OCTOBER 2013
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UTSA ROUNDUP
UTSA
CALENDAR
SETTING THE STANDARD: As the Mavericks’ first-ever quarterback, Eric Souza plans to leave a mark on the program.
OCTOBER 2013
FOOTBALL 5: 5 at Marshall, Huntington, W. Va., 1p.m. 12: vs. Rice, 3 p.m. 26: vs. UAB, 4 p.m. SOCCER 4: at Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C., 6 p.m. 6: at Old Dominion, Norfolk, Va. , noon 11: at North Texas, Denton, 7 p.m. 18: vs. Southern Miss, 7 p.m. 20: vs. Colorado College, 1 p.m. 25: at UTEP, El Paso, 8 p.m. 27: vs. Louisiana Tech, 1 p.m. VOLLEYBALL 4: vs. Florida International, 7 p.m. 6: vs. Florida Atlantic, noon 11: at Southern Miss, Hattiesburg, Miss., 7 p.m 13: at Middle Tennessee, Murfreesboro, Tenn., 1 p.m. 18: vs. Rice, 7 p.m. 20: vs. North Texas 27 at UTEP, 1 p.m. M AND W CROSS COUNTRY 4: Notre Dame Invitational, South Bend, Ind. All Day 12: UIW Cardinals Invitational, Live Oak, Texas All Day 19: Indiana State Pre-National Invitational, Terre Haute, Ind., All Day
BY STEPHEN WHITAKER
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WO YEARS AGO last month, Division I football appeared in San Antonio the moment UT San Antonio started playing. In the program’s first-ever game against Northeast Oklahoma State, then-sophomore quarterback Eric Soza made history when he became the first Roadrunner to score a touchdown on a 14-yard run. Soza finished that game with 237 yards passing and 102 yards rushing with two passing touchdowns. He finished his first year under center with 2,148 yards passing, 14 passing touchdowns, nine interceptions, and 285 yards on the ground with three rushing touchdowns. “We have competitors. We don’t like to make excuses,” Soza said. “We have senior leadership now with a lot of guys returning — there’s no substitute for experience. We are a new program, but we are not a new team.” The Roadrunners saw Soza improve as they made the jump to NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision competition. In 2012, Soza only missed two games of the 12 the Roadrunners played. He finished the season
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HORNS ILLUSTRATED
with 2,085 yards passing, 20 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Much of his success can be chalked up to the stability of the receiver corps. “Those guys on the outside are the most unselfish players I’ve ever played with,” Soza said. “A lot of them were one-time quarterbacks and they tell me what the defense is doing. They’re all smart players.” This season, UT San Antonio will bring back a deep pool of experience on the offensive line. With experienced players on the line, Soza will have time to throw or hand off to a stable of quality running backs. “We believe in the five guys up front ... that they’re going to give us a hole and the running backs are going to find that hole,” Soza stated. Through two games this campaign, the Roadrunners are 1-1 with a road victory at New Mexico and a defeat coming at home by the hands of Oklahoma State. Soza is a finalist for the Manning Award, an honor presented to a senior quarterback by the Sugar Bowl selection committee. He’s also nominated for the inaugural Earl Campbell Tyler Rose award presented by the Tyler Chamber of Commerce to the best offensive player who was born in, played high school football in or plays college football in the state of Texas.
OCTOBER 2013
VOLLEYBALL THE UT SAN ANTONIO volleyball team opened its first Conference USA season against Tulane on Sept. 27. Leading the charge this year is senior outside hitter and C-USA Preseason Player of the Year McKenzie Adams. Adams finished the 2012 season as an honorable mention member of the Volleyball Coaches Association All-America Team and won Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year after averaging 4.85 points, 4.33 kills and 3.84 digs per set.
SOCCER THE 2013 SEASON marks a change for the Roadrunner soccer program as this is the first year that the team will play in its very own stadium. Before this season, the soccer team practiced and played on the intramural fields. The new 1,000-seat stadium officially opened with an exhibition match against Incarnate Word on Aug. 16. The UTSA Classic, which took place Aug. 30 to Sept. 1 marked the first real game played the Roadrunners in their new stadium. The soccer stadium, which shares a concourse with the new track stadium, is the first completed phase of the Roadrunners’ new athletic complex a mile west of the main campus. Later phases will include stadiums for baseball, softball and potentially a new arena for volleyball and basketball.
ALL PHOTOS THIS PAGE: JEFF HUEHN/UTS A ATHLET IC S
History in the Making