UTSA will play Texas State University on September 23rd, renewing a rivalry between former Southland Conference (and briefly WAC) foes that has only ever met on the gridiron once before.While in the past, the rivalry has encompassed a variety of sports where a trophy was awarded to a school based on a point system, this system was apparently abandoned in 2013 after the schools parted ways when the WAC dropped football.The rivalry has been largely sustained on the hardwood, with UTSA maintaining a 34-24 series lead in men's basketball dating back to 1985.The only football matchup between these two schools was during Rivalry Week in 2012. The game remained close but UTSA held the lead throughout the game and won 31-38. The game set a then-record attendance for both schools as well as the conference, playing in front of a crowd of 39,032 at the Alamodome.This year's matchup will be hosted at Bobcat Stadium in San Marcos. The Roadrunners are a heavy favorite, (76.7% ESPNFPI) but both HC's are only in their second year at their respective schools.Texas State's Coach Withers is hoping to make a drastically better showing over last year's undeniably abysmal 2-10 season. A controversial figure to say the least, Withers will be relying heavily on his first recruiting class to make headway in the Sun Belt after signing the best recruiting class in school history this off-season.UTSA's Coach Wilson is an accomplished recruiter as well, and looks to improve on last year's success that took UTSA to it's first bowl game in the school's brief history. (UTSA fielded it's first football team in 2011)Texas State will need to show marked improvements on defense and likely need to capitalize on a least a couple UTSA mistakes if they want to emerge victorious this year. Likewise, UTSA will need to maintain consistency to come out on top, which shouldn't be too difficult for a squad that is returning a whopping 78% of last year's team. (18th highest in FBS)While the kickoff time has yet to be announced, with the schools being a mere 51 miles apart, expect to see a large turnout. Texas State's usually poor attendance has been known to make exceptions when neighboring teams come to town - last year's home game against Houston drew a crowd of 33,133.The matchup will be the first in an 8-game home-and-home series that should draw an increasing spotlight on two up-and-coming programs. via /r/CFB http://ift.tt/2t8fsBB
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