's glad that he
can help out players who are trying to get their
INIL money. But in the article that he writes for
the Sporting News, he talks about the headlines is is
(04:50):
how can UTSA win the American Conference? And I will
break the color of the pillar violation, the culture pillar
violation because there's four non conference games that lead up
to the first conference game at Temple.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This isn't Andy Evertt, this is Andy Everett AI. So
he's not breaking.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Any This is me.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I'm not ever going to be a I promise Coach Trailer.
This is not Andy's breaking culture pillar violations.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
The A and M game is the most important game,
and then after that it's the North. It's the Texas
State and UIW and Colorado State games. But whether the
road Runners go four and oh or oh to four
or any other combination that leads up to four, what
UTSA does once the conference season begins is the most
important thing. I every every school, every coach will tell
(05:40):
you winning their conference championship is the highlight of their year. Now,
obviously the Texas is and the Georgia's and the Alabamas,
et cetera have greater aspirations. They want to be holding
that Trophy in late January as the college football national
champion and that to it. But you're never gonna get there,
or at least you have a less than better chance
(06:00):
of getting there if you do not win your conference.
And from an American Conference standpoint, it's really important that
you TSA win its conference and then they can decide
who's the best non power for champion out of all
those leagues. It's winning the conference in the regular season
so that you're one of the two teams that gets
(06:22):
a chance to play at the next level and gets
a chance to play in the championship game. And then
if you're lucky enough, you get to be the eleventh
or twelve seed likely and go play in the Big House,
or go play at Penn State, or maybe go back
up to Texas, or go to Oregon, or go someplace
where you're gonna play the first round of the College
(06:44):
Football Playoff. That's what you're looking forward to. That's the
carrot that you're looking for. I think if UTSA is
going to get into the College Football Playoff, they probably
have to not only win every game in the American Conference,
but they've got to go no worse than three and
one in the non conference, which would include beating everybody
(07:04):
except for Texas A and M. And as much as
I think that you're saying there's a chance when you're
playing Texas A and M, part of the keys to
the Texas A and M game are ken Texas A
and M turn it over or can you make them
turn it over?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Can they make mistakes?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I think UTSA when you compare them to an SEC team,
I think UTSA has got some skilled players that could
play for many teams in the SEC running.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Back, wide, receiver, tight end.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I think they've got some linebackers and safeties and corners
that could play at that level. The question is can
UTSA block Texas A and M's massive defensive line and
can UTSA get off the blocks from A and M's
massive offensive line. Those are the big keys I think
more than anything else going into that first week of
(07:54):
the season. But he talks about winning the conference championship
and UTSA gets to start off. And I hate to
use the word easy games because that would definitely be
a culture about pillar violation. But I would doubt very
seriously if Rice or Temple Temple first and then Rice
at Temple October fourth, then home with Rice on the eleventh.
(08:15):
My guess is neither one of those teams is going
to finish in the top half of the American Conference, so.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
You got to win that one. Then you've got to
go up to North Texas. And North Texas has been.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Down a little bit over the last couple of years,
but at some point they've got to start recruiting and
they could move up the chain, and that's always a
big rivalry game. We have no idea the time of
that game yet, could be anywhere from eleven to seven,
and so that's always kind of a hard place to play.
You're going to get in mid October, you don't know
(08:46):
what the weather's going to be and especially the wind,
and it's an outdoor game. And so that's the game
on the eighteenth, and then you have the game on
the twenty thirty, the thirtieth with two You skip the
twenty fifth and that's the bye week, and then you
have the game with two Lane at home too. Lane
(09:06):
is a really good team. They have a lot of money,
They have a lot of opportunity to to get the
players that they want.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
This is what they do have.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
The quarterback from BYU that transferred there so they're gonna
have to worry about that. But UTSA has a way
of making good quarterbacks not play so well at the Dome.
And I'm going to hang my hat on the home record.
I think they can. They'll win every home game this year.
Remind me what it is again, twenty nine and three. Oh,
so that's pretty good. So I agree with Darien starting
(09:39):
with that, and then after that you go on the
road to South Florida. UTSA has had a little bit
better athletes in South Florida the times that they played them.
That's going to be a tough game that's played at
Raymond James where the Buccaneers.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Play, and then they come home and after that, and they've.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Got the after the South Florida game there Charlotte at Charlotte.
