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The UTSA Roadrunners’ home opener is against Kennesaw State on Saturday, Aug. 31. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at the Alamodome.
OPENING DRIVE
• UTSA will kick off its 14th season of play and fifth under head coach Jeff Traylor on Saturday afternoon against Kennesaw State at the Alamodome.
• The Roadrunners are on track to surpass the two-million mark for all-time home attendance at Saturday’s game, as the number stands at 1,988,431 through 79 home games.
• This will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between UTSA and Kennesaw State, a first-year member of Conference USA.
• The Roadrunners are 9-4 all-time in season openers.
• UTSA is 8-5 in home openers, including 3-1 with Jeff Traylor at the helm.
• The Roadrunners are 23-3 (.885) at the Alamodome in the Jeff Traylor era, the third-most victories and seventh-best winning percentage among FBS teams for home games since 2020.
• Jeff Traylor is entering his fifth season at UTSA and boasts a 39-14 overall record, the most wins and best winning percentage (.736) in program history, a mark that currently ranks ninth among active FBS coaches.
• The Roadrunners registered their first bowl win in school history with a 35-17 victory over Marshall in the 2023 Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl to cap a 9-4 ledger that included a 7-1 mark in their American Athletic Conference debut campaign.
• UTSA has won nine or more games in each of the past three seasons.
• This season, UTSA will face all four FBS teams that use Owls as their nickname: Kennesaw State, Rice, Florida Atlantic and Temple.
• UTSA is receiving six votes in the AP Top 25 and three votes in the AFCA Coaches Poll.
SETTING THE SCENE
UTSA will kick off its 14th season of play and fifth under head coach Jeff Traylor on Saturday, Aug. 31, against Kennesaw State. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at the Alamodome and the game will air live on ESPN+ and Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket. This will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between the Roadrunners and the Owls, who are one of four opponents with that nickname on UTSA’s schedule this season. UTSA welcomes back 49 lettermen — including 16 starters — from last year’s 9-4 team that registered the first bowl win in school history with the 35-17 victory over Marshall in the 2023 Frisco Bowl. Much like UTSA, Kennesaw State started its football program from scratch in 2015 as an FCS program. The Owls are in their first season as an FBS member of Conference USA.
TUNING IN
Saturday’s season opener is set for an ESPN+ broadcast and it also will be available via the ESPN mobile app. Jack Benjamin (play-by-play) and LaDarrin McLane (analyst) will call the action. UTSA Sports Media Network will air the game live in the San Antonio area on Sports Radio AM 760 The Ticket, online at ticket760.iheart.com and via the free iHeartRadio app. Andy Everett (play-by-play), Jay Riley (analyst) and Ed Suarez (reporter) have the call. There will be a two-hour pregame and 45-minute postgame show.
UTSA SET FOR SECOND SEASON IN THE AMERICAN
UTSA will enter its second season as a member of the American Athletic Conference in 2024. Under the direction of fifth-year head coach Jeff Traylor, the Roadrunners welcome back 49 lettermen — including 16 starters — for what will be the 14th season in program history. UTSA finished with a 9-4 record last year, including a 7-1 league mark in its debut campaign in The American. The Roadrunners capped the season with a 35-17 victory over Marshall in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl for the school’s first bowl win.
BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE
UTSA’s 12-game regular season schedule in 2024 features four non-conference contests to kick off the campaign. The Roadrunners will host Kennesaw State on Saturday in the opener before they play back-to-back road tilts at Texas State (Sept. 7) and Texas (Sept. 14). UTSA will close out the non-league slate at home against Houston Christian on Sept. 21. American Athletic Conference play will get underway for UTSA on Sept. 28 with a road date with East Carolina. Following the first of two idle weeks, the Roadrunners will make the short drive over to Houston to race Rice on Oct. 12 and then host Florida Atlantic on Oct. 19. UTSA will wrap up the month of October at Tulsa on the following Saturday before opening up a three-game home stand on Nov. 2 against Memphis. After a second off week, the Roadrunners will welcome North Texas (Nov. 15) and Temple (Nov. 22) to the Alamodome for back-to-back Friday night matchups. The regular season finale is scheduled for Nov. 30 at Army in West Point, New York.
FIRST-TIME FOES
UTSA will face a pair of first-time opponents in 2024. Saturday’s season opener against Kennesaw State, which is entering its first season as a member of Conference USA, will mark the first time the Roadrunners and Owls have met on the gridiron. UTSA also will face Houston Christian, a member of the Southland Conference, for the first time on Sept. 21 at the Alamodome. UTSA was a previous member institution of both leagues, the Southland Conference from 1991 through 2012 and Conference USA from 2013 through 2023. The Roadrunners captured back-to-back Conference USA Football Championships in 2021 and 2022 but never actually competed in the Southland in football, as their inaugural season in 2011 was as an FCS Independent before they joined the Western Athletic Conference for the 2012 campaign.
