SAN ANTONIO — Texas-San Antonio scored 17 unanswered points in the second quarter in pulling away from East Carolina on Saturday for a 41-27 American Athletic Conference win at the Alamodome.
The Pirates had their highest scoring effort of the season against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent, but the defensive performance was in stark contrast to the effort in a 10-7 home loss to Charlotte the preceding week.
ECU slipped to 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the AAC.
Hopes for a bowl berth for a third straight season vanished as Frank Harris passed for 395 yards and four touchdowns for the Roadrunners (5-3, 4-0).
“They are very talented,” said ECU coach Mike Houston of UTSA on the Pirate radio network. “That’s the issue you have with them. You look at a couple of big plays and the thing that frustrates you is that it’s stuff that I expect us to make the play. The 69-yard run (Rocko Griffin) had was on a simple counter play. The linebacker misfit it. … We’ve made those plays all year.
“You can’t make those mistakes against a group that’s got those kinds of skill kids.”
UTSA had a 372-242 lead in total yards although Alex Flinn had a good day at quarterback for the Pirates by 2023 standards.
Flinn completed 23 of 43 for 225 yards with two touchdowns and one interception without senior tight end Shane Calhoun in the lineup due to a season ending injury.
A 13-yard scoring pass from Flinn to Jaylen Johnson with 7:56 left in the first quarter tied the score at 7.
After the Roadrunners retook the lead on a 10-yard TD run by Robert Henry, a 33-yard field goal by Andrew Conrad got ECU within 14-10.
The Pirates surged in front, 17-14, on a 36-yard pick six by Dontavious Nash late in the first quarter.
The hosts responded with the next 17 points to take control.
ECU closed within 31-20 at the half on a 51-yard field goal by Conrad.
The Pirates finished the scoring with a 4-yard pass from Flinn to Chase Sowell with 15 seconds left and covered the betting line that favored UTSA by 18.5 points.
Gerald Green, who has come back from an ailment, had a 46-yard run to boost ECU’s ground game with three rushes for 53 yards. Finn’s 20 keepers also produced 53 yards. Johnson finished as the Pirates’ top receiver with eight catches for 105 yards.
ECU had more first downs, 21-18. The Pirates were a respectable eight of 19 on third down conversions compared to nine of 16 for the Roadrunners. ECU had a 141-120 lead in rushing yards despite yielding five sacks.
The Roadrunners scored more points on the Pirates than did No. 2 Michigan in a 30-3 win in the season opener.
“The kids will play when we teach them,” Houston said. “We’ve got to do a better job of teaching them.”
Flinn did not split time with Mason Garcia for the first time this season.
“He showed a lot of toughness and just a lot of tenacity,” Houston said of Flinn. “There’s a half a dozen plays he’ll look at that’s the difference in the game. It’s tough. The pressure is on the quarterback. … If you don’t want that pressure, then don’t be that guy.
“He played very well for the bulk of the day. He’s going to look at those half a dozen plays, and we’ve just got to help him make a better decision in those situations.'”
The Pirates look to take another step forward offensively and regroup on defense for a home game against Tulane on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. (ESPN2 or ESPNU). The Green Wave (7-1, 4-0 AAC) managed a 30-28 win at Rice on Saturday to remain tied with Southern Methodist and UTSA atop the league standings. Tulane topped the Pirates, 24-9, last season in New Orleans.
Unfortunate that the Pirate defense had one of its worst performances at the same time of the offense’s partial awakening. I don’t think the ultimate outcome would have changed, but it could have been interesting. I’m sure the injuries to key secondary personnel contributed to the busted plays.
On the “O” side of the ball, Gerald Green was a welcome sight, going north and south, with some urgency. It looked as though more designed runs were called yesterday, than any other game this season. While certainly not gang busters, I believe it was the best run game of the year, when you consider the competition. QB Flinn had a few designed runs which, for the most part, he did well. Also, on several pass plays, he chose to escape and get what he could running the ball. You can argue some of those choices, but again, I see improvement. Obviously, the forth down sack deep in Pirate territory was really stupid. You have to pick a target and give one of your guys a chance to get a first down.
With respect to the passing game, Flinn continues to be inaccurate on many passes. Surely, the o-line problems with protection contribute to the problem. However, the interception in the end zone was strictly on Flinn. If he leads Johnson to the front pylon, there’s no chance of the defender going through Johnson and making the interception. Maybe we don’t get the TD, but for sure we get to reload. Losing Calhoun to injury during practice didn’t help, as he has been a decent target this year.
At this point, any sort of improvement is welcome. Some change in the play-calling is welcome. I try to take heart in the fact that only six of the listed 22 OL are upper-class men, with just one senior. For this year, it’s bad. Sadly, I don’t see any real improvement occurring. I’m beginning to wonder if the offense can muster any momentum for next year.
One last point… remember when Coach said the injury to Javious Bond wasn’t “significant “? Does anyone know why we haven’t seen him? More questions than answers… the story of the 2023 season.
“I’m beginning to wonder if the offense can muster any momentum for next year.”
Bingo; that for me has become the biggest single question. While on balance, the offense was marginally better yesterday than it has been (certainly a low bar), it has not shown an improvement trend this season. Neither of the two Q’s who’ve played look like the answer; Jeter should now be given a dress rehearsal assessment for next season. Given the roster fluidity that the portal has created, the question of redshirt eligibility burning has largely been overcome anyway.
The university has invested a LOT of money into football; at this point, I think that the institution owes its stakeholders a conversation with Coach that he find a way to field a bowl eligible team next season (another low bar) as an ultimatum.
To fire this coach would be an absolute error. Good coach, great man. Don’t be so short sighted. The challenges we have are real. He remember, inherited NOTHING but an a complete mess. We have a young team, 17-20 year old young men for the most part. Schools and programs all across the nation, some with crazy resources are also struggling. It’s an ultra competitive environment out there, perhaps more so than ever before. Houston is a winner. He’ll win here too. McNeil used to say ‘you can’t microwave it’. No need to rehearse what we lost last year to the pros, graduation, etc. That’s been discussed. Holtz used to say, you lose big, you lose small, you win small, you win big. A process that takes time. Not a fun season for us, granted, I’ve been frustrated myself. I still believe in Houston. Let’s not make foolish decisions here again please. McNeil had a tuff season about this same time in his time at ECU and the same silly stuff was said about him and then, we did the most ridiculous thing ever, let him go and we went straight to the bottom! Houston is learning on the fly somewhat in the ‘new’ college football environment and we need to be behind him IMO> McNeil also used to say, ‘when you are winning, they want you to write a book, when it’s not going well, nobody thinks you can read’ – I expect to see us improve and finish well. This season of challenge will pay dividends going forward. Many examples could be illustrated for it, Tulane would be a good one to look at. Check out their history. A good coach, just like ours and now, they are the class of our conference. Deep breath, upward and onward!!
I don’t want to get rid of Houston. He is about the best ECU can do, and I don’t believe he’s done anything to warrant dismissal. However, the offensive line coach’s job might be in jeopardy. To be fair, that would depend on what he walked into earlier this year. It’s possible both Mogridge and Houston knew at the beginning of fall camp that the o-line would be mediocre at best. Still, with the declining performance of the OL roster, I’m not expecting much improvement for the remainder of the season. It would be a pleasant surprise. The effort from the players is still there, so the coaches haven’t lost the team. That’s a GOOD thing. The talent evaluation process for the offense needs some retooling. Here’s hoping for better outcomes in November.