The Alamodome is a place of great aura, mystique, and power.
Nobody can quite explain it, but the venue provides an extra juice to the UTSA Roadrunners — to the point where UTSA truly believes it can not
only beat, but destroy any visitor that enters the 32-year old venue that originally opened to attract an NFL franchise to San Antonio.
Last time at the Alamodome, UTSA pummeled Tulane, 48-26. In its return trip to its beloved home on Saturday, the Roadrunners beat the brakes off another American Conference contender in East Carolina, handing the Pirates a lopsided 58-24 defeat in front of 18,573 spectators. UTSA is now 25-0 against conference opponents inside the Alamodome under head coach Jeff Traylor, with the statistic including two Conference USA Championship Games won in the building in 2021 and 2022.
“We’ll keep it on the low,” Traylor said on why UTSA thrives to such an extent in the Alamodome. “We’ll give credit to the Avatar tree. It gives us some special powers when we come here. Avatar is the only thing I can think of. I don’t know what it is — it’s crazy.”
Prior to Week 13, East Carolina was the hottest team in the American, rattling off four-straight wins to throw its name in the conference contenders’ circle. But that shot at contention is no more as UTSA stormed out to a 31-0 second quarter advantage before ECU managed a single point. The Roadrunners eventually build the lead to as lopsided as 41, having a 44-3 stranglehold over the Pirates in the late third quarter and a 51-10 advantage in the early fourth.
“That’s as good as we’ve felt all year,” Traylor said. “That team was really good, and we lost a heartbreaker to them last year up there. It was a killer to start out conference play… We just played almost spotless. That’s about as good as we can do it. For whatever reason, we tend to do this in November.”
Nobody feeds off the Alamodome atmosphere more than UTSA quarterback Owen McCown, who completed an efficient 24-of-33 passes for 238 yards against the Pirates. Just one home game after tying his career-best with four touchdown passes, McCown one-upped it by recording five. The quarterback also refrained from taking a sack, and pass protection is one of UTSA’s best indicators of victory — and the team improved to 5-0 when keeping McCown completely upright.
“Part of it is the standard, it being my job to do that,” McCown said. “The standard as quarterbacks at UTSA — our job is to get those guys the ball.”
ECU’s run defense entered this matchup as one of great prowess, allowing 3.6 yards per rush and ranked fourth nationally in tackles for loss. None of that mattered to UTSA. The Roadrunners operated without typical feature back Robert Henry Jr., but Will Henderson seamlessly filled the role. Henderson rushed for 146 yards on 19 carries (7.7 yards per carry) for his second-consecutive 140+ yard explosion. With A’Marion Peterson providing secondary support, UTSA dominated ECU on the ground, out-gaining the Pirates 210-158 in that department.
“East Carolina plays a certain style,” Traylor said. “They’re the most physical team in our league, and they know they are, and they take great pride in it. I challenged my guys to match it. Coach (Blake) Harrell has done a fantastic job. He’s a defensive head coach, and since he’s taken over that program, their record’s been unbelievable. We just wanted to match their intensity today.”
The Roadrunners held the Pirates out of the end zone until 1:15 remained in the third quarter. Turnovers played a major part in ECU’s offensive struggles, as the purple and gold concocted an 0-3 margin against the Roadrunners. East Carolina fumbled on two receptions between the 40s — once in the second quarter and again in the third — and the Roadrunners cashed in those fumbles for 10 points. The first fumble was returned by inside linebacker Shad Banks Jr., who later scored his second defensive touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter, returning an interception 21 yards. Banks’ pick-six situated UTSA at 58 points — just three shy of the program record it set two Alamodome trips ago in October.
“We just wanted to get bowl eligible,” Banks said on what inspired the defense. “We wanted more for this group. Our confidence has been through the roof the past few weeks. We just needed to see it. We just needed that confidence, and I know y’all see it too.”
UTSA improved to 6-0 wearing black uniforms, which is another good luck charm the Roadrunners enjoy in the Alamodome. Traylor stated his intent to wear them again for senior day against Army next week, as UTSA pursues a seventh victory to clinch a winning record.
“I don’t know what that is — it’s crazy,” Traylor said. “Southern Miss used to have a deal where when you play them in their black uniforms, everyone’s like, ‘uh oh,’ and Odessa Permian — the Texas high school — when they’d wear their black uniforms, everyone would be terrified of them. I don’t know what that is. This building and those uniforms have been special to us over the years for sure.”
East Carolina (7-4, 5-2 American) dropped its second conference matchup of the year, snapping a three-game win streak. The Pirates’ 34-point loss is their largest margin of defeat since a 39-point defeat on Nov. 19, 2022 to Houston. ECU aims to regroup from this loss next Saturday at Florida Atlantic, with an opportunity to get an 8-win regular season for the first time since 2014.
UTSA (6-5, 4-3 American) extended its bowl eligibility streak to six — the same numbers of years Traylor has been at the helm. While the Roadrunners weren’t in the conference championship picture like the Pirates prior to Saturday, Traylor wants the fanbase to acknowledge the consistent winning his players have done, as senior day awaits next weekend vs. Army.
“I have such a burning desire because I know how great this place can be,” Traylor said. “The city of San Antonio is so wonderful. The university’s wonderful. I just want this thing to be the best it can be. I’m glad everyone’s upset we aren’t winning championships. That’s the way I want it to be. But I also want to take note of the success these kids have done for six-straight seasons.”
