No. 1 Texas vs. UTSA preview: Final non-conference game for Horns against a familiar foe

On Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Central on SEC Network+, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns will host the UTSA Roadrunners at Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium for the final game before SEC play begins.

UTSA heads to Austin with a 2-0 record and a starting quarterback that led the Roadrunners to 35.5 points per game a year ago. Similar to the matchup against Texas State, Texas possesses a talent advantage, but are not facing off against a radically inferior opponent — the Roadrunners have firepower and the ability to test the Longhorns.

Leading the way for the Roadrunners is head coach Jeff Traylor, a name that should be familiar for most Longhorn fans — Traylor left Gilmer High School to begin his college coaching career in Austin in 2015 as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach before handling wide receivers as an associate head coach. He was named the Big 12 Recruiter of the Year during his tenure on the Forty Acres before stints at SMU and Arkansas with Chad Morris, another Texas high school coaching alum.

In December of 2019, Traylor accepted the head coaching role at UTSA. Just two years later, he led the way to a 12-win season that featured the first conference championship in program history.

Last season, Traylor and company tallied a 7-6 record and a win in the First Responder Bowl. The offense looks poised to put up points this season with starting quarterback Owen McCown returning while the defense has to replace many pieces from a below average unit.

“Jeff Traylor continues to do it again — they’re 2-0, they’re playing really good football,” Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said on Monday. “We talk about the ball. These guys have created five turnovers through two games. They haven’t turned the ball over once yet. They’ve got a veteran quarterback in Owen McCown. He’s a three-year starter. He knows what he’s doing. He executes their stuff. And they’ve got a veteran defense. I know there’s new starters, but there’s a lot of old players on that defense, and they play like it. So they’re going to come in here ready to go.”

In two previous matchups against Traylor and UTSA, Texas won 41-20 in 2022 and 56-7 in 2024.

Let’s break the Roadrunners down position-by-position.

After averaging 35.5 points per game a year ago, the Roadrunners hired Rick Bowie as offensive coordinator after former OC Justin Burke accepted a role as tight ends coach at Kentucky under Will Stein, his former teammate. Traylor and Stein previously worked together underneath Charlie Strong at Texas and at UTSA.

Bowie inherited a unit that has ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring in three of the past five years. He runs an Air Raid scheme with the motto, “Simpler, Faster, Smarter.” With McCown at the helm, the Roadrunners are expected to continue putting up points with ease.

The signal caller for UTSA is McCown, a 28-game starter. The Rusk product from his own famous quarterback family battled injuries a year ago, which greatly limited his mobility from Week 2 on. Regardless, he threw for 2,995 yards and 30 touchdowns against just seven interceptions while completing 67.6 percent of his passes. He has carried that efficiency into 2026, completing 72.5 percent of his passes for 489 yards and four touchdowns without an interception through two games.

McCown is more than a pocket passer — his mobility can break a defense while his experience makes him the natural leader of the offense. Last week, he led an 82-yard touchdown drive in a comeback win against Texas State.

The PLAY that saved the game today for @UTSAFTBL Owen McCown was not gonna be denied. Fourth down conversion. #BirdsUppic.twitter.com/QTvq3Jjp7u

— Vinnie Vinzetta (@VVinzetta) September 13, 2026

If the Longhorn defense can force McCown into obvious passing situations and maintain rush lane integrity, it could make life much more difficult for the Roadrunner offense.

The leading rusher from a year ago departed for NFL, which gives full rein to redshirt sophomore Will Henderson. From Traylor’s hometown of Gilmer, Henderson is considered one of the fastest players in college football by his head coach after putting up impressive numbers a year ago as RB2 — 866 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

UTSA has a future star in freshman running back Will Henderson III. Look at the speed he’s bringing to the First Responder Bowl.

And the blocking, especially from WR DJ Allen Jr., is beautiful pic.twitter.com/WGpgYq4Skb

— Bobby Football (@Rob__Paul) December 27, 2025

So far this season, Henderson has already proven to be effective, accumulating 181 yards on 23 carriers and a touchdown. The 5’10, 195-pounder’s high-end speed makes him a home-run threat on any play.