Charlotte's a second a second tier team in the American
Conference East Carolina. I can't imagine they're going to be
as good as they were last year. And again, that's
one of those three or four games that UTSA had
(10:19):
chances to win and didn't close it out. The Tulsa
game in the Rice Game last year were the two
bitter pills to swallow. The game at East Carolina was
winnable for a while, and there was some things that
happened that took momentum away from UTSA at the wrong
time where they could have extended leads. And then they
finish up with East Carolina and Army. Army has got
(10:41):
has been Utsa's achilles al day. Now listen there they
lost a lot of players, and there were several players
I think, and one in particular, big bruising running back
that said, I'm not going to fulfill my obligation.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
To the Army.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
He was a sophomore, and after your sophomore year you
can leave if you want to, but once you take
a class in year three, you're on the hook for
five years after. And I think he either went to
Arizona Arizona State, and so Army's not going to have
they lose their quarterback. But here's the thing about Army.
The Army has the ability to reload, and you're not
(11:19):
playing them until week twelve, so it's like playing them
in their second year almost when you get to that
stage of the season and trying to defend an offense
that you never see with all the misdirection, I mean,
it is the wishbone with motion and It used to
be the wishbone was you know, you're going to full back, dive,
quarterback to the ink, to the edge pitch or keep
(11:40):
though that was the triple option. And now you've got
guys going in motion and you're going left with one
guy and you got the wing back going the other way.
And if you're not one hundred percent an assignments sound
on every single play something where it's gonna happen. To me,
the Army game is the hardest game for me to call.
Of all the play by play I do, the Army
game is the hardest because I go wing back, left,
(12:02):
wing back, right, full back here, wide, receive over here,
three guys switch. Now the formation just changed. Oh they
just snapped the ball. They're going left. No, no, they're
going right.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Who's got the ball? It's it's it's.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Ridiculous to figure out where the ball is. It's like
a magic trick.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Who's on first? No? No, what's on second? Yeah? It
is crazy. That is the hardest.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
When they're on offense, that is the hardest game to
see it and talk about it and get it all
out because they do it so efficiently and so quickly,
and you think they're going left, but they're going right.
And you know, when you watch even in Texas and
A and M, sometimes you can anticipate what's going to
happen by the formation. By you know, you're looking down
at the field. You have no clue what Army's about
(12:47):
to do. So uh, I think that is a h
I think that is the That game could be for
the conference championship, it could be for home field advantage,
it could be for a lot of things going in
the postseason if everything falls according to plan. To me,
if you TSA can stay healthy on the offensive line
(13:07):
and not have major injuries to any skill position players,
I think they're gonna and especially Owen McCown. The backup
quarterback situation is kind of It's not that it's not good,
it's just it's not been tested. You know, Brandon Tennyson
and Max Garlick and a couple others, they just haven't played,
so no one knows what they're like. But if Owen
(13:28):
can play like you did last year and stay healthy,
and obviously the A and M game, you want to
get out of there with a win if you can,
but you also want to get out of there with
nobody injured. You're playing against bigger, stronger, faster competition. But
I think they have a shot. I know that there's
people out there that think that Memphis and South Florida
and Too Lane are better and they're gonna play Too
(13:49):
Lane in South Florida. I think having Too Lane at
home and playing on the road at South Florida are
winnable games. And I think all of the home games
are certainly in their favor, except that the Army game
is the one that you got to overcome. They played them,
I think five times. They're one and four against them,
and the one win was in overtime at Army back
(14:10):
in twenty twenty two. So let's see it's coming up
in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
That being said, the line still is twenty one and
a half is what y'all are facing right now, according
to the boys in the Desert. And again not that
we encourage or are on board with gambling, but I'll
just say that the spread itself, the total spread at
(14:34):
fifty six and a half, take the over, take the
over there, might y'all might get to fifty six by
the first half.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Well, the people are saying that Utsa's defense is going
to be the that's the biggest question the biggest question mark.
But and I don't know who the starters are yet
and who the backups are, but I know who's probably
gonna play a lot. Damian Wimberley had a scoop and
scorelast year against Tulsa. Ty Leonard was was fantastic last year.