IT'S A HOOT
The Roadrunners will face all four FBS teams that use the nickname Owls during the 2024 season. UTSA will open the campaign this Saturday at the Alamodome against the Kennesaw State Owls, who are making their debut in Conference USA this year. The Roadrunners also will meet three American Athletic Conference teams who are the Owls: Rice (Oct. 12), Florida Atlantic (Oct. 19) and Temple (Nov. 22).
ROADRUNNERS ARE HOT IN AUGUST
UTSA is set to play a game in the month of August for just the fourth time and the first since 2019 when the Roadrunners beat UIW, 35-7, on Aug. 31 at the Alamodome. Undefeated in the month of August, the Roadrunners also defeated New Mexico, 21-13, on Aug. 31, 2013, in Albuquerque and they scored a 27-7 road triumph over Houston on Aug. 29, 2014, in what still stands as the earliest date that UTSA has played a game. Additionally, the Roadrunners were schedule to play the 2012 season opener at South Alabama on Aug. 29, but that game was moved to Sept. 1 due to Hurricane Isaac’s impacts on the Mobile area.
SEASON-OPENING SUCCESS
UTSA is 9-4 all-time in season openers and 3-1 in season openers that have occurred at the Alamodome. Saturday’s lid-lifter against Kennesaw State will mark just the second time in the last five years and fifth time overall that the Roadrunners have opened a season at home.
HOME SWEET DOME
UTSA has been tough to beat at the Alamodome during the Jeff Traylor era. The Roadrunners have won 21 of their last 23 home contests and are 23-3 (.885) at the facility since his arrival prior to the 2020 season. UTSA reeled off a school-record 10-game win streak at home that started with a 27-26 victory over Louisiana Tech on Oct. 24, 2020, and ran through the 49-41 win against WKU in the 2021 Conference USA Championship Game before it was snapped in triple overtime against No. 24 Houston in the 2022 season opener. The Roadrunners have won 11 of the last 12 at home and are 49-30 (.620) all-time in the Alamodome.
PACKING THE DOME
UTSA fans have packed the Alamodome over the past three seasons, as five of the program’s nine-largest home crowds have been recorded during that span. Two of the most recent home games now rank second and fourth on the all-time chart, as 49,342 fans watched UTSA beat Texas State in the 2023 home opener to mark the second-largest crowd in program history. In 2022’s final home contest, the Roadrunners raced past North Texas, 48-27, to capture their second straight Conference USA Championship in front of 41,412 fans, which now ranks fourth on the list of largest home crowds. That figure edged the 41,148 fans who watched UTSA outlast WKU, 49-41, in the 2021 C-USA Championship Game, now the fifth-largest home attendance. The 2022 season opener against 24th-ranked Houston drew 37,526 fans, which ranks eighth all-time, just ahead of the thrilling triumph over UAB in front 35,147 fans in 2021. UTSA led C-USA in average home attendance in back-to-back seasons, averaging 28,917 per game in 2022 and 26,643 the previous year. A total of 562,178 fans have filed into the Alamodome to watch the Roadrunners since the return from COVID-19 protocols for the 2021 season. In fact, UTSA is on track to surpass the two-million mark all-time, sitting at 1,988,431 fans entering Saturday’s opener against Kennesaw State. UTSA set NCAA modern startup program records in its first season by drawing 56,743 fans to the inaugural game against Northeastern State on Sept. 3, 2011, and by averaging 35,521 fans for six home contests.
SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
The Owls are entering their 10th season of football and first as an FBS member, as they joined Conference USA this year. Kennesaw State returns 12 starters from last year’s 3-6 squad that won two of its last three contests. The Owls have been one of the most successful startup programs in recent history under the direction of head coach Brian Bohannon, as they boast a 71-30 all-time record four FCS playoff appearances and three conference championships.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between UTSA and Kennesaw State, which is entering its first season as a member of Conference USA.
SIMILAR STARTUPS
UTSA and Kennesaw State are both modern startup programs. The Roadrunners played their first game in 2011 and are entering their 14th season, while the Owls competed for the first time in 2015 and are entering year 10.
WHO’S COUNTING?
Entering their 14th season of play, the Roadrunners will play the 160th game in program history on Saturday when they face Kennesaw State at the Alamodome. UTSA is 84-75 all-time and 49-30 at home, including a 23-3 mark under fifth-year head coach Jeff Traylor.