Frank Harris threw for 269 yards and ran for 104 more to help lead UTSA to a 24-10 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday afternoon at the Alamodome.
The Roadrunners ran their record to 2-0 under first-year head coach Jeff Traylor, who faced his alma mater in his home debut. UTSA, which opened up a 17-0 lead but could not put away the Lumberjacks (0-2) until late in the fourth quarter, now has won its first two games for the first time since 2017.
Harris completed 23 of 36 passes, including his second touchdown pass of the season, en route to a career-high passing yardage output. The junior quarterback also rushed for a pair of TDs and registered his second career 100-yard day on the ground, becoming the first UTSA QB in program history to top the century mark twice.
Sincere McCormick nearly notched his second straight 100-yard rushing game, as the sophomore from Converse Judson had 98 on 19 carries to go along with four receptions for 47 yards.
Meanwhile, Joshua Cephus had a career-best eight receptions for 89 yards and his second touchdown of his sophomore campaign and Sheldon Jones added four catches for 54 yards as the Roadrunners rang up 498 yards of total offense.
Rashad Wisdom paced the defense with nine tackles, while Trevor Harmanson recorded seven stops, including 1.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Jaylon Haynes posted six tackles, including three TFL and a pair of sacks, as UTSA tallied 10 total stops in the backfield.
UTSA got on the board first when Hunter Duplessis extended his consecutive field goals made streak to 13, tied for the longest in the nation, with a 28-yard kick early in the opening period.
The Roadrunners pushed their lead to 10-0 on a 3-yard quarterback keeper by Harris early in the second stanza.
UTSA appeared set to take a 17-0 lead into the locker room when Cephus hauled in a 4-yard pass from Harris in the back of the end zone with a little less than two minutes remaining in the first half.
However, SFA moved quickly down the field on a 45-yard connection from Trae Self to Remi Simmons before Self found Xavier Gibson open over the middle for a 10-yard TD pass with 33 seconds left in the half.
The Lumberjacks closed the deficit to one score on a 32-yard field goal by Chris Campos at the 6:06 mark of the third quarter, but UTSA used a 23-yard touchdown dash by Harris midway through the final period to help seal the win.
The Roadrunners will stay home and host Middle Tennessee (0-2) in Friday, Sept. 25 at the Alamodome. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. The originally scheduled home game against Memphis on Sept. 25 was canceled due to positive COVID-19 cases and the ensuing quarantine of Memphis student-athletes.
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