MOBILE, Ala. — Sean Ianno’s fourth field goal of day, this one from 51 yards out with 16 seconds remaining, helped lift Texas-San Antonio to a 33-31 non-conference football victory over the University of South Alabama in the season opener for both schools Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
It helped the Roadrunners avenge a 30-27 double-overtime loss to the Jaguars in San Antonio a year ago, also providing UTSA with its first-ever road win in the program’s second season of competition. USA fell for the second straight time at home dating back to the finale of the 2011 campaign.
“First of all I want to congratulate UTSA. I thought they played a great game, and my hat’s off to them,” stated Jag head coach Joey Jones. “They played well, and we knew they would. They played us into double overtime last year, and we knew they had a good football team; they have a lot of good players. They didn’t do anything any different.
“We obviously turned the ball over too many times. I think it came down to turnovers and key penalties at the wrong time.”
UTSA held a 398-308 advantage in total offense in the game, and had just one pass intercepted while USA turned the ball over four times. The Roadrunners turned those miscues into 20 points, on two touchdowns and a pair of field goals.
Trailing by six when it got the ball back with three-and-a-half minutes left in the game, C.J. Bennett carried for a gain of one yard before finding Jeremé Jones open down the seam for a 34-yard touchdown pass. It was the longest reception of his career — he would finish with team-high totals of three catches for 51 yards — while putting USA up 31-30 with 2:46 remaining.
“We had to find the right time to run the play,” stated Jones. “We got in the formation and they ran what we expected them to. Everyone did their job and we executed.”
“We saw a mismatch with Jeremé. We had been waiting to call that play, and we found the right spot; that was a positive note,” added Bennett. “The offense showed a little fight. We teach ball security, and today we got away from that. Turning the ball over is something you can’t do in a close game, and they [the turnovers] really came back to bite us in the end.
“The good thing is all these mistakes are correctable.”
The ’Runners ensuing possession started at their 46-yard line after a 27-yard return from Kenny Harrison and a 15-yard personal foul call on the Jags. UTSA would pick up 20 yards on six plays — 15 came on a pass from Eric Soza to Brandon Armstrong — to set up Ianno’s game-winning kick.
Soza completed 18-of-30 passes for 215 yards and three scores to pace the Roadrunners in the contest.
Actually, there were three lead changes in the final 15 minutes. Soza put the Roadrunners back in front, 27-24, when — with UTSA facing fourth-and-six — he found Earon Holmes for a 34-yard scoring pass. UTSA’s march covered seven plays and 75 yards in three-and-a-half minutes, and after the Runners’ recovered a fumble on USA’s first snap of the following drive tacked on a 21-yard Ianno field goal two minutes and 40 seconds later to double their advantage.
On the opening play of the final period, Tyrell Pearson intercepted a Soza pass at the UTSA-35 and ran it back 28 yards, leading to Kendall Houston’s one-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-goal that gave the Jaguars a 24-20 lead with a little less than 13 minutes left in the contest.
Pearson finished with five total tackles, including one for loss, and also broke up another pass in his Division I debut. “We were just going over in practice every day,” he explained. “Quick game, quick game when they come out of the end zone, so I just took advantage of an opportunity and broke on the ball and made an interception for the team.”
Jake Johnson and Enrique Williams recorded eight stops each to pace the Jaguar defense, while Alonzo Long was credited with seven tackles and Darrius Morrow also had five.
“We were really prepared as a defense for their motions and quick game, and I think that when we discovered them doing something new we made adjustments to it in the second half and came out and played a little better,” Williams stated. “We made foolish penalties and gave them that extra yardage in crucial situations, and there were missed assignments on third downs which led to better field position for a field goal or a touchdown. I believe we can learn from that as a team and get better.”
The Jaguars opened the season with an eight-play, 75-yard march that ended with an 11-yard Demetre Baker touchdown run less than three minutes into the contest. Bennett completed 4-of-5 passes on the possession, the last for a 25-yard gain to Corey Besteda the play prior to Baker’s scoring run. After forcing a three-and-out, USA took over on its own 34-yard line and again moved quickly into the red zone, as Bennett found Greg Hollinger for 23 yards and Baker added a 28-yard carry. But, with the Jags facing first-and-goal from the UTSA-14, Triston Wade intercepted a pass along the back of the end zone to end the threat.
The Roadrunners responded with their first touchdown less than three minutes later, tying the game with four-and-a-half minutes to go in the opening quarter when Soza found Kam Jones for a 58-yard touchdown pass; it capped a drive that covered 80 yards in eight plays. Wade then forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that UTSA recovered on its own 34-yard line, and Soza guided the ’Runners back down the field in two-minutes and 11 seconds, putting them up 14-7 with a 23-yard scoring connection to Cole Hicks.
Wade collected 11 tackles overall, with one for a loss of seven yards, in the game. Brandon Reeves led the Roadrunners with 12 stops, and Steven Kurfehs posted eight as well.
Ianno added field goals of 47 yards with just over nine minutes remaining in the half and 32 yards five minutes later to up the UTSA advantage to 20-7. The Jaguars ended their scoring drought with their final possession of the second quarter, with Bennett leading the offense on an 11-play, 65-yard drive that he ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to Desmond Jones just 20 seconds before the break. He moved the chains with first-down throws to T.J. Glover and Hollinger, and after a seven-yard carry set up fourth-and-one for the Jags on the UTSA-7 Baker picked up a four-yard gain.
Michel Chapuseaux cut USA’s deficit in half less than five minutes into the third quarter with a career-long 43-yard field goal, with the big play on the drive a 17-yard pass from Bennett to Glover keyed by a Hollinger block; after a personal foul call for a late hit, it moved the ball to the UTSA-27.
Baker paced the Jags with 63 yards on nine carries, and Houston added 11 rushes for another 43. Besteda matched Jones with a team-best three catches, picking up 40 yards, while the quartet of Hollinger, Glover, Houston and Lavender collected two receptions apiece; Hollinger recorded 42 yards, highest in the group. Bennett was 15-of-24 passing for 182 yards with the two touchdown completions.
Glover finished with a game-high 145 all-purpose yards, with 95 coming on kick returns and another 37 on punt returns.
David Glasco II paced all players with 70 yards rushing on nine attempts for UTSA, and Evans Okotcha supplied 31 on eight carries.
The Jaguars will return to action Saturday, Sept. 8, with a second straight home game when Nicholls State visits Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Kickoff for the contest is scheduled for 4 p.m.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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