UT Rio Grande Valley VaquerosvsUTSA Roadrunners
RGV 16/UTSA 45
Things to say
UTSA beat UT Rio Grande Valley 45-16 at the Alamodome to open the season at home.
01
opener
UTSA handled business at home, 45-16. Never really in doubt. RGV hung around early but the Roadrunners just had way more juice.
02
key player
Owen McCown was surgical — 22 of 27 for 275 and 3 touchdowns. When your QB completes 80 percent, the other team is in trouble.
03
hot take
Everyone's gonna talk about McCown but that ground game is the real story. You break off a 75-yard run and a 53-yarder, you're not asking the QB to do much.
04
deep cut
DJ Allen Jr. only caught three balls but went for 116 and a 62-yard score. That's over 38 a catch — one of those was basically a track meet.
05
exit
Nice tune-up, but the schedule tightens up fast. We'll see what they've really got when the competition steps up.
The recap
UTSA opened its season by handling little brother RGV 45-16, and it was never really close once the big plays started raining down. Owen McCown carved them up for 275 yards and three scores on 22-of-27 passing, but the real backbreakers came on the ground and deep — Will Henderson ripped off a 75-yard touchdown run and DJ Allen Jr. turned three catches into 116 yards and a 62-yard bomb.
RGV couldn't move the ball through the air, with Garret Rangel stuck at 152 yards and no touchdowns until a meaningless one-yard plunge with four seconds left. The Roadrunners cruised; the only drama was garbage-time cosmetics.