(15:06):
Jamie and Buxton was really good. John Jones was really
good and didn't get in until late and.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Had some injury situations. Uh and uh.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Kendrick Blackshire had some injury issues last year. He's gonna
be He'll play a lot. They've got They've got They've
got players that have played a lot, they just have
never been the starter, or if they were the starter,
it was because, you know, somebody pulled a hammy in
the warm up and they had to be inserted into
the starting lineup. So just because you haven't started doesn't
mean that you don't. In the just Lap system, he
(15:38):
plays about thirty to thirty thirty two players every game
on defense, and that's a lot considering that you've got
eleven positions, so you're playing three guys at every position basically,
And so they get a taste of it and he
tries to keep fresh guys out there, and utsa's had
some really good success with defensive depth. So I'm I'm
(15:59):
excited to see what the can do. And the tests
obviously against A and M with their skill set is
gonna showcase exactly what they gotta work on. After that game,
getting ready for Texas State.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, Yeah, and you know we'll we'll find out when
we talked to our buddy and the only Aggie I
root for, Andrew Monico, leading up to that week.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, he'll be We'll get him on the week of
the game at some point, Yeah, and get his thoughts
on all of their players and their teammates and what
they think they're gonna be this year.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I mean, I know it was last year, but I'm
just saying, Andy, last five games UTSA is four and one,
last five games for Little Brother one and four, just
throwing that out there.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I know it last year.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I know it was last year, but just saying saying,
you're gonna be so astatic. You're gonna be so astatic
if UTSA pulled, Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You're gonna excuse me, You're gonna call me and text
me Mike you were right.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, here here's the thing that happens every time in
the in the fourteen years that UTSA has played for ball,
And I'll go back to the first game they ever played.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
The first big road game.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Was at utip There was another one they woned New
Mexico State, and then they won it Baylor in twenty seventeen,
the first time they beat a Power five team. Every
time that there's a momentous shift in the Texas State
game and Jeff's first year that went to a couple
of overtimes and missed extra points and all this kind
(17:26):
of stuff. Every time I see I get a game
like that, there is a lot of stuff I gotta
do betid time the horn goes off, and by the
time we finished the postgame show and answering the phone
is not one of the things that's a priority at all.
It might be, but the text and the phone called,
the phone just it just starts buzzing for the next
(17:47):
ten minutes, and I'm like, I'll get to you. And
then we got to get to the equipment broken down
and get to the bus or the plane or if
we're driving, like we go to College station, we want
to get out of there and go home. Yeah, I'll
call you when I have time. It might be tomorrow,
but I love the text that I love the enthusiasm.
But you may call me, but don't expect me to answer.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now, I'll just patch in and tel Shane to just
pod me up real quick and I'll take over the
broadcast for like three minutes.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Give you a chance to celebrate. So fingers crossed.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
But again, there's always a chance, yeah, well always.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I take the biggest key for UTSA against A and M.
It's for A and M to mess it up early.
If A and M can turn the ball over in
the first two or three possessions and UTSA can score points,
and you get a you know, and not that they
can't come back from a twenty one to nothing deficit
or a ten to nothing deficit or whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
They can.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
They've got enough talent and firepower to do that. But
the way, and I've seen this a lot with UTSA
basketball over the years, UTSA basketball will be playing a
team that they should beat, but they let that team
hang around and then you know, they hit a half
court shot at the buzzer to win. Well, the game
should have been over with five minutes ago on the
clock or ten minutes ago, but you let them hang around,
(19:03):
and if you can get to the fourth quarter, and
you can get late in the fourth quarter with the
lead or a chance to come back, that's where the
Appalachian State A and M, or the Appalachian State game
against Michigan or Northern Illinois is against Northern Illinois against
Notre Dame last year. That's when and how those things happen.
And it's usually because the team that's favored is not
(19:29):
paying attention to their p's and q's as much because of.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The name of the jersey.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
On the other side, I'm interested to see how UTSA
does against Texas A and M, and I don't ever
want to look at moral victories. But the most important
thing is play well, get some reps, make sure that
you know what you're gonna never. You're not gonna play
any team this year that's better than A and M.
And make sure that your star players don't get injured
(19:57):
to the point where they can't play the next couple
of weeks against Texas State and Incarnate Word. And then
the fact that you're playing at home six times, you
certainly have to take care of business there. But I'm
really excited about what the roadrunners have this year. All right, well,
talk about sports gambling coming up next. It's the Andy
Average show on the ticket.
