Know Your Foe: University of Texas-San Antonio

As the Sun Devils take to the road for the first time this season, to face the University of Texas-San Antonio on Friday night, we asked Roadrunner insider Mike Craven to provide his insight on ASU's next opponent.

1. The Roadrunners are 1-1 in this young season with a home win over Alabama State and a road loss at Colorado State. Is that what about you expected at this point from this team?

Yep. UTSA was favored in Week 1 against Alabama State and closed as a nine-point underdog against Colorado State on most books, so the Roadrunners are performing like expected. That’s a good and bad thing. UTSA is undergoing a ton of changes under a new coaching staff and the team was inconsistent in both games.

2. Looking at the stats, it was interesting to see that despite averaging 342 yards of offense per game, that UTSA has scored just 40 points in two games. What are some of the concerning issues for this group?

Finishing in the red zone is the major concern for the offense and most of it is because of the offensive line. The group is performing below expectations and it made it tough for UTSA to move the ball once inside the 20. Also, turnovers were a problem against Alabama State. UTSA scores 40+ in the opener if not for four fumbles and an interception.

3. How would you describe quarterback Dalton Strum in terms of strengths and weaknesses?

Sturm is a former walk-on under Larry Coker. Not many people figured he’d keep his job once grad transfer Jared Johnson joined the program, but Sturm defied the odds again. The kid isn’t the most talented quarterback Arizona State will face, but he might be the toughest. The best way to describe Sturm is a football player and not many quarterbacks get that description. He doesn’t have a huge arm and he isn’t horribly accurate.

4. What are the base schemes for the Roadrunners on this side of the ball?

UTSA is best on offense when the running back duo of Jarveon Williams and Jalen Rhodes are putting the offense in third-and-short situations. UTSA struggles on third-and-long because the offensive line is poor against the blitz.

5. As an opposing defensive coordinator how would defend this UTSA offense?

I’d stack the box until UTSA’s passing game proved dynamic enough to keep safeties deep. If Arizona State can consistently stop UTSA on first and second down it will be a long day for Roadrunner fans.

6. It seems as if the defense is a “bend but not break” group giving up 307 yards per game but just 18 points per contest. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this group?

This group is hard to gauge right now. They’re getting better each quarter under new defensive coordinator Pete Golding. UTSA is limited right now due to poor cornerback play, but it improved tremendously in the second half against Colorado State and the hope around campus is that the performance was more indicative of where UTSA wants to be defensively. Golding wants to be aggressive and blitz from all angles. It is hard to do that when you don’t completely trust your cornerbacks, but it gets easier near the goal line when the end zone boundary acts as an extra safety blanket deep. UTSA was susceptible to the inside running game in the first half last week.

7. What are the base schemes for the Roadrunners run on defense?

UTSA runs a variation of a 4-2-5 and a 3-3-Over. So, UTSA will basically line up with three defensive tackles and one stand-up defensive end (Marcus Davenport). The linebackers and secondary play like a base 4-2-5. The base scheme is essentially what TCU runs if Arizona State fans are familiar with that scheme. It’s built around size along the defensive line to hold up blocks and free linebackers. The secondary has an extra safety who is usually a bigger player to be a hybrid linebacker/safety. UTSA did use some base 4-3 in the second half against Colorado State once the Rams starting having success in the run game. I wouldn’t be surprised to see more three-linebacker sets against Arizona State.

8. As an opposing offensive coordinator, how would attack this UTSA defense?

I’d run right up the middle until UTSA proved it could stop it. Then, I’d use play-action pass to take advantage of the cornerbacks.

9. The Alamodome, in theory, looks to be a strong home field advantage. Has that been true in recent years?

Not really. San Antonio is a Spurs city first and that means it is used to winning. UTSA won seven games over the past two years and attendance really suffered. It’s still a new program and the majority of UTSA alumni attended school before a football program was born. I’d expect around 30K in the Dome for Friday.

10. How easy or hard has it been recruiting wise? On the one hand, UTSA is located in a major city in Texas with one of the better stadiums in the state. On the other hand, not being in a Power-5 conference is probably an obstacle?

UTSA sits at 17 commitments for the 2017 class and it is currently ranked 60th by Rivals.com, which is 12 spots better than Arizona State. That will undoubtedly change as National Signing Day inches closer and the Sun Devils fill up the class, but it still an impressive start by Wilson and his new staff. Wilson was known as a recruiter at LSU as the running backs coach and he already holds verbal commitments from more three- and four-star recruits than UTSA has ever signed in one class. The difficult part will be holding on to those recruitments as bigger schools start calling. Texas is a hot-bed of recruiting and there’s no reason UTSA can’t get a decent chunk of that second-tier talent, but the former staff under Larry Coker was not good and the recruiting was one of the things that suffered.

11. What are your keys to the game for this Friday matchup?

UTSA’s coaches and players won’t admit it, but this isn’t a game where the end-goal is to necessarily win. Of course, UTSA will come out wanting to win and all of that, but no one on the team will feel like this is a must-win game. UTSA’s goal is to make a bowl game, so seeing improvement against the best team it’s played this year would be a positive sign under a new staff. To keep it close, UTSA must convert in the red zone and limit the Arizona State rushing attack. It then must hope the Arizona State passing game isn’t in rhythm.