Game Preview: UTSA vs No. 1 Texas

Texas welcomes UTSA to Austin on Saturday night in a matchup of two 2-0 teams. Both teams are coming off emotional, thrilling wins a week ago.

UTSA rallied after Texas State took the lead with a little more than four minutes left in the game. The Roadrunners answered and took the lead back with only 14 seconds remaining. It was a big win over an in-state rival and one that could give UTSA some momentum moving forward.

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Texas had to rally in the fourth quarter to beat Ohio State, too. After an Ohio State missed field goal, Texas got the ball back down six with 4:16 remaining. The Longhorns put together a 12-play touchdown drive and took the lead with 25 seconds left.

Obviously, Texas’ win was the bigger one nationally, but both teams are coming off games that took a lot out of them. Now they have to move on quickly. It will be interesting to see if either team comes out a little flat on Saturday.

Texas has been in this spot before. In 2023, the Longhorns went to Alabama and came away with a huge win, then came home the next week and sleepwalked through much of the game against Wyoming.

Texas Must Improve Ball Security

Texas may not have a slow start this week simply because the coaches are going to be all over the team about it. The Longhorns were down 20-3 after three quarters against Ohio State, and a big reason was the lack of ball security.

Texas fumbled on its first offensive play of the game. Luckily, that was the only fumble Ohio State recovered. The Longhorns put the ball on the ground three other times but got all three back.

That is not something Texas can keep getting away with. When you fumble four times in a game, you usually are not recovering three of them. Texas caught a break last week. If the ball security does not improve, it will cost them at some point.

It is not just about fumbles, either. Arch Manning needs to protect the football better, too. He threw another interception against Ohio State, even though it was a strange play that bounced off Cam Coleman’s chest. Still, that makes two straight games with an interception.

Manning took fewer chances against Ohio State than he did against Texas State. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but he also held onto the ball too long early in the game. That was an issue as well.

The goal against UTSA should be simple: no turnovers. Texas is talented enough to beat anybody on its schedule, but turnovers are the quickest way for the Longhorns to lose games they should win. Expect the offense to put an emphasis on cleaner football this week.

The Texas Secondary Will Be Tested

UTSA quarterback Owen McCown is the son of former NFL quarterback Josh McCown. He is not going to beat Texas by running all over the field, but he has played a lot of football and can make throws that give defenses problems.

UTSA will look at the first two games and see that Texas has had some issues in the secondary. Bo Mascoe has clearly looked like Texas’ best defensive back so far. He showed that in the second half against Ohio State, when he took on the Jeremiah Smith assignment.

Kade Phillips has not been bad as a starting corner, but he has been beaten more than Mascoe. McCown will likely look to test Phillips and the Texas safeties.

Jelani McDonald and Derek Williams started at safety against Ohio State, but Kobe Black saw most of the second-half snaps next to McDonald. Black is considered the better cover safety of the two, so it will be worth watching to see whether he continues to get more playing time or eventually takes over as a starter.

McCown threw the ball 42 times last week, so UTSA is not going to be afraid to let him throw it around. If the Roadrunners want to have a real chance to win — and not just get through the game healthy — McCown will test Texas’ secondary all night.

Texas has the better athletes, but UTSA has an experienced quarterback who will make the Longhorns defend the entire field.