DITV RECAP: What UTSA Showed Us — Six Questions,Conference Play Ahead and a QB1 Decision Looming

UTSA 45, UTRGV 16

Let’s start where everybody is going to start: 45-16 is 45-16. UTSA won the football game, and UTSA was the better team Saturday. We don’t need to dress that up, turn it into a moral victory or pretend the scoreboard doesn’t matter.

But if you watched all four quarters instead of checking the final score and moving on, there was a lot more happening underneath it. UTRGV finished with 422 yards, 22 first downs, ran 81 offensive plays and held the football for 34:49. UTSA had 525 yards on only 58 plays. That tells the story better than almost anything else. UTRGV could move the football, but UTSA could change the game in one snap. The Roadrunners hit five offensive plays of 30-plus yards and added a 49-yard pick-six. UTRGV was building drives; UTSA was flipping the scoreboard.

That’s the difference between playing good football and playing good football against FBS speed.

We went into San Antonio with six questions.

Now we get to answer them.

1. DID THE UTSA GAME FINALLY GIVE US SOME CLARITY AT QUARTERBACK?

DITV ANSWER: Garret Rangel played the cleaner game. Aidan Jakobsohn still showed why this has been a competition, but two turnovers may have changed the conversation.

And in my opinion, Monday should be QB1 day.

I don’t think this is as simple as looking at the stat sheet, seeing two interceptions next to Aidan’s name and saying the competition is over. There were things to like from both quarterbacks Saturday, which is probably exactly why this battle has lasted as long as it has.

Rangel finished 19-of-32 for 152 yards without throwing an interception. Watching him, the operation felt a little cleaner. The ball seemed to get to spots faster, he took what the defense gave him and he didn’t create the type of mistake that immediately changed the game.

Aidan still showed some of the stuff that keeps you interested. He moved the football at times, showed playmaking ability and connected with Jaydon Smith for 53 yards late in the first half to quickly put UTRGV in scoring position. There are still throws on that tape where you can see why the staff likes what he brings to the offense.

Unfortunately, this is also a quarterback competition, and turnovers are going to be hard to get around.

The first interception was returned 49 yards for a touchdown by Ahamad Chapman, taking a 14-0 game and making it 21-0 without UTRGV’s defense ever getting a chance to stop it. Jakobsohn later threw a second interception in the fourth quarter.

That doesn’t erase the good plays. It also doesn’t mean Aidan suddenly can’t play. But when two quarterbacks are competing and one guy gives you the cleaner afternoon while the other turns it over twice, those two possessions might become the thing that separates them.

And this is where I think UTRGV needs to make the call.

Monday should be QB1 day.

Not because Jakobsohn can’t play. Not because Rangel completely ran away with the job. But because the non-conference evaluation period has given this staff two games of live football, including an FBS road test, and now the part of the schedule that determines where UTRGV stands in the Southland is here.

At some point, the competition has to become a decision.

QB1 needs the week knowing he’s QB1. The receivers need to know who they’re building timing with. The offensive line needs the same voice behind them. The offense needs to start developing an identity instead of continuing to evaluate every possession through the lens of a quarterback battle.

Could the other quarterback still have a role? Absolutely. Packages, certain situations, change-of-pace looks — none of that has to disappear.

But that’s different from not having a starter.

Rangel has the cleaner argument. Aidan has the playmaking argument. The two interceptions might have ultimately made the decision but we will see what direction Bush goes soon. Unless we get another week of the unknown at QB1....

Now it’s conference week.

Make the call Monday??? DITV says yes but thats why we are not coach's and we believe Coach Bush will make the right move for the program. Trust in our head ball coach Valley fans!

2. COULD UTRGV MAKE OWEN McCOWN UNCOMFORTABLE?

DITV ANSWER: Not enough, and an experienced FBS quarterback made them pay for it.

McCown didn’t look like he was out there trying to win a Heisman in one afternoon. That’s almost what made his performance more impressive. He just looked comfortable, processed what was in front of him and consistently got the football where it needed to go.

He finished 22-of-27 for 275 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while UTRGV officially finished without recording a sack. That’s a tough combination. When a quarterback completes more than 80 percent of his passes and you aren’t getting him on the ground, he’s probably controlling the afternoon.