Thank you for joining us wherever it is that you
may be around the city of San Antonio, in your car,
in your office, still at home, on the iHeart app,
the free iHeartRadio app where you can make tickets seven
sixty a pre set. We thank you for being part
of our discussion in the world of sports today, the
big news of the day is that Michigan's football program
(00:26):
has been slapped with some hefty penalties for the Conner
Stallion's sign stealings scandal, and Jim Harbaugh needs to show
cause for the next ten years if he wants to
venture back into college sports. My guess is he's pretty
happy where he is with the Chargers and that will
probably be the last job that he ever has. We
(00:47):
may get into some of that in a little bit.
We are two weeks away from the start of the
UTSA football season. Two weeks from tomorrow they'll be in
College Station to take on Texas A and M.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Was announced today.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
We can tell you now where our location will be
this year for the Jeff Trailer radio Show, starting on Wednesday,
the twenty seventh.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
We will be at Ro Rocca and Martillo.
Speaker 1 (01:10):
It is the restaurant out at the Rock behind the
shops at lock in Tara. I believe the street is
Via Mercado and it kind of backs up to Fiesta,
Texas a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
But if you have it, or have been out to.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
The Spurs practice facility, their Victory Capital Performance facility, it's
the restaurant. It's a part of that courtyard and everything.
We'll be upstairs on the patio for most of the year,
and we'll look forward to all those of you that
want to come out to enjoy the Jeff Trailer show
from time to time. I think you'll enjoy the experience
(01:48):
out there as well, and the partnership that play Flight
Sports and UTSA now has with the Spurs in that restaurant.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
So Ever been to Rocca and Mortillo.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
I haven't even been up to the rock yet.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
They don't. They don't allow me up there the like
there's I haven't been printed to access. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Have you crossed to eighty one other than the show
up here at the radio station, Yes, several times, Yes,
I have crossed. How about iten going west? Yes, I
have gone past it west as well, just making sure. Yes,
So Raca and Martillo is our new destination or two
weeks out of or less than two weeks out from
that Wednesday, the twenty seventh will be the first show.
(02:28):
The first date or nine weeks are on Wednesdays, and
then a combination of other things take place, including a
couple of Wednesday or Thursday games, which means that Wednesday
is either a travel day or get out of the
go to a hotel.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Day on the home game.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
And so we'll move those shows to Tuesday, and once
the basketball season comes out, hopefully we can keep everything
on Tuesday. Darien Starling played football for UTSA and the
Larry Coker era, and Darien was a defensive back, played
very well for them. You know, it's kind of interesting
when you look at the roster and we look at
(03:05):
the players that UTSA had for the first handful of years,
and then you compare them to now, it's night and day.
The talent level. A few years ago, about two years ago,
Nate Leonard, who was utsa's starting center was what was
got the head coaching job at Canyon High School up
in New Bronfels, And we had him on the air
(03:27):
and I was talking to him about his perception of
the way that UTSA grew and he said, as far
as I'm concerned we did exactly what we wanted to do.
He said, I was the starting center for that twenty eleven,
twelve and thirteen team, but I couldn't even make the roster.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Now, I wasn't good enough. I know how good I was.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I know how much I love the game, but I
knew what my limitations were. And as I got older,
and even his senior year, he got banged up a
little bit and got beat out for the center job
most of his senior year. And as he looks back
at the program, he says, look at all the players
they have now, and how much more athletic talent they have,
(04:06):
and you know, stronger, faster, bigger, all of those things.
And Darien Starlin did some great things in the Larry
Cocher era for UTSA, but he is now a freelance
writer for The Sporting News and he works with sb
Nation and Viacom. He also has a mixed martial arts
training and he's once he's continuing his work in sports media,
(04:29):
contracts manager for a company and provides n IL compliance
and inside as well. In Iole was not around when
he was around, so I'm sure he's glad that he
can help out players who are trying to get their
INIL money. But in the article that he writes for
the Sporting News, he talks about the headlines is is
(04:50):
how can UTSA win the American Conference? And I will
break the color of the pillar violation, the culture pillar
violation because there's four non conference games that lead up
to the first conference game at Temple.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
This isn't Andy Evertt, this is Andy Everett AI. So
he's not breaking.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Any This is me.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
I'm not ever going to be a I promise Coach Trailer.
