Instead of a Six on a Monday, I figured I'd just randomly throw out some things I was thinking following the Charlotte win and going into the Rice game.
- Jarveon Williams is the UTSA offense and the Roadrunners need to lean on him to beat Rice. The offense was shutout in the first half and came alive in the third quarter and Williams was the single reason why. The Roadrunners won on the road despite 133 yards of passing and three interceptions on 33 attempts. Let's put it this way: Jarveon averaged more yards per rush (9.5) than Sturm averaged per COMPLETION (7.38). That's pretty nutty. Williams ended up getting 19 carries against Charlotte, but he'll need to be a focal point early in the game to beat Rice.
- Sturm is asked to do too much. UTSA 80 offensive plays against Charlotte and Sturm either passed or ran on 43. That means Sturm is over 50 percent of the UTSA offense in terms of play-calling. On those 43 plays, UTSA gained 134 yards. On the other 37 plays, UTSA gained 217 yards.
- The offensive line looked better against Charlotte, but that could be a level of competition thing. Clayton Woods played a few series at center and held his own. Sturm needs to get the ball out faster. Not all the pressure is due to poor blocking. It'll be easier to tell if this offensive line is growing up this week against Rice.
- Kerry Thomas is now the single-season leader in receptions. His yard average is low, though, as is most of the roster. Some of that is a function of a quarterback without a cannon of an arm. Some of that is by design because UTSA doesn't trust the offensive line to hold up long enough to develop routes. But some of it is on the wide receivers. This unit is making plays after the catch.
- Derrick Dick is what I thought Greg Campbell would be for UTSA.
- There is no reason David Morgan should go 59 minutes without recording a catch.
- Marcus Davenport is about 20 pounds away from having 10 sacks this season. Jason Neill played his best game of the year against Charlotte. That was some grown-man stuff from him. The drop between the first- and second-team defensive ends is so massive. Hopefully, those guys redshirting from the 2015 class can add instant depth in 2016.
- Kevin Strong is a beast. Jonathan Tuiolosega was a force, finishing third on the team with nine tackles. He's kind of like Brian Price in a way because he was the unheralded JUCO DT in 2015, but he is making the biggest impact. That said, Vontrell-King Williams is earning more and more snaps.
- Marcos Curry is playing some incredible football. The kid does all the little things right. He and Drew Douglas are always around the ball and that is what you want out of linebackers. Same thing could be said for Duke Wheeler.
- All in all, the defense suffers from the same problem as the offense: neither can finish. The offense struggles to score touchdowns on long drives and the defense struggles to get off the field. UTSA is at its best on defense when it is playing aggressive, so third-and-long is giving the Roadrunners trouble when Neathery goes into a soft-zone that rushes two players in those situations. The coverage isn't tight enough down the field to play that kind of zone if no pass rush exists.
- The special teams are a problem. I know Portillo has the leg, but the staff really needs to consider bringing in a JUCO kicker or maybe a preferred walk-on guy. There is no reason to miss this many extra points. Props to Portillo for bouncing back and hitting a game-winner. That took some mental toughness that was nice to see.