Behind Henderson are A’Marion Peterson and Brandon High Jr. Peterson is another returning back poised to put up impressive numbers with more carries. This season, he’s turned 10 carries into 100 yards and two touchdowns, including a 53-yard scamper. Meanwhile, High has turned in a steady 5.8 yards per carry this season over 16 carries, including the game-winning touchdown last week with 14 seconds left.

BRANDON HIGH JR. RUNS IN THE GAME-WINNING TOUCHDOWN FOR UTSA!!! pic.twitter.com/Lmy5v54gNj

— The CW Sports (@TheCW_Sports) September 12, 2026

Together, this trio forms a room with depth and speed. Each player can turn a small gap into a chunk play thanks to elusive speed.

McCown has plenty of options with at wide receiver. Through two games, McCown has spread the ball around to three primary targets — DJ Allen, Mekhi Anderson, and AJ Wilson. David Amador is another Roadrunner that will see snaps at wideout. Wilson and Amador combined for 76 catches for 971 yards and eight touchdowns last year while Allen and Anderson have burst on to the scene this season.

As the three leading pass catchers, Allen, Anderson, and Wilson have hauled in 31 passes for 390 yards and three touchdowns. Allen possesses the speed to threaten defenses, but has also shown the ability to create after the catch, giving McCown another explosive option. The TCU transfer had just 20 catches for 189 yards last season, but appears poised for a much larger role in UTSA’s new offense.

Together, the trio can blow the top off of a defense or make possession extending catches. This group is capable of winning in different ways and will test the secondary at all three levels.

The tight end room came into the season needing to replace their top three tight ends. To ease the transition into Bowie’s system, Traylor relied on the portal — Miles Campbell was brought in from Florida A&M as a four-star recruit while Brandon Young Jr. arrived from North Texas.

So far, the UTSA offense has rotated bodies at the tight end spot. Young provides size at 6’7, 240 pounds, while Campbell adds pass-catching reliability after catching 22 passes for 308 yards and a touchdown last year.

The offensive line returns a good number of players from a year ago, but injuries have derailed the preseason plans for this group. Ben Dios, a 6’5, 315-pound redshirt senior starts at left guard while Darrell Jones, a 6’4 320-pound senior handles the right guard spot. Each of these players is experienced and versatile. At center is redshirt senior Luke Lapeze. The 6’5, 320-pound lineman started 11 games in 2023 before injuries derailed the previous two years.

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor said yesterday that the Roadrunners are banged up at offensive tackle.

“It’s a work in process. We will get better, but we haven’t been real good yet at (offensive tackle).”

Former Longhorn Jaylen Garth has seen a lot of time at RT. #HookEm

— HornSports (@HornSports) September 15, 2026

The two tackle spots are fluid thanks to injury and overall skill level. Against Texas State last week, the Roadrunners listed co-starters at both tackle spots. Sixth-year Jaylen Garth is a seasoned veteran who started his career at Texas as a highly-heralded recruit. After a stint at Houston, Garth landed in San Antonio. He started nine games in 2024 before an injury derailed his 2025 season. He was granted a medical redshirt and has seen time at tackle this year. He’ll certainly be amped to play his former team come Saturday.

The Roadrunner defense is headed by Jess Loepp, who enters his sixth season in the role. Loepp led a unit that dominated during wins and underperformed greatly in losses a year ago. The defense allowed 18 points per game in seven wins last year compared to 41.5 in losses last season, a huge discrepancy. Allowing 28.8 points per game placed UTSA 91st nationally in that category.

“Statistics don’t look good, but we probably started out the year at 138, and we finally climbed up to 90. When you when you replace your one-deep and two-deep, that’s pretty staggering,” Traylor told Horns247.

With nearly 65 percent of defensive production no longer on the roster, Loepp is responsible for improving his unit with a variety of new players. As the defense continues to nail down its two-deep, expectations are low, though Texas State scored only 26 points a week ago.

Up front, the Roadrunners utilize an odd front. At nose is senior Jameian Buxton. At 6’2, 325 pounds, Buxton is big and experienced. He’s started 36 games over the last three seasons and is one of the most reliable UTSA defenders.

