x
Breaking News
More () »

Off and running: UTSA outlasts Baylor for first win over Power 5 team

UTSA gets their first win over a Power Five opponent in their season opener at Baylor.
UTSA Roadrunners running back Halen Steward (34) and safety Brenndan Johnson (21) and head coach Frank Wilson and linebacker Josiah Tauaefa (55) celebrate the win over the Baylor Bears at McLane Stadium. Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

WACO — Dalton Sturm threw for 155 yards with two touchdowns and ran for 98 more yards as UTSA got its first-ever win over a Power Five team, 17-10 Saturday night over a Baylor team that has lost its first two games under new coach Matt Rhule.

The Bears are 0-2 for the first time since 2003, and have now lost eight consecutive regular-season games. They won the Cactus Bowl last December after a 6-6 record was enough to get one of the Big 12's bowl spots.

UTSA went ahead to stay on the opening drive after halftime when Sturm, the former walk-on who started his 21st consecutive game, had a keeper for 40 yards and then on the next play threw a 29-yard TD pass to Kerry Thomas Jr. for a 14-7 lead.

A week after their scheduled opener at home against Houston was cancelled because of Hurricane Harvey, the Roadrunners started their seventh season as a program with their biggest win yet. They had been 0-9 against Power Five teams.

Jalen Rhodes ran for 103 yards on 20 carries for the Roadrunners.

Both of Baylor's losses under Rhule have been against first-time opponents that had never before beaten a Power Five team. The Bears opened the season with a 48-45 loss to Liberty, a team just starting the two-year transition from the FCS to FBS.

Rhule, coming off consecutive 10-win seasons and an AAC title at Temple, took over a Baylor squad in the wake of a sexual assault scandal that rocked the nation's largest Baptist university. Two-time Big 12 champion coach Art Briles was fired in May 2016.

Under interim coach Jim Grobe last season, the Bears started 6-0 before six losses in a row.

THE TAKEAWAY

UTSA: The Roadrunners won six games and went to their first-ever bowl last season in coach Frank Wilson's debut. A win at Baylor is a huge boost for Year 2. After Victor Falcon's 38-yard field goal with 14:12 left made it 17-7, UTSA gained only 1 yard on its next three series without a first down. But when Baylor got the ball back with just over 2 minutes left, the defense forced four consecutive incompletions.

Baylor: The Bears had 137 yards passing and 137 yards rushing. But graduate transfer Solomon, after a promising debut (278 yards, three 3 TDs passing with 97 yards rushing), had 10 carries for 9 yards and was 10 of 26 passing for 121 yards. UTSA linebacker Josiah Tauaefa was wrapped around Solomon on his desperate fourth-down throw on his last play.

UP NEXT

UTSA: The Roadrunners get to play their home opener next Saturday against SWAC team Southern, two weeks after their scheduled opener against Houston was canceled by Hurricane Harvey.

Baylor: The Bears go to ACC team Duke next Saturday for their first nonconference game against a Power Five team since 2009.

Before You Leave, Check This Out