The University of Texas San Antonio Roadrunners came to Middle Tennessee Saturday and handed the Blue Raiders their second home loss of the season in MT’s Salute to Veterans and Armed Forces game.
It was clear from the start UTSA (5-4, 4-2) was determined to get its ground game going in order to keep the ball away from Middle Tennessee’s potent offense.
The Roadrunners controlled the pace of the game and methodically beat the Raiders 45-25.
“Obviously, we didn’t play very good,” MT head coach Rick Stockstill said. “It was a very disappointing, frustrating performance out there today.”
With the loss, Middle Tennessee drops to 6-3 on the season and 3-2 in Conference USA play. The Raiders now sit a game and a half back of CUSA East Division leader WKU.
The defeat on the scoreboard was not the only loss of the game for the Blue Raiders. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Brent Stockstill, who went into the game ranked second in the conference averaging 333.4 passing yards per game and tied for first with 26 passing touchdowns, was knocked out with a right shoulder injury in the second quarter.
Redshirt freshman John Urzua relieved Stockstill and finished the game 14 of 27 passing with 161 yards. He threw one touchdown and was picked off three times.
Urzua projects as the Blue Raider starter for the near future, as Brent Stockstill will be evaluated further to determine the extent of the injury.
“We have to have a winning mentality,” Urzua said. “The preparation is no different whether I’ll be starting or not. Right now I just need to do a better job of focusing better, keeping my mind right, and we’ll come back and win the next one.”
The Raiders had to lean Saturday on redshirt senior running back I’Tavius Mathers and redshirt sophomore quarterback Richie James to make plays with their starting signal caller out.
Mathers finished with 156 total yards (93 rushing, 63 receiving), though he was held out of the end zone for the second time this season. James caught five balls for 100 yards and a score.
The production from those two offensive stars will be even more important with Stockstill out.
“We just have to do our job and let the offensive linemen do their job to get John comfortable, which we know he already is. Everything else will be smooth,” Mathers said.
The Blue Raider defense can also do a lot to make things easier on their new quarterback by keeping other teams out of the end zone. Though they were able to pick off Roadrunner quarterback Dalton Sturm twice in the red zone, the Raiders had trouble slowing down UTSA’s attack for most of the game.
The Roadrunners controlled possession of the football, holding it for 37 minutes and 50 seconds, while MT spent just 22:10 in control.
UTSA was able to dominate possession by having a dynamic running attack. As a team they ran for 270 yards on 59 attempts. Jarveon Williams led the way with 21 rushes for 109 yards and three touchdowns, and Jalen Rhodes added 81 yards and one score.
“We missed tackles … they did a great job, give them credit, but we just didn’t play very good,” Rick Stockstill said. “We have to coach better, we have to play better – everybody has to be accountable for one another.”
Looking ahead, the Blue Raiders will try to get back on track on the road next week at Marshall. They then head to Charlotte the following week and finish the regular season on Nov. 26 at home against Florida Atlantic.
“We have to start tomorrow, come back to work and get everyone healthy and everyone prepared,” James said. “Hopefully we’ll do the little things right to get back to the point where we can win.”