This is not Andy's breaking culture pillar violations.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
The A and M game is the most important game,
and then after that it's the North. It's the Texas
State and UIW and Colorado State games. But whether the
road Runners go four and oh or oh to four
or any other combination that leads up to four, what
UTSA does once the conference season begins is the most
important thing. I every every school, every coach will tell
(05:40):
you winning their conference championship is the highlight of their year. Now,
obviously the Texas is and the Georgia's and the Alabamas,
et cetera have greater aspirations. They want to be holding
that Trophy in late January as the college football national
champion and that to it. But you're never gonna get there,
or at least you have a less than better chance
(06:00):
of getting there if you do not win your conference.
And from an American Conference standpoint, it's really important that
you TSA win its conference and then they can decide
who's the best non power for champion out of all
those leagues. It's winning the conference in the regular season
so that you're one of the two teams that gets
(06:22):
a chance to play at the next level and gets
a chance to play in the championship game. And then
if you're lucky enough, you get to be the eleventh
or twelve seed likely and go play in the Big House,
or go play at Penn State, or maybe go back
up to Texas, or go to Oregon, or go someplace
where you're gonna play the first round of the College
(06:44):
Football Playoff. That's what you're looking forward to. That's the
carrot that you're looking for. I think if UTSA is
going to get into the College Football Playoff, they probably
have to not only win every game in the American Conference,
but they've got to go no worse than three and
one in the non conference, which would include beating everybody
(07:04):
except for Texas A and M. And as much as
I think that you're saying there's a chance when you're
playing Texas A and M, part of the keys to
the Texas A and M game are ken Texas A
and M turn it over or can you make them
turn it over?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Can they make mistakes?
Speaker 1 (07:21):
I think UTSA when you compare them to an SEC team,
I think UTSA has got some skilled players that could
play for many teams in the SEC running.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Back, wide, receiver, tight end.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
I think they've got some linebackers and safeties and corners
that could play at that level. The question is can
UTSA block Texas A and M's massive defensive line and
can UTSA get off the blocks from A and M's
massive offensive line. Those are the big keys I think
more than anything else going into that first week of
(07:54):
the season. But he talks about winning the conference championship
and UTSA gets to start off. And I hate to
use the word easy games because that would definitely be
a culture about pillar violation. But I would doubt very
seriously if Rice or Temple Temple first and then Rice
at Temple October fourth, then home with Rice on the eleventh.
(08:15):
My guess is neither one of those teams is going
to finish in the top half of the American Conference, so.
Speaker 2 (08:21):
You got to win that one. Then you've got to
go up to North Texas. And North Texas has been.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Down a little bit over the last couple of years,
but at some point they've got to start recruiting and
they could move up the chain, and that's always a
big rivalry game. We have no idea the time of
that game yet, could be anywhere from eleven to seven,
and so that's always kind of a hard place to play.
You're going to get in mid October, you don't know
(08:46):
what the weather's going to be and especially the wind,
and it's an outdoor game. And so that's the game
on the eighteenth, and then you have the game on
the twenty thirty, the thirtieth with two You skip the
twenty fifth and that's the bye week, and then you
have the game with two Lane at home too. Lane
(09:06):
is a really good team. They have a lot of money,
They have a lot of opportunity to to get the
players that they want.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
This is what they do have.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
The quarterback from BYU that transferred there so they're gonna
have to worry about that. But UTSA has a way
of making good quarterbacks not play so well at the Dome.
And I'm going to hang my hat on the home record.
I think they can. They'll win every home game this year.
Remind me what it is again, twenty nine and three. Oh,
so that's pretty good. So I agree with Darien starting
(09:39):
with that, and then after that you go on the
road to South Florida. UTSA has had a little bit
better athletes in South Florida the times that they played them.
That's going to be a tough game that's played at
Raymond James where the Buccaneers.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Play, and then they come home and after that, and they've.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Got the after the South Florida game there Charlotte at Charlotte.
