Frisco, TX – Just in case you great football fans missed it; History was made today! University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners has won their first ever bowl game!!!! The Scooters Coffee Frisco Bowl was in full effect Tuesday night as the UTSA Roadrunners (9-4) came out on top over the Marshall Thundering Herd (6-7) with the ending score of 35-17. Without their starting quarterback Frank Harris being able to lead the team to this victory, the Roadrunners were directed by their stellar receiver Joshua Cephus, who sliced up the defense for 7 spectacular catches, 102 yards and a touchdown!
Fans, this win didn’t come as easy as the ending score made it seem. After opening the game with 2 series ending in punts for both teams, the Thundering Herd started to gain some momentum as their defense forced the UTSA freshman QB Owen McCown to throw 2 interceptions leading to a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Marshalls RB Ethan Payne. Shortly after, a massive 64-yard touchdown run by running back Rasheen Ali put Marshall up 14-0 leaving the Thundering Herd fans excited leading into the second quarter.
The Roadrunners were able to settle down and begin chipping away at the 14-0 deficit, scoring a well needed touchdown in just 3 drives! A 3-yard touchdown run from RB Robert Henry; Owen McCown’s 44-yard touchdown pass to WR Joshua Cephus, & another rushing touchdown by RB Robert Henry from 1 yard out, placed UTSA in the driver’s seat with 21-17 going into the half.
Scooters Coffee Frisco Bowl Offensive MVP Joshua Cephus spoke post-game about the team’s first quarter struggles “We just stayed locked in… As you focus on the same things, the big things take care of themselves.” All was true because “The big things did take care of themselves” in the second half when the Roadrunners defense stepped up, denying Marshall to score while in the red zone.
Down 28-17 at the beginning of the 4th quarter, Marshall was gazing for a spark to assist with putting them back into the game for an opportunity to win. After a 10-play drive and getting the ball down to the UTSA 37-yard line, CB Kam Alexander, Scooters Coffee Frisco Bowl Defensive MVP came up clutch with an unbelievable interception that was returned 57 yards; setting up a 1 play 17-yard touchdown run by RB Rocko Griffin putting the final nail in the coffin.
Marshalls Head coach Jeff Traylor praises his defense for their second half performance, he stated “They believe in our culture they really do, all those (Defensive) coaches do a great job.” The UTSA held Marshall to 5-18 on 3rd down conversions and not allowing the Herd to score in the second half.
On the flip side of the coin Head coach Charles Huff talks about what went wrong for Marshall after the 1st quarter, “The difference in the second quarter on is that we started to get leaky. Miss a tackle and it turns into 4–5-yard gain and now they are in a manageable situation…We had to tackle well to stay in the game and as time went on, we got looser and looser with that.” Hopefully the ending score strikes as motivation for Marshall Thundering Herd to tighten up for the up coming season.
This marks the UTSA Roadrunners’ first ever Bowl game win.
