What’s up RunnerNation?!

Yes, it's the greatest time of the year – College Football has officially kicked-off, and it looks to be a fun one this year. We have a lot of changes across the landscape: new coaches, new QBs at perennial powerhouses, schools having to play through some major NCAA sanctions, Programs about to jump ship to other conferences, and expectations - of what were once small schools - taking it all (looking at you Boise)!

As always, the opening weekend of college football has its traditional mismatches, but not all of it. This weekend, we got some good games to watch: Hawaii v. USC (if you all stayed up to watch), Pittsburgh v. Utah , Oregon St. v. TCU, LSU v. UNC, and… Boise St. v. VA Tech.

But what does this mean for us, as Runner fans?! Nothing right now, but it gets me freakin’ hungry for some Runner ball! Actually, this season does affect UTSA. As we all know, UTSA has done an exceptional job in scheduling opponents in the coming years; meaning it’s time to starting studying up on these teams, people! It’s still a little hard to believe, but we’ll be playing some of these schools in the short future. Unfortunately, we don’t need to study up on those FBS schools for another year. Anyway, with that said, I think it’s time we start following some of the schools on our future schedule.

Here are the scores of the teams we’ll be facing in our first year 2011):

Northeastern Ok. State (v. UTSA 9/3/11): The NSU Riverhawks (DII) won their season opener 31-23, against the Tarleton Texans in Stephenville Texas. Standouts: So. Receiver, Trey McVay (3 catches, 89 yds, 1 TD). Look for the Riverhawks to take on the Abilene Christian on Sept. 11.

McMurry (v. UTSA 9/10/11): McMurry opened their season in Muskogee, OK, against Bacone College, and the won big 41-6. Standouts: Jr. QB, Jake Mullin (26 of 39, 420 yds, 5 TD passes), Jr. WR, Marcus Franklin (9 catches, 145 yds, 2 TD), Jr. WR, R.J. Long (6 catches, 117 yds, 1 TD). McMurry will be taking on Texas College next weekend (9/11/10)

Southern Utah (v. UTSA 9/17/11): The Thunderbirds (Summit League, FCS) traveled to Laramie, WY, for their season opener and fell to the FBS Wyoming Cowboys 28-20. Standouts: Jr. RB, Deckar Alexander ( 11 carries, 64 yds), Jr. RB Austin Minefee (9 carries, 75 yds); So. Brad Sorensen (22 of 35, 193 yds, 1 TD).

Bacone College (v. UTSA 9/24/11): Bacone College (Red River Ath. Conf., NAIA) opened their season with a 20-16 win at Haskell University on August. 28. The Warriors then had their home opener this weekend against another one of our inaugural opponents – McMurry University. We’d list standouts here…. But with a 41-6 loss, there isn’t much to say. The Bacone Warriors will lick their wounds and move on to face the Bearcats of Southwest Baptist University on Sept. 11.

Sam Houston State (v. UTSA 10/1/11): The Bearkats (SLC, D1-AA) traveled to Waco, TX to face Robert Griffin and the Bears of Baylor University. They were quickly met by a 34-3 loss to the Bears. Again, can’t really point out any standout players here. Their Sr. QB, Bryan Randolph did go 12 of 23 for 102 yds, though. However, the problem for the Bearkats is simple; they’re young. The Bearkats had 2 true freshman and 10 sophomores in their starting lineup. The Bearkats get next weekend off, and will look to move on from their loss when they face Western Illinois on Sept. 18.

South Alabama (v. UTSA 10/8/11): The South Alabama Jaguars opened up their season at home (Mobile, AL) with a BIG 56-0 win over Pikeville College. Individual stats for this game were not available at the time of this story. The big name mentioned was So. RB, Brandon Ross. Also, keep an eye out for Red-shirt Fr. QB, Myles Gibbon. The Jags are only in their second season as a program, and are still undefeated at 8-0. Look for the Jags attempt to defend their undefeated record when they play Nicholls State on Sept. 18, after taking this next weekend off.

UC Davis (v. UTSA 10/15/11): A 52-3 loss welcomed the UC Davis Aggies (Great West Conf., FCS) in their opener against the Cal Bears in Berkley, CA. Hard to gauge how good these smaller teams are when they open up against powerful FBS opponents, so again, no real standouts. The Aggies chose to start red-shirt freshman, Randy Wright. Let’s see how he develops before facing the Runners next year. The Aggies will start over next weekend (Sept. 11) at home against Portland State.

Northwestern State (v. UTSA10/22/11): The NSU Demons (SLC, FCS) hung with the Air Force Falcons for two quarters before getting a Falcon air raid, and losing 65-21. Standouts: So. QB, Paul Harris (19 for 32, 1 int., 235 yds, 1 TD); So. WR, Bradley Brown (6 catches, 111 yds). The Demons will face Samford University at home next week (Sept. 11)

Georgia State (v. UTSA 10/29/11): UTSA’s counterparts, in terms of new programs, opened their inaugural season at home in a big way by beating the Shorter University Hawks 41-7. STANDOUTS: the 30,237 fans who showed up for the game! Yes, RunnerNation, the bar has been set. It’s time to call ourselves out and show that we can pack the Alamodome just the same. CAN WE BEAT 30,237?! The Panthers battle Lambuth next weekend (Sept. 11).   This will be us next year:

McNeese State (v. UTSA 11/12/11): The Cowboys edged out fellow SLC members Lamar Cardinals 30-27 in their season opener at home. Standouts: Gr. (Tr) QB, Jacob Bower (18 of 31, 288 yds, 2 TDs); Fr. RB, Marcus Wiltz (26 carries, 182 yds). After a tight battle with Lamar, the Cowboys travel to Columbia, MO, to face the Mizzou Tigers on Sept. 11. Our money’s on Mizzou.

Minot State (v. UTSA 11/19/11): The Minot Beavers (Dakota Ath. Conf., NAIA) hit a speed bump in their season opener against Bemidji State on Aug. 26, by losing 24-7. The Beavers then fell to the Golden Bears of Concordia University – St. Paul this weekend 38-17. Standouts (9/4): Jr. RB, Tyson Schatz (19 carries, 107 yds, 1 TD); Sr. QB, Layvester James (24 of 30, 1 int, 218 yds, 1 TD); Jr. WR, Lance Hollinger (11 catches, 108 yds). Luckily, the Beavers get the weekend of the 11th off before moving on to face Mayville State on the 18th.

So there you have it, RunnerNation – the Rundown of our 2011 opponents. We’ll do our best to bring this to you every week, so you can have a better feel of we’ll be facing next year.