There were positive stretches defensively. The third quarter was probably the cleanest example, with UTRGV holding UTSA scoreless and showing that once the defense settled into the game, it could get stops. That part matters because I don’t think Saturday suddenly tells us the UTRGV front can’t be disruptive in Southland play.

It tells us something different.

Against this level of quarterback, half a second matters. The pressure can almost get there. The coverage can almost squeeze the window. The linebacker can almost close the throwing lane. Almost doesn’t count when McCown already got the ball out.

That was the lesson.

3. DID UTRGV’S RECEIVERS SHOW THEY COULD PLAY AT THIS LEVEL?

DITV ANSWER: Yes. The bigger question is turning those yards into touchdowns.

This might be one of the quieter positives coming out of the game. UTRGV didn’t go into the Alamodome and suddenly find out its receivers couldn’t separate, couldn’t catch the football or couldn’t create anything against FBS defensive backs.

The Vaqueros threw for 245 yards. Corey Holmes had seven catches for 68 yards (showed FBS skill), Jaydon Smith finished with 68 yards on two receptions, and the passing game found enough openings to help UTRGV get to 422 yards of total offense.That’s encouraging.

But here comes the part that matters more: UTRGV didn’t throw a touchdown pass.

That’s the gap between moving the football and actually threatening somebody. You can stack first downs, complete underneath throws and hit the occasional explosive, but eventually somebody has to finish the drive.

That’s where this offense has another level to find.

The receiving room didn’t look overwhelmed Saturday.

Now turn some of those yards into six.

4. DID UTRGV CONTAIN WILL HENDERSON III?

DITV ANSWER: For almost the entire game. Unfortunately, “almost” doesn’t erase a 75-yard touchdown. This is one of those stat lines where you have to actually look underneath the number. Henderson finished with 99 yards on nine carries, which looks like a big afternoon. But 75 of those yards came on one run. On his other eight carries,

UTRGV held him to 24 yards.

So did UTRGV handle Henderson?

For eight carries, absolutely.

Then came the ninth. UTRGV had just put together a 13-play scoring drive to finally get on the board. Maybe you’re thinking the defense can get another stop, the offense can settle into the game and the Vaqueros can start making UTSA work a little harder.

Eleven seconds later, Henderson is running 75 yards for a touchdown.

That’s FBS speed in one play. Was the defense good enough to withstand those big plays? Was depth an issue? Will this happen against the top Southland teams? Maybe or maybe not, our defense still has a chance to be an elite FCS defense, today showed us that they are not a FBS level defense and that is ok. Players were able to test themselves and the film will tell their individual stories.

The takeaway isn’t that UTRGV got pushed around all afternoon, because they didn’t. The takeaway is that against players with that kind of explosiveness, you don’t get credit for fitting the run correctly eight times if the ninth one hits the highway.

One mistake can erase a lot of good football.

5. DID WE GET ANY CLOSER TO KNOWING WHO SHOULD GET THE LOAD AT RUNNING BACK?

DITV ANSWER: Somehow, I think we have more questions now than we did before the game.

If you only look at the final box score, this seems easy.

Broderick Taylor: six carries, 73 yards. Brennan Carroll: four carries, 47 yards.

Okay. Feed those dudes, right?

Maybe.

But this is exactly where the box score can fool you. All six of Taylor’s carries — and all 73 of his yards — came on UTRGV’s final possession with the score already 45-9. He absolutely made the most of those opportunities, including ripping off a 54-yard run, but that isn’t the same game situation TJ Dement, Fabian Garcia and Malachi Lane were seeing earlier. Carroll’s production needs context too. Most of his rushing yards came later in the game, including a 25- yard run in the fourth quarter. Again, that doesn’t take anything away from him. If anything, it makes me want to see what he can do earlier.

But does it mean Taylor and Carroll have suddenly jumped everybody else in the room?

I don’t know.

And that’s probably my biggest takeaway from this running-back rotation right now.

UTRGV is playing a lot of backs, and there is something exciting about that depth. At the same time, the rotation makes it difficult to figure out who actually deserves more of the load because these guys aren’t always getting their opportunities under comparable conditions.

They aren’t necessarily running behind the same offensive-line group. They aren’t always playing with the same quarterback. They aren’t facing the same defensive personnel, the same score or the same point in the game.

So how do we compare it?

