After having their three-game winning streak snapped last week, UTSA will be looking to bounce back when they take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Saturday. However, the Roadrunners will have their hands full as they will enter the matchup as 17-point underdogs.

Southern Miss. and their high-flying offense are the heavy favorites, and UTSA will have to earn the conference win on the road in order to get back on track. UTSA’s offensive struggles have plagued the team throughout the majority of the season, so it’ll be interesting to see if this is the week where they can get into a groove on offense.

Many things will have to go UTSA’s way to get the win, but here are the three main keys to a UTSA victory.

UTSA vs. Southern Miss details

Date: Oct. 20, 2018

Location: Hattiesburg, Miss. 

What channel is it on?

UTSA vs. Southern Miss will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

How can I buy tickets to UTSA vs. Southern Miss? 

Click Here to buy tickets to UTSA vs. Southern Miss in Hattiesburg, Miss. 

UTSA vs. Southern Miss preview

Secondary must show up

Over the course of their three-game win streak that included wins over Texas State, UTEP and Rice, the UTSA secondary seemed to be improving. However, when they faced a tougher Louisiana Tech team, they took a step back again. Although they were able to keep their interception streak going against LA Tech with a Cassius Grady pick, they allowed over 300 yards through the air.

Veteran Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith had a field day and was extremely efficient. This season, Southern Miss sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham has thrown for over 1,500 yards and 12 touchdowns. Fellow sophomore Quez Watkins is Abraham’s favorite target, as Watkins has already caught 7 touchdowns this season. The Golden Eagles love to move the ball through the air and average nearly 320 passing yards per game. The UTSA secondary will have to bring their A-game.

Have to throw the ball downfield

As we head into week 8 of the regular season, starting quarterback Cordale Grundy has still yet to throw for 200 or more yards in a game despite having plenty of pass attempts per game. The Roadrunner offense is averaging just 4.5 yards per pass, so they are not throwing the ball downfield very often. The passing game has resorted to many underneath throws that haven’t led to much success.

Last week, freshman quarterback Jordan Weeks made his first appearance on the field and has now overtaken the number two spot on the depth chart. If Grundy begins to struggle finding the open man downfield like he often has, maybe we’ll see Weeks on the field again to try and give the offense a spark.

Convert on third downs

The offense has had an inability to string together long drives all season long. A big reason for that is their inability to convert on third downs. In the loss against LA Tech, UTSA was faced with a third down 12 times and they were only able to convert on three of them. Against Southern Miss., the UTSA offense will have to do much better on third downs than 3-of-12. They have to find a way to extend drives and help keep the opposing defense off the field.

Last week, LA Tech won the time of possession battle by around 11 minutes which tired out the UTSA defense and kept them in control. The reason why the LA Tech offense was able to keep the ball for long periods of time is because they converted on more than half of their third down situations. The UTSA offense has to put drives together if they want to have a chance at victory. Even if the drives don’t always result in points, converting on third downs and extending drives can help win the field position battle, and is critical to the success of any team.

Final score prediction: Southern Miss 30, UTSA 14