AUSTIN, Texas — Brandon Tucker Jr. posted a game-high 11 tackles, but No. 1 Texas used a balanced offense and stingy defense to beat UTSA, 30-6, on Saturday night in front of 103,753 fans at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
The Roadrunners’ first setback of the season dropped their record to 2-1, while the Longhorns improved to 3-0 after pulling away in a contest controlled by the defenses.
Tucker had a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry to pace a UTSA defense that held the top-ranked Longhorns to a season-low 172 passing yards and 400 yards overall. Eze Osondu added eight stops, James Walley Jr. pitched in with seven including a TFL and Owen Pewee logged six tackles, a hurry and a forced fumble.
The Roadrunners limited Texas quarterback Arch Manning to 164 yards on 17 completions and held running back Hollywood Smothers to 54 rushing yards.
The Longhorns took advantage of a Rasheem Biles interception in UTSA territory on the game’s opening possession. Four plays later, Arch Manning hit Cam Coleman over the middle for a 24-yard touchdown pass to put the home team on the board first.
The Roadrunners responded with a scoring drive of their own, marching 59 yards in 13 plays and taking 6:29 off the clock after Michael Petro split the uprights from 34 yards to make it 7-3.
Texas pushed the advantage back out to seven on the next possession, as Gianni Spetic nailed a 52-yard field goal at the 1:26 mark of the opening period.
The lead grew to 17-3 on another touchdown pass from Manning to Coleman, this one for three yards early in the second quarter.
UTSA’s defense came up with back-to-back stops, turning over Texas on downs near midfield and later forcing a punt. However, the Roadrunners were unable to cut into the deficit and Spetic tacked on a 34-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half to provide the 20-3 halftime margin.
The Roadrunners forced a three-and-out on Texas’ first possession of the second half and then were set up at the Longhorns 35-yard line following a Texas penalty on the punt return. Petro made a 43-yard field goal after the drive stalled to make it 20-6.
Spetic made his third field goal of the night, this one from 23 yards to extend the Texas lead back to 17 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
The Longhorns padded their lead with a late touchdown on a 1-yard plunge by Derrek Cooper midway through the fourth quarter. That score capped an 8-play, 66-yard drive and led to the 24-point final margin.
Offensively, UTSA was held to 142 yards. Owen McCown completed 14 of 23 passes for 70 yards, Will Henderson III rushed for 38 yards and David Amador II had a team-high four receptions.
The Roadrunners will return home to close out the nonconference slate against Colorado State (2-1) on Saturday, Sept. 26. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. at the Alamodome, and the game will air on ESPNU and Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket.
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