Florida Atlantic (7-3, 5-1) vs. UTSA (4-6, 3-3)
When, where: Saturday, 5 p.m., Alamodome
Series history: Florida Atlantic leads 1-0
Last meeting: Florida Atlantic 41, UTSA 37, Sept. 27, 2014, Boca Raton, Fla.
Florida Atlantic last week: Idle
UTSA last week: Lost to Southern Miss 36-17, Saturday, Alamodome
SAN ANTONIO – The odds are stacked against them, considering the records of their final two opponents on the schedule.
But the UTSA Roadrunners still have a chance, slim as it may be, of salvaging a .500 season on the football field this year and earning a bowl invitation.
To do that will take a herculean effort by UTSA, which hasn't won consecutive games since the first half of last season. The Roadrunners also face the daunting task of ending the season against two teams that are a combined 15-5 and tied for first place in their respective Conference USA divisions.
UTSA (4-6, 3-3) plays Florida Atlantic (7-3, 5-1) in its home finale at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Alamodome, and ends the season on the road against Louisiana Tech (8-2, 5-2) next Saturday.
"Very talented football team," Roadrunners coach Frank Wilson said. "They do a lot of things from an offensive standpoint to try to take advantage of the weaknesses of every opponent they've played. It varies based on that team."
Wilson was an assistant coach at Tennessee in 2009 when current FAU coach Lane Kiffin was the Volunteers' head coach.
"Lane Kiffin is one of the bright minds in all of college football, especially from an offensive standpoint," Wilson said. "You look at them and it shows. It's evident by the statistics they put up, the numbers they put up on a week-to-week basis. (FAU also has) a defense that flies around and plays with a lot of energy, so we definitely have our work cut out for us."
FAU is tied with Marshall for first in the East Division and Louisiana Tech sits atop the West standings with Southern Miss, which beat UTSA last week at the Alamodome.
"Mindset is just win," senior safety Carl Austin III said after a workout this week. "Just do what we can to win. It's for the seniors this week. It's our last home game. We're playing for the seniors this week. Full heart for the seniors."
Austin said that finishing 6-6 would be a testament to the team's grit.
"If we go – when we go – 6-6, we're going to look at it as the team just being resilient, just fighting through adversity," he said. "This team's been through a lot this season."
UTSA will honor its 21 seniors in a pregame ceremony. This season is the ninth for the Roadrunners' football program, which played its first game in 2011.
"It's frustrating just going back and watching the film and just seeing how close we are as a team," sophomore quarterback Lowell Narcisse said. "The games always come out a matter of three or four plays, a small segment of the game that kind of makes a big difference in the outcome.
"I think right now the team is just keeping faith and steady working. Obviously, it's frustrating to go through the things we're going through, come out here and work and still not get the results we want. But we see the progress and see how close we are as a team."
Narcisse began the season as a backup to Frank Harris, but was thrust into the starting role after Harris sustained a season-ending injury on the second snap of the North Texas game on Sept. 21.
Narcisse has started all of UTSA's six games since then, passing for 1,140 yards and six touchdowns and rushing for 472 yards and four TDs. He had his best game of the season in last week's 36-17 loss to Southern Miss, completing 22 of 30 attempts for 325 yards and two TDs.
"Anything you practice, you become good at," Narcisse said, referring to his confidence and familiarity with the offense. "I feel that our offense has done a better job each week and coming out and playing better each and every week."
Narcisse's 325-yard passing game last week ranks third on the UTSA single-season list. He is only 73 yards shy of the school single-season record for rushing yards by a quarterback (545), set by Dalton Sturm in 2017.