AUSTIN, Texas – The non-conference season continues for the No. 2 seed Texas Longhorns as head coach Steve Sarkisian’s team looks to avoid disappointment against the UTSA Roadrunners on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin following last week’s dominant win over the No. 10 seed Michigan Wolverines.

Head coach Jeff Traylor and his Roadrunners find themselves in the opposite situation – trying to recover from a 49-10 loss to the Bobcats in San Marcos, arguably the worst defeat of Traylor’s tenure in San Antonio.

Texas is favored by 35.5 points, according to FanDuel, in the second meeting between the two teams, which are just over 80 miles apart. The Horns won the first game of 2022 41-20.

Before the game

Before the Longhorns and Roadrunners came out for final warmups before kickoff, the focus turned to Texas’ injury situation as the school announced that junior running back Jaydon Blue (ankle), redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Aaron Bryant (knee) and sophomore safety Jelani McDonald will miss Saturday’s game.

Blue suffered a right ankle injury in the first quarter against Michigan but returned late in the first half. It’s less clear when Bryant and McDonald sustained their injuries.

Freshman safety Xavier Filsaime is also not selected for the Longhorns.

Here are Texas’ captains for tonight’s game, a group that includes redshirt junior edge Trey Moore, who spent his first three seasons at UTSA:

First quarter

UTSA received the opening kickoff and got off to a fast start when quarterback Owen McCown completed a pass to burly tight end Oscar Cardenas for an 11-yard gain, but then faltered just as quickly, throwing a wide receiver screen on third-and-9 for a 3-yard gain before deflecting an angled kick from Texas senior wide receiver Silas Bolden that went out of bounds at the 16-yard line.

On a play-action rollout to the left, Texas redshirt junior quarterback Quinn Ewers threw to junior wide receiver Matthew Golden for 11 yards and then threw a shorter pass to junior wide receiver Isaiah Bond, who gained the same yardage after outsmarting the first defender. Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian dialed a shot play on the next snap with Ewers targeting Golden on a post route instead of Bond on a double move, leaving the pass incomplete.

Ewers stayed in the air and connected with first-year wide receiver Ryan Wingo over the middle for 16 yards before throwing a quick pass to Bond, who gained another 16 yards. A push pass to second-year wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. didn’t even count as a first run for the Horns and only gained one yard. Ewers threw another quick pass and hit second-year wide receiver Ryan Niblett, who took advantage of a block by senior tight end Gunnar Helm to gain 15 yards.

Looking for a wheel route to sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner, Ewers opted to throw to senior tight end Juan Davis, who was coming up the middle while the Roadrunners were penalized for holding sophomore wide receiver Johntay Cook on the other side of the field. Ewers finished the drive with a run-pass option that Bond returned for a seven-yard touchdown.

After allowing a six-yard gain on the first play of UTSA’s second drive, the defense began to storm: Junior Edge Trey Moore chased a play from behind and Senior Jack End Barryn Sorrell botched the ensuing 3rd-and-3 run, causing a loss of six yards.

Texas attempted a punt block and came close to getting it, but settled for the pressure that resulted in a 32-yard punt.

On Ewers’ first throw after hitting a UTSA defender with his hand on the touchdown pass to Bond, the Roadrunners managed an interception when Ewers got the pass to the man with some help from his footwork, but the check-down attempt went completely wrong.

Two runs by UTSA gained nine yards, with Texas taking its first timeout of the first half as the Longhorns struggled to get the right people on the field. A great play by sophomore linebacker Anthony Hill Jr., who manned the inside run on third down, and another great play by super senior linebacker David Gbenda and redshirt junior safety Michael Taaffe led to a turnover on downs with some help from super senior cornerback Jahdae Barron, who forced the runner inside.

A false start by junior right guard DJ Campbell put the Longhorns behind, where they survived the next two downs thanks to a short run by sophomore running back Quintrevion Wisner and a quick gain by Golden after a quick throw. With UTSA in man coverage and the Texas receivers firmly in control, Ewers fought his way forward seven yards, allowing Sarkisian to make a fourth-and-three attempt. This was only possible because Bond got free on a lateral route and gained 18 yards.

Ewers waited in the pocket for a shot and settled for a checkdown to Wisner for nine yards. The sophomore running back moved the chains for a two-yard gain and Ewers followed by hitting Bolden for nine yards against weak coverage. Once again, Wisner gained the yards for a new series of downs by hitting a small gap in the outside zone. Replaced by freshman running back Jerrick Gibson, the Florida power back got into the open field behind two pulling blocks and punished the UTSA defensive back in the hole for 11 yards.

In the red zone, Bolden failed to break free on a play, causing junior left tackle Kelvin Banks to remain on the field and then point to his right shoulder while running away under his own power. The drive really seemed to stall when junior right tackle Cam Williams was called for a false start and a swing pass intended for Niblett became a fumble and a loss of six yards. But Sarkisian called the right play, a slant to Cook that found space and quickly led to a 19-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.

It was Cook’s first touchdown for the Longhorns.

Second quarter

While it looked like UTSA was trying to avoid lengthy passing plays in the first quarter, the second quarter began with the Roadrunners attempting to land a throw play on a fake screen that led to the first sack of Texas sophomore linebacker Liona Lefau’s career and the visitors’ third punt after a screen pass on third down.

To open Texas’s attack, Ewers passed to Helm along the sideline, and Helm completed the 49-yard pass, the longest of his career, by leaping over a UTSA defender.

After handing the ball off on the next play, Ewers pointed to the Longhorns sideline and then walked onto the field, eventually leaving under his own power as redshirt freshman quarterback Arch Manning quickly broke free and entered the game.

Manning wasted no time in throwing a touchdown, connecting with Moore on a play-action rollout for a 19-yard touchdown, the first of Moore’s career, giving the Longhorns a 21-0 lead.

Although it threatened to be a crushing loss despite the injuries on Texas’ side, UTSA responded with a 22-yard pass and a 53-yard touchdown run by Robert Henry, who was able to elude second-year safety Derek Williams from the corner.