UTSA experienced a Cinderlla season in 2021, but can the magic continue in year three under head coach Jeff Traylor. The Roadrunners were 19-7 in his first year with two bowl appearances, including a 12-2 2021 that resulted in the program's first Conference USA title. Losses at key spots on offense and defense headline the existing challenges for the 2022 version of Roadrunner football. 

1. Who replaces Sincere McCormick? 

The Roadrunners lost many contributors from the 2021 squad and must replace important production at nearly every position. UTSA lost its best running back, offensive lineman, defensive lineman, linebacker, and cornerback. The program is also rolling into the 2022 season without last year’s offensive coordinator and co-defensive coordinator. Traylor kept continuity by doing what a healthy program does: Promote from within. Each year provides challenges, and every season requires new players to step up. But not all hurdles are the same height. 

The loss of running back Sincere McCormick leaves a massive hole. A hole big enough for him to race through for an 80-yard touchdown run. The two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year exits San Antonio with nearly every rushing record in the short history of UTSA football. The Converse Judson product ran for 3,929 yards and 34 touchdowns in his three-year career. He also caught at least 20 passes in each of those seasons. 

One man can’t replace that type of production. No reasonable person can expect “the next man up” to be another all-time great. Early returns suggest the two players on the roster with the best chance to carry the load for the Roadrunners are JUCO signee Tye Edwards and redshirt freshman De’Anthony Lewis. Edwards is a big running back (6-3, 230) who joined the program after the season from Hutchinson C.C. in Kansas. He was a first-team All-American in his time there, helping the Blue Dragons to the 2020-21 national title. Lewis is a Judson graduate, like McCormick, who took a redshirt in 2021 after an All-State career at the prep level.  

2. How does UTSA respond to adversity? 

The Roadrunners were 6-0 in one-possession games during a 12-2 2021 campaign. An early signature of Traylor’s teams at UTSA is that most of the games are close. The Roadrunners went 4-3 in one-possession games during his first year in 2020. That means 54 percent of Traylor’s first 24 games as a college head coach were decided by eight points or fewer. His teams are 10-3 in such games. UTSA is 9-4 over the last two years in games decided by nine points or more.

Those numbers suggest that UTSA isn’t scared of a fight. Some of it might be luck, but a lot of it is culture. That culture should get tested early and often in the 2022 season. How will a Roadrunners program that started 2021 on an 11-game winning streak react if they start the season with a losing record? 

Traylor’s crew starts the season at home against a Houston team with legit aspirations for an undefeated season and an argument to reach the College Football Playoff. The next week is a trip to Army. Week 3 is a trip to Austin to face Texas. A 0-3 record isn’t a crazy outcome. But even a slow start won’t ruin the Roadrunners’ season if the team can rebound for conference play. C-USA is plenty winnable for UTSA even without McCormick and defenders such as Clarence Hicks. Traylor must remember his high school days and treat the out-of-conference schedule as tune-ups for what matters, and that is repeating as conference champion. 

3. Can the defense reload? 

UTSA might find it easier to replace the production lost at running back than it does the production lost on defense. A team’s ability to run the ball falls as much, if not more, on the offensive line’s ability to block than the talent of the running back. UTSA returns four of its five starters, including all three interior players. The running game should be adequate, even if it isn’t as explosive as the 2020 and 2021 versions. 

Finding suitable replacements for Hicks (16.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks), defensive linemen Charles Wiley and Jaylon Haynes, and defensive backs Antonio Parks and Tariq Woolen won’t be as easy. The Roadrunners do return its top three tacklers in safety Rashad Wisdom and linebackers Jamal Ligon and Trevor Harmanson. Players such as Dadrian Taylor, Clifford Chattman, and Brandon Brown must step up.