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UTSA quarterback Harris raring to play again after missing last two seasons with knee injuries

Clemens graduate Frank Harris was among 109 players reporting to the Roadrunners' fall camp on Thursday.

UTSA football at a glance

First season: 2011, 41-54 all-time record

Last year: 3-9 overall, 2-6 in C-USA, fifth in West Division

Head coach: Frank Wilson, 15-21 in three seasons at UTSA

Season opener: vs. Incarnate Word, Aug. 31, Alamodome, 5 p.m.

C-USA opener: at North Texas, Sept. 21, Denton, 6:30 p.m.

SAN ANTONIO – UTSA sophomore quarterback Frank Harris was succinct Thursday when he was asked about his individual goals for the 2019 season. "I just want to stay healthy and bring whatever I can bring to the table for my teammates," he said.

Regardless of what he does on the field, simply making it through the season without a debilitating injury would be a major victory for Harris, who has yet to play a down for UTSA.

Harris signed with the Roadrunners as a senior at Clemens in February 2017, but was redshirted his freshman year as he continued to rehab a knee injury he sustained in high school.

Harris was on track to be UTSA’s starting quarterback last season before he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during spring training. The injury came almost 18 months after Harris tore his left ACL in the eighth game of his senior season at Clemens.

"The coaches did a great job of always keeping me engaged," Harris said, reflecting on his long, grueling rehabilitation. "I never felt like I was alone. Just being back out here is a blessing, and I can't wait to get back out there with my guys."  

Harris, who participated in spring training this year, pronounced himself ready for the start of fall camp Thursday when he met with the media. The Roadrunners, who open workouts Friday morning at their practice facility on campus, kick off their ninth season against Incarnate Word on Aug. 31 at the Alamodome.

Credit: David Flores / KENS5.com
UTSA quarterback Frank Harris, a 2017 Clemens High School graduate, has missed the last two seasons with knee injuries.

"I haven't played in, I think, two and a half years," Harris said. "It's really exciting to be back. I feel real good. We've all been up here working out with Coach Filo (Ryan Filo, UTSA strength and conditioning coach). He's been getting us ready, so just ready to apply it to the football field."

Harris is locked in a three-way battle for the starting job at quarterback with senior Cordale Grundy and sophomore Lowell Narcisse. Grundy passed for 989 yards and five touchdowns in nine starts last year, and Narcisse is a transfer from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He enrolled at UTSA in January.

UTSA head coach Frank Wilson said the quarterback job is still open heading into preseason workouts, and could remain that way until the first week of the season.

"It's a tremendous void of play that was absent a year ago, and we need that position more than anyone else to come alive," Wilson said. "We have viable people that are challenging for it. This fall camp leading into this opener on the 31st is critical that we start fast, we have the personnel leading our team, so we can get off on a good foot.

"It's our most glaring position of need of improvement, as well as an offense that has a great desire to improve this year."

Wilson had good things to say about Harris when he was asked about him.

"Looks great," Wilson said. "Bigger, faster, stronger than he's ever been. Had an outstanding spring season for us, and summer was even better."

Credit: Photo by Antonio Morano bit.ly/XR79FT / Special to KENS5.com
Frank Harris, on the run against Johnson in a 2015 playoff game, piled up 8,169 yards in total offense and had a hand in 101 touchdowns in three seasons as Clemens' starting quarterback.

Asked what he thinks he needs to do to emerge as the starter, Harris said: "I'm just going to go out there and play football, and everything will take care of itself. Whoever starts, starts."

UTSA finished 2-6 in C-USA play last season, ending the year with six consecutive losses. The Roadrunners’ offense struggled mightily, finishing last among 130 FBS teams in total offense with an average of 247.1 yards per game. UTSA was held to a field goal in two of its six league losses and was shut out once.

The Roadrunners ranked 129th in scoring, averaging just 14.2 points per game. They were 128th in rushing offense and 119th in passing offense.

Wilson fired offensive coordinator Al Borges after the season and replaced him with Jeff Kastl, who coached the receivers the past three seasons. Kastl will be the Roadrunners’ third offensive coordinator in three seasons.

Harris expressed confidence that the offense will find its groove under Kastl's leadership.

"It's basically the same thing," Harris said, when asked how different the offensive scheme will be this season. "He (Kastl) had a few tweaks, but it's a great offense. He's going to be a great coach as OC. He's going to utilize everybody's talents and everybody's strengths. We'll have a great offense."

Harris said the team approached the offseason with a different mindset after last year's trying season.

"We kind of knew how it felt have a bad season last year, so I think we kind of have a chip on our shoulder and we don't want to go down that road again. I think we'll do a lot better this year."

How frustrating was it for Harris to be relegated to a spectator again last season?

"It was real tough for me because I felt like I kind of let my teammates down, and I couldn't be there for them," he said. "But, I mean, God does everything for a reason, so I really couldn't do anything about it."

UTSA’s fortunes could start to trend upward if Harris returns to the form he showed as a dynamic dual threat in high school.

Harris said he's thought about how he will feel when the Roadrunners take the field to play Incarnate Word in their season opener at the Alamodome.

"It's going to be probably emotional for me, but I just want to go out there," Harris said. "I’m not going to do too much for myself. It’s not going to be about me at all. It's going to be about my team. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to handle business."

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