Charlotte's a second a second tier team in the American
Conference East Carolina. I can't imagine they're going to be
as good as they were last year. And again, that's
one of those three or four games that UTSA had
(10:19):
chances to win and didn't close it out. The Tulsa
game in the Rice Game last year were the two
bitter pills to swallow. The game at East Carolina was
winnable for a while, and there was some things that
happened that took momentum away from UTSA at the wrong
time where they could have extended leads. And then they
finish up with East Carolina and Army. Army has got
(10:41):
has been Utsa's achilles al day. Now listen there they
lost a lot of players, and there were several players
I think, and one in particular, big bruising running back
that said, I'm not going to fulfill my obligation.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
To the Army.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
He was a sophomore, and after your sophomore year you
can leave if you want to, but once you take
a class in year three, you're on the hook for
five years after. And I think he either went to
Arizona Arizona State, and so Army's not going to have
they lose their quarterback. But here's the thing about Army.
The Army has the ability to reload, and you're not
(11:19):
playing them until week twelve, so it's like playing them
in their second year almost when you get to that
stage of the season and trying to defend an offense
that you never see with all the misdirection, I mean,
it is the wishbone with motion and It used to
be the wishbone was you know, you're going to full back, dive,
quarterback to the ink, to the edge pitch or keep
(11:40):
though that was the triple option. And now you've got
guys going in motion and you're going left with one
guy and you got the wing back going the other way.
And if you're not one hundred percent an assignments sound
on every single play something where it's gonna happen. To me,
the Army game is the hardest game for me to call.
Of all the play by play I do, the Army
game is the hardest because I go wing back, left,
(12:02):
wing back, right, full back here, wide, receive over here,
three guys switch. Now the formation just changed. Oh they
just snapped the ball. They're going left. No, no, they're
going right.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Who's got the ball? It's it's it's.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Ridiculous to figure out where the ball is. It's like
a magic trick.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Who's on first? No? No, what's on second? Yeah? It
is crazy. That is the hardest.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
When they're on offense, that is the hardest game to
see it and talk about it and get it all
out because they do it so efficiently and so quickly,
and you think they're going left, but they're going right.
And you know, when you watch even in Texas and
A and M, sometimes you can anticipate what's going to
happen by the formation. By you know, you're looking down
at the field. You have no clue what Army's about
(12:47):
to do. So uh, I think that is a h
I think that is the That game could be for
the conference championship, it could be for home field advantage,
it could be for a lot of things going in
the postseason if everything falls according to plan. To me,
if you TSA can stay healthy on the offensive line
(13:07):
and not have major injuries to any skill position players,
I think they're gonna and especially Owen McCown. The backup
quarterback situation is kind of It's not that it's not good,
it's just it's not been tested. You know, Brandon Tennyson
and Max Garlick and a couple others, they just haven't played,
so no one knows what they're like. But if Owen
(13:28):
can play like you did last year and stay healthy,
and obviously the A and M game, you want to
get out of there with a win if you can,
but you also want to get out of there with
nobody injured. You're playing against bigger, stronger, faster competition. But
I think they have a shot. I know that there's
people out there that think that Memphis and South Florida
and Too Lane are better and they're gonna play Too
(13:49):
Lane in South Florida. I think having Too Lane at
home and playing on the road at South Florida are
winnable games. And I think all of the home games
are certainly in their favor, except that the Army game
is the one that you got to overcome. They played them,
I think five times. They're one and four against them,
and the one win was in overtime at Army back
(14:10):
in twenty twenty two. So let's see it's coming up
in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
That being said, the line still is twenty one and
a half is what y'all are facing right now, according
to the boys in the Desert. And again not that
we encourage or are on board with gambling, but I'll
just say that the spread itself, the total spread at
(14:34):
fifty six and a half, take the over, take the
over there, might y'all might get to fifty six by
the first half.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Well, the people are saying that Utsa's defense is going
to be the that's the biggest question the biggest question mark.
But and I don't know who the starters are yet
and who the backups are, but I know who's probably
gonna play a lot. Damian Wimberley had a scoop and
scorelast year against Tulsa. Ty Leonard was was fantastic last year.
(15:06):
Jamie and Buxton was really good. John Jones was really
good and didn't get in until late and.
