– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DALLAS — Right before the end of another game in which the UTSA football team ran circles around an opposing defense, it was time for its head coach, Jeff Traylor, to start sprinting — hauling down the sideline in avoiding the inevitable Gatorade bath that his players were tracking him down for. Eventually, Traylor got stopped and doused, which marked one of the very few times a member of the UTSA team was stopped from running on Friday night on its way to posting an impressive end to the season.
Owen McCown threw for 295 yards and three touchdowns as the Roadrunners responded to an early 14-point deficit with 38 unanswered points during a 57-20 victory over FIU in the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on Friday night. Will Henderson III ran for two touchdowns and caught another score as the Roadrunners have won their third consecutive bowl game.
The victory also clinched a sixth consecutive winning season for the Roadrunners, who had won at least nine games in three consecutive season from 2021-2023 before back-to-back 6-6 regular seasons that ended with bowl victories.
“This year didn’t go the way we wanted to, but for this group to be resilient and bounce back the way we did, get a huge bowl win, says a lot about [Coach Traylor] and the program that he’s built here,” McCown said.
The resilience was on display after the Golden Panthers jumped out to a 14-0 lead after a Joe Pesanky touchdown pass and a 97-yard punt return by Maguire Anderson. Henderson scored on a 2-yard run on the ensuing drive after the punt return score, and then he tied the game with his 40-yard catch and run from McCown. UTSA took the lead on a field goal, 17-14, before McCown threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 23-yard strike to Devin McCuin, for a 24-14 advantage.
A’Marion Peterson scored on a 10-yard run that gave the Roadrunners 31 unanswered points before halftime as UTSA outgained FIU 310-93 in total yards in the first half.
The Roadrunners, who finished the regular season 21st in the FBS in scoring at 33.8 points per game, eclipsed 50 points in a game for the third time this season. They also scored 48 points in wins vs. College Football Playoff-bound Tulane and against Incarnate Word.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are nine pictures in total.
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