Dement gets a series here. Garcia gets some work there. Lane gets a few touches. Carroll shows up. Taylor closes the game. Maybe that’s exactly how Travis Bush wants this offense to operate.

But there’s another side to it.

Running backs get into rhythm too. Sometimes a dude needs five, six, seven carries to start seeing how the linebackers are flowing, where the cutback is opening or how the front is reacting to certain concepts. When everybody is getting spot duty, I’m not sure we’ve had a chance to see any one back fully settle into a football game.

That’s why Taylor and Carroll made this conversation more interesting, not more settled.

I would have liked to see them get meaningful first-half touches. I’d like to see what Taylor’s burst looks like against the starting group when the game is 7-0 instead of 45-9. I’d like to see Carroll get enough consecutive work to find out whether those late runs translate when everybody in the stadium knows the game is still up for grabs.

Maybe Dement is still the guy.

Maybe Garcia becomes the guy.

Maybe Lane gets more work.

Maybe Taylor or Carroll just forced their way further into the conversation.

Maybe there isn’t going to be an RB1 at all.

That’s the point. We don’t know yet. Two games into the season, UTRGV clearly has options. What we don’t have is a clean answer on who deserves the ball when the game is tight and you need somebody to carry the offense for a series.

That’s a question worth watching against Nicholls.

6. WHAT DID UTRGV NEED TO DO TO KEEP THIS THING INTERESTING INTO THE

FOURTH?

DITV ANSWER: Make UTSA earn everything. The Roadrunners got too many shortcuts.

This was always going to be the upset formula.

UTRGV didn’t need to magically become bigger, faster and deeper than an established FBS roster. The Vaqueros needed to make the game ugly. Hold the football, protect it, force UTSA to drive the length of the field and stay close long enough for the Alamodome to start feeling a little weird.

The funny thing is, UTRGV actually accomplished part of that plan.

They possessed the football for 34:49, ran 81 plays and produced 22 first downs. Those are normally numbers that give you a chance to hang around. But UTSA didn’t need to grind out everything. That changed the entire equation.

The Roadrunners had five offensive plays of 30-plus yards, plus Chapman’s pick-six. They hit the 75- yard Henderson run, the 62-yard DJ Allen touchdown and other explosives that allowed them to score without having to consistently string together long possessions.

UTRGV was trying to win the game one first down at a time.

UTSA occasionally won it in one snap.

That’s how you can hold the football nearly 35 minutes, run 23 more plays than the other team and still walk into halftime down 31-6.

That might be the biggest thing UTRGV takes out of San Antonio.

At this level, mistakes get expensive fast.

SO WHAT DO WE TAKE BACK TO THE 956?

No moral victory.

UTSA won 45-16 in front of 33,403 fans at the Alamodome, and they earned it.

But I’m also not leaving this game thinking UTRGV walked into San Antonio and discovered it couldn’t play football with an FBS opponent. That’s not what the tape says either. UTRGV moved the ball. The receivers made plays. The defense had stretches where it settled down. Rangel gave you a cleaner afternoon in the quarterback competition, while Aidan still showed enough playmaking ability to make the decision interesting — but those two interceptions could be costly.

And now I want the decision.

Monday should be QB1 day.

Give that quarterback the week. Give the offense the week. Then go to Nicholls knowing exactly who is leading the huddle when Southland football starts.

Then there’s the running-back room.

Taylor and Carroll gave us something to talk about late, except now I want to know what that looks like earlier. I want to know which back gets the football when the score is 10-10, not 45-9. I want to know whether this is truly five-deep by design or whether somebody is eventually going to separate and force the staff to give him more work.That’s why I actually think this game gave UTRGV exactly what a measuring-stick game is supposed to give you. Information.

The biggest difference Saturday wasn’t that UTRGV couldn’t compete on every snap.

It was that UTSA made UTRGV pay harder for the snaps it lost.

A pick becomes six. A crease becomes 75.

One bad angle becomes an explosive.

That’s the jump.

Take it. Learn from it. Keep moving. Because now the measuring-stick game is over.

Conference football is here. And heading into Nicholls, I’ve got two questions louder than they were before San Antonio:

Who gets named QB1 on Monday?

And who eventually grabs the biggest piece of that running-back rotation?

Now we’re getting somewhere.

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