The UTSA Roadrunners were unable to bounce back from a nightmarish start in which Arizona State scored 14 points within’ the first two minutes of the game. The Roadrunners fell to the Sun Devils by a lopsided score of 49-7 on Saturday in the season opener.

The Sun Devils appeared to fire on all cylinders under new head coach Herm Edwards, and they dominated UTSA on both sides of the ball all game long. There were many things to critique about UTSA’s performance, but here’s a look at the three biggest factors that contributed to the blowout loss.

No Running Game

From the start, UTSA was unable to establish any type of run game. The duo of Jalen Rhodes and B.J Daniels coming out of the backfield had many fans excited, but Rhodes was not able to do much of anything. He had minus-3 yards rushing, while Daniels only gained 24 yards on nine carries.

As a team, UTSA was only able to muster up 2 total rushing yards – yes, you read that right. The Arizona State defensive line won the war in the trenches and it showed in the final box score big time. The Roadrunner offensive line got pushed around as the Sun Devil defense finished the game with 9 sacks and 15 tackles for a loss.

UTSA showed flashes of what they might be able to do through the air and at times had limited success in the passing game with 218 passing yards. However, it seemed as if every time Grundy handed the ball off to either Rhodes or Daniels, they were met by a brick wall of dark red and gold.

Poor Run Defense

Everyone knew coming into the game that wide receiver N’Keal Harry was going to be a problem for the UTSA secondary, and he was. Harry totaled six catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. The future first-round pick proved he was worth the hype.

However, Arizona State proved that they could get it done on the ground as well. Sun Devil running backs Eno Benjamin and Isaiah Floyd ran all over the UTSA defense. Arizona State totaled 266 rushing yards on a staggering 7.4 yards per carry. Under the lights in Tempe, the UTSA defense looked a far cry from their 2017 form where they finished fifth in the nation in total defense.

Early turnovers deflate team morale

In a blowout loss such as this one, three turnovers doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference. However, two of those turnovers both came at key moments early in the game. After the pick-six on Grundy’s first pass attempt, which gave Arizona State an early 14-0 lead, the UTSA defense tightened up and stopped the Sun Devils on their next few drives. When the UTSA offense looked like it was getting something going early in the second quarter, quarterback Cordale Grundy fumbled and turned the ball over. After the Sun Devils capitalized to make it 21-0, it might as well have been over. The UTSA sideline was as silent as a graveyard.

On a warm night in Arizona, the UTSA Roadrunners were chewed up and spit out by the Arizona State Sun Devils. However, it’s still only one game. UTSA has their work cut out for them with two more Power 5 opponents in the next two weeks, but head coach Frank Wilson has an opportunity to make some adjustments heading forward.