Where will the nation’s top uncommitted defensive tackles land? @adamgorney makes his predictions, including projecting four-star Jameian Buxton to land at LSU: https://t.co/VNRLv7dQRspic.twitter.com/BFNmjG2zoa

— Rivals High School (@RivalsHS) June 2, 2022

At one end position is redshirt senior Tai Leonard, who returns after starting nine games last season, and has recorded two quarterback hits thus far. Counterpart is redshirt senior Jeremiah Bailey brings a nice frame at 6’3, 285 pounds and is expected to make plays.

Bailey transferred from Eastern Kentucky where he recorded 105 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, six sacks, two fumble recoveries, a pair of pass breakups, and one fumble recovery in 38 career games.

As the game wore on against Texas State, the UTSA defensive lined relied heavily on their starters rather than tapping into their depth, a possible sign of the talent drop off among players.

Against Texas, I’d expect a heavier rotation of bodies though the Longhorns should still be able to impose their will against the starting three up front.

The linebacker room was hurt by two key departures, including 93 tackles from Shad Banks. This group will have some new faces present to recoup that lost production.

The best pass rusher for the Roadrunners is redshirt junior Camron Cooper. At 6’2, 245 pounds, Cooper returns from injury with high expectations, but so far, the pass rush for the entire team has been minimal with the defense recording just one sack thus far. I’d expect a heavy dose of blitz on Saturday as UTSA tries to conjure up pressure.

At the JACK role is Owen Pewee. Pewee spent the previous two seasons at the money backer role on the outside and thrived. The 6’3, 220-pound senior had recorded 106 career tackles, 17 tackles for loss, three sacks and three interceptions entering into the season. He’s moving back inside and is strong enough to maneuver around linemen and athletic enough to drop back in coverage. Pewee starred in high school at Cypress Park with former LSU linebacker Harold Perkins.

The MIKE spot is held by redshirt senior Brandon Tucker. Tucker led the way against Texas State with 13 tackles and is currently leading the team with 18 on the year.

Redshirt senior Darion White has been a steady presence inside while redshirt junior James Walley Jr. recorded the lone sack on the season.

There are a lot of moving parts at the linebacker spot. With new faces, players in different positions, and a deep room, there will likely be a deep rotation on Saturday.

The safety position was uncertain heading into the season after a spring injury to junior Joel Rogers required surgery. Rogers is third on the team in tackles despite not starting against Texas State and brings physicality to the group.

The two starters last week were senior Cameron Upshaw and junior Elijah Newell. Newell is a bit undersized while Upshaw is simply unproven. The Texas wideout group should be able to exploit the physical and mental advantages his has over the two safeties.

The corner group is possibly the deepest and most talented of any defensive position. Twin brothers Ahamad and Asaad Chapman are talented athletes with a track record of quality play, though Asaad’s was at the JUCO level.

In addition, RJ Lester is a lanky cover guy at 6’3, 190 pounds. He transferred from Oklahoma State and provides great size for the secondary.

This group is a strength of the team, but will ultimately be challenged greatly by the Texas wideouts.

Handling kicking duties is senior Michael Petro, who connected on 17-of-20 (85 percent) of his field goals last season with a long of 45 yards. Petro is 2-of-3 (66.6 percent) this season. He doesn’t possesses elite leg strength, as evidenced by no attempts of 50-plus yards in his career.

Junior Caile Hogan will punt on Saturday. Hogan is an Aussie punter who was rather effective last year. He was recognized as the second-team All-AAC punter last year and put up the second-best punting average in UTSA history last year at 45.7 yards per punt. He’s a special teams weapon.

Amador returns punts, averaging 7.0 yards per return over three attempts.

Anderson and High will be back deep for kickoffs. Anderson is the primary returner and has a season long of 27 yards.

Texas should be able to attack UTSA both on the ground and through the air, while defensively the Longhorns need to limit McCown’s ability to extend plays and hit explosive passes. I anticipate UTSA playing aggressively and testing Texas early, though most expect the outcome of this game to sway mightily toward the Longhorns.

Texas is a 30.5-point favorite, according to FanDuel.

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