WKU Football: Gameday Info vs. UTSA
Your comprehensive guide to your visit to San Antonio on Friday.
After the bizarre 2020 college football season, WKU found a way to scratch and claw to a bowl game appearance and a 5–7 overall final record. With a team that many thought could compete for a conference championship, the Tops finished in the middle of the pack.
However, with a momentous offseason with tons of huge “gets” and “coups”, the most significant of which were Houston Baptist transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe signing with the Tops and superstar defensive end DeAngelo Malone deciding to forego a realistic shot at the NFL and stay on campus for a fifth year, the Tops seemed poised to be a legitimate threat to make a title run.
Now, they’re here, knocking on the door of a championship, and it’s a revenge match against the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners in San Antonio on Friday.
WKU is 7–1 in conference and clinched a decisive win in the C-USA East Division by slaughtering the Marshall Thundering Herd, 53-21 this past Saturday after spotting the herd a 14-0 lead and trailing at half 14-6. WKU is 8–4 after seven straight wins against C-USA opponents. WKU’s lone conference loss came to previously ranked UTSA, the Toppers’ opponent for the C-USA championship this Friday. So WKU gets a rematch like they had in 2016, when La Tech won an early season game by a score in a shootout, winning because of a turnover at the end of the game. WKU then saw its revenge in the conference championship game, deposited La Tech in Bowling Green, 58-44.
WKU (8–4, 7–1 C-USA) takes on a UTSA (11-1, 7-1 C-USA) squad that has been sputtering of late. UTSA was undefeated until suffering a shocking blowout loss to North Texas. Now, before passing judgment, understand the game came against a desperate 5-6 team on Senior Day in the driving rain. And quarterback Frank Harris was pulled due to injury concerns down 18. So to say that game was a fluke is an easy and valid argument to make. This game has all of the makings of an awesome atmosphere, and if everyone is healthy, on paper, the teams seem to be evenly matched.
Location
The Alamodome
Capacity: 64,000
Located in the southeastern fringe of downtown San Antonio, this multipurpose stadium, built in 1993, has a ton of versatility, with two permanent ice skating rinks on site, as well as now the current home of the UTSA Roadrunners. In the ‘90s and early 2000s, the Spurs called the Alamodome, finally convincing the city of San Antonio to build them a new arena. The Alamodome has hosted plenty of pro and semi-pro games, mostly football. But hockey, basketball, and soccer are all fairly common over its history, as well. But being a dome, getting very many people in there at all can make the building extremely loud, and many are predicting 40k+ Friday, which would stand as at least the Roadrunners’ fourth largest crowd ever.
Parking
It’s a downtown area. There should be plenty of places to park. If you don’t know the area, pay attention, but there should be reasonable options around.
Time
Friday, December 3, 2021 6:00 PM CST
Weather Forecast
That’s how warm it will be outside, people. UTSA plays in a dome, so it will be low 70s and the wind might kick up to 1-2 mph when the A/C turns on.
TV
CBS Sports Network
Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (analyst), and Sherree Burruss (sideline)
Radio
Randy Lee (Play by Play), Terry Obee (Analyst), Jared Holland (Sideline)
Also, you can listen to the radio call anywhere in the world on the WKU Gameday App! WKU All Access is also covering a live video feed from the radio booth on the app now, as well.
Gameday Information
WKU
WKU @ UTSA Press Conferences and Interviews
UTSA
Around C-USA
Conference USA Championship Preview
Betting Lines from Sportsline.com
WKU -2.5
O/U: 72.5
ESPN.com Match-up Predictor
WKU-49.3% Chance to Win
Current Records
WKU: 8–4 (7–1 C-USA)
UTSA: 11-1 (7-1 C-USA)
Last Time Out…
WKU has won seven in a row and like a broken record, we mention WKU’s margin of victory being no less than 15 in each of those games. This past game, though, was certainly the most impressive, and the only win this season against a team with a winning record. After getting down 14-0, WKU reeled off 53 of the game’s final 60 points en route to a 53-21 victory over Marshall to clinch the C-USA East Division by two games. The biggest question for WKU: How good is the defense in actuality? WKU faced six teams with losing records before beating Marshall. But WKU injured Marshall’s starting quarterback in the first half Saturday and then made their run. How good are they really?