Speaker 2 (15:10):
Had some injury situations. Uh and uh.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Kendrick Blackshire had some injury issues last year. He's gonna
be He'll play a lot. They've got They've got They've
got players that have played a lot, they just have
never been the starter, or if they were the starter,
it was because, you know, somebody pulled a hammy in
the warm up and they had to be inserted into
the starting lineup. So just because you haven't started doesn't
mean that you don't. In the just Lap system, he
(15:38):
plays about thirty to thirty thirty two players every game
on defense, and that's a lot considering that you've got
eleven positions, so you're playing three guys at every position basically,
And so they get a taste of it and he
tries to keep fresh guys out there, and utsa's had
some really good success with defensive depth. So I'm I'm
(15:59):
excited to see what the can do. And the tests
obviously against A and M with their skill set is
gonna showcase exactly what they gotta work on. After that game,
getting ready for Texas State.
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Yeah, Yeah, and you know we'll we'll find out when
we talked to our buddy and the only Aggie I
root for, Andrew Monico, leading up to that week.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
Yeah, he'll be We'll get him on the week of
the game at some point, Yeah, and get his thoughts
on all of their players and their teammates and what
they think they're gonna be this year.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I mean, I know it was last year, but I'm
just saying, Andy, last five games UTSA is four and one,
last five games for Little Brother one and four, just
throwing that out there.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
I know it last year.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
I know it was last year, but just saying saying,
you're gonna be so astatic. You're gonna be so astatic
if UTSA pulled, Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
You're gonna excuse me, You're gonna call me and text
me Mike you were right.
Speaker 1 (16:52):
Well, here here's the thing that happens every time in
the in the fourteen years that UTSA has played for ball,
And I'll go back to the first game they ever played.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
The first big road game.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Was at utip There was another one they woned New
Mexico State, and then they won it Baylor in twenty seventeen,
the first time they beat a Power five team. Every
time that there's a momentous shift in the Texas State
game and Jeff's first year that went to a couple
of overtimes and missed extra points and all this kind
(17:26):
of stuff. Every time I see I get a game
like that, there is a lot of stuff I gotta
do betid time the horn goes off, and by the
time we finished the postgame show and answering the phone
is not one of the things that's a priority at all.
It might be, but the text and the phone called,
the phone just it just starts buzzing for the next
(17:47):
ten minutes, and I'm like, I'll get to you. And
then we got to get to the equipment broken down
and get to the bus or the plane or if
we're driving, like we go to College station, we want
to get out of there and go home. Yeah, I'll
call you when I have time. It might be tomorrow,
but I love the text that I love the enthusiasm.
But you may call me, but don't expect me to answer.
Speaker 3 (18:08):
Now, I'll just patch in and tel Shane to just
pod me up real quick and I'll take over the
broadcast for like three minutes.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
Give you a chance to celebrate. So fingers crossed.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
But again, there's always a chance, yeah, well always.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
I take the biggest key for UTSA against A and M.
It's for A and M to mess it up early.
If A and M can turn the ball over in
the first two or three possessions and UTSA can score points,
and you get a you know, and not that they
can't come back from a twenty one to nothing deficit
or a ten to nothing deficit or whatever it is.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
They can.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
They've got enough talent and firepower to do that. But
the way, and I've seen this a lot with UTSA
basketball over the years, UTSA basketball will be playing a
team that they should beat, but they let that team
hang around and then you know, they hit a half
court shot at the buzzer to win. Well, the game
should have been over with five minutes ago on the
clock or ten minutes ago, but you let them hang around,
(19:03):
and if you can get to the fourth quarter, and
you can get late in the fourth quarter with the
lead or a chance to come back, that's where the
Appalachian State A and M, or the Appalachian State game
against Michigan or Northern Illinois is against Northern Illinois against
Notre Dame last year. That's when and how those things happen.
And it's usually because the team that's favored is not
(19:29):
paying attention to their p's and q's as much because of.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
The name of the jersey.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
On the other side, I'm interested to see how UTSA
does against Texas A and M, and I don't ever
want to look at moral victories. But the most important
thing is play well, get some reps, make sure that
you know what you're gonna never. You're not gonna play
any team this year that's better than A and M.
And make sure that your star players don't get injured
(19:57):
to the point where they can't play the next couple
of weeks against Texas State and Incarnate Word. And then
the fact that you're playing at home six times, you
certainly have to take care of business there. But I'm
really excited about what the roadrunners have this year. All right, well,
talk about sports gambling coming up next. It's the Andy
Average show on the ticket.
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