UTSA comes in at 11-1, a sparkling one loss record, something WKU has not done since 1980 when they were in Division 1-AA. So this is an exceedingly rare accomplishment, especially for a “small fish”, so to speak. UTSA navigated the schedule it had to start 11-0. The problem? They’re 0-1 since last week. North Texas decidedly trounced the Roadrunners in a slopfest, 45-23. So the biggest questions for UTSA would be are they losing momentum to finish the year? And will they be healthy enough to compete with WKU? And can the offense score enough?
Coaches
Tyson Helton- 3rd Season- 22–15 (22-15 Overall)
Jeff Traylor- 2nd Season- 18-6 (18-6 Overall)
Series
1-1 (Both at WKU)
Last Meeting
In an instant classic between what turned out to be the two best teams in the conference, UTSA controlled most of the game, holding a slight lead, but never holding more than a two score advantage. Ultimately, WKU’s Bailey Zappe threw an interception inside the five yard line to Clarence Wiley, sealing a 52-46 victory for UTSA.
Relevant Reading
Conference USA Preseason Media Prediction
Injury Report
WKU
Out indefinitely: TE Joshua Simon (foot) may not return this season. He has now missed every game since coming up gimpy near the end of the UT-Martin game. After seeing him on the sideline for several games, it appears he has a significant leg brace that he wears under his clothes. After consulting with Devin Stewart from RedOut Podcast (former WKU Football trainer), it is most likely to protect a severe ligament strain or meniscus tear. Given that potential, it would be an iffy proposition as to whether he could come back before the end of the season. But theoretically possible. Tyson Helton never reveals injury info, so your guess is as good as mine.
UTSA
Probable: QB Frank Harris had an undisclosed injury that kept him out of the second half vs. North Texas. But Harris only threw 14 times, completing seven. He did rush the ball significantly, gaining over 90 on the ground. So by deduction and reasoning, it seems like he may have some kind of upper body injury that makes it difficult for him to throw, but count on him playing Friday. Will he be his normal self? That remains to be seen.
Questionable: CB Tariq Woolen, according to UTSA Jared, may possibly be banged up. Woolen has missed four games already this season. Any loss in the UTSA secondary would make an already thin secondary thinner.
Excitement Level — 10
There’s nothing more exciting than a chance to win a championship. At the “mid-major” or “Group of Five” level, the Conference Championship is usually the greatest, most noticeable thing your school will accomplish for several years. So if either school is not losing its mind right now, something is wrong. To make it more exciting, this game is going to be played in front of what should be more than 40,000 people in a dome, so I can’t imagine the earsplitting racket.
It’s going to be a great atmosphere, and for Topper fans, surely they are feeling great, feeling like this is absolutely a game they should win. WKU is on a roll and has felt like a team of destiny all season. Now that the defense has got its act together, Topper fan should be feeling invincible. I don’t know how any Western fan is not as excited about the Tops as they were since WKU Basketball was in the championship last year. Certainly for football, the Tops have not come close to this level of excellence since 2016, when the Tops repeated as Conference USA Champions.
I know some are making the trip, but obviously 14 hours is a long drive, and it’s hard or expensive to arrange a flight to Texas on short notice. So most WKU fans will be watching from home. But I believe Western fans will be glued to their TVs, watching and waiting for the next moment of eternal glory for the Tops. It goes down Friday at 6:00 PM Central Time on CBS Sports Network in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Go Tops!
We’ll be providing live coverage and reaction. If you made it to the Alamodome, please send us your best pictures from tourist sites, tailgating, and in-game via Twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page and we’ll share.