2026 Week 3 Preview: UTSA Roadrunners @ Texas Longhorns
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Game notes
- Time and date: Saturday, September 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET
- Network: SEC Network+
- Location: Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium — Austin, TX
- Spread: Texas (-30.5)
- Over/under: 58.5
- All-time series: Texas leads, 2-0
- Last meeting: Texas 56, UTSA 7 — September 14, 2024
- Current streak: Texas, 2 (2022-24)
Setting the scene
The tide shifted Saturday night in Austin, TX. The Texas Longhorns didn’t just come back from down 20 against Ohio State. It felt like a program finally hurdled its No. 1 obstacle. Losses to Buckeyes’ plagued Texas’ national title hopes for two seasons, but the team unearthed a newfound resiliency under Steve Sarkisian, erasing a 23-3 deficit in one of the most significant regular season games of the decade.
Roughly 30 miles away, a similar story unfolded in San Marcos. The UTSA Roadrunners were burdened by two-straight losses to Texas State. That trend looked bound to persists when UTSA trailed by 10 at halftime, but UTSA stormed back, and just like Texas, punched in the winning touchdown in the game’s final seconds.
Both the Longhorns and Roadrunners are 2-0 with sights set on the College Football Playoff. However, Texas has dominated this brief series, winning the previous two matchups by a combined score of 97-7. Once again, it’s Steve Sarkisian vs. Jeff Traylor in a Central Texas showdown on Saturday night.
UTSA Roadrunners outlook
UTSA (2-0, 0-0 American) is 2-0 for the first time since 2021. The Roadrunners are coming off a gutsy rivalry win over Texas State, where it trailed 17-7 in the third quarter and required two fourth down conversions on a game-winning drive. It was a cathartic win for Jeff Traylor’s squad, which had been 2-10 on the road since 2024 — only defeated 1-11 Charlotte and 2-10 Colorado State last season.
Now, the ultimate road test awaits as UTSA faces the No. 1 team in the AP Poll for the first time ever. Traylor’s first trip to Austin in 2024 started out strong. The Roadrunners took a 17-7 lead in the second quarter on a double pass play (a trick play UTSA ran against last week) and were driving down 24-20 in the final minute of the third quarter, before a Jahdae Barron pick-six derailed their upset bid. But the 2024 meeting was a complete domination in favor of the Longhorns.
UTSA retains the same starting quarterback from that 2024 meeting. Owen McCown, who led the game-winning drive last week, is now more polished in his third season as the Roadrunners starter. His efficiency has improved with time, and through two games, he has four touchdowns and zero interceptions on a 72.5 completion rate. McCown played through upper and lower body injuries last year, and a healthier version of him has shown more mobility. He converted a do-or-die 4th and 5 with his legs last week and hasn’t taken a single sack this year. UTSA’s offensive line, which features former Texas commit Jaylen Garth at right tackle, is one of 10 o-lines in the FBS that hasn’t surrendered a single sack in 2026.
The Roadrunners have run well behind this line through two games, although one was against FCS competition. Will Henderson III has thrived in the bellcow back role with 181 rushing yards on a 7.9 average, while A’Marion Peterson and Brandon High Jr. — who logged the game-winning touchdown with 14 seconds last Saturday — have been effective secondary options.
Texas faced UTSA’s top receiver from a year ago, Devin McCuin, last Saturday, but the Roadrunners’ have restocked the room well since McCuin transferred to Ohio State. DJ Allen, AJ Wilson, and Mekhi Anderson all recorded at least 125 yards in the first two games, while David Amador II (45 receptions, 443 yards, 4 TD in 2025) is still awaiting his breakout performance. There is significantly less tight end involvement in the offense, however, after the Roadrunners lost Houston Thomas and Patrick Overmyer in the portal this offseason.
UTSA has the offensive arsenal to contend for its first American championship, but there remain questions about the defense. The Roadrunners surrendered 481 yards to Texas State last week and struggled with tackling ball carriers at the line of scrimmage. But two interceptions and Texas State’s kicking woes helped masked some of the defensive issues. UTSA needs more resistance at the line of scrimmage. At the moment, the unit is tied for dead-last in the FBS with only 2.0 tackles for loss per game.
The Roadrunners look to FCS Eastern Kentucky transfer defensive end Jeremiah Bailey to show more invasiveness in the backfield, and he’s coming off a season with 14 tackles for loss. Texas State ran very well through the interior, and UTSA will lean on 6’3”, 325-pound defensive tackle Jameian “Big Baby” Buxton to provide more disruption up front.
One bright spot of UTSA’s defense has been its frequent turnover creation. The Roadrunner haven’t been getting to the quarterback — with James Walley Jr. generating the lone sack of the season — but four different defensive backs have secured an interception. Texas’ receivers will provide especially challenging matchups, and the Roadrunners cannot afford to have coverage busts, because as shown last Saturday, the Longhorn offense can be a machine when looking vertically.
UTSA’s main kryptonite is the same from the prior two seasons — penalties. The yellow flags continue to decorate the field each time the Roadrunners play. In 2024, they had the third-most penalty yards in the FBS. Last season, they had the seventh-most. And through two games in 2026, they average 115 penalty yards per game, which is the second-most nationally.
Texas Longhorns outlook
Texas occupies the No. 1 slot in the AP Poll for the third-straight season. Steve Sarkisian has manufactured a new standard in Austin after the Longhorns never claimed the top spot from 2009-23. But through all the recent success under Sarkisian, Saturday was the program’s most consequential regular season victory. Texas defeated the No. 1 team in the AP Poll for the first time since 2008, and by overcoming a 20-point deficit to Ohio State, it registered the largest comeback over a No. 1 team since at least 2004.
Texas is on top of the world right now, but it cannot afford a letdown in its final non-conference matchup. The Longhorns remain in Austin for the third-straight week, and there are corrections to make. They fell into a 23-3 hole due to drops, sloppy turnovers, and struggles with screens and runs to the boundary. Everything changed when Sarkisian risked a 4th and 9 from his own 42-yard line with 2:21 left in the third quarter. From that point forward, Texas picked apart Ohio State with a series of intermediate passes, adjusted its coverage on Heisman candidate wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, and the teams’ fortunes dramatically turned.
Arch Manning showed tremendous poise in the comeback. The second-year starter struggled against Ohio State last season and in the first half last week but led three-straight 12+ play touchdown drives to conclude the game. Manning fired for an efficient 305 yards in the Texas State game and posted 195 last week against the Buckeyes — a clear level ahead of where he was at this time a year ago.
Manning also benefits from a stronger receiving corps this year. Auburn transfer Cam Coleman was one of the most coveted players in the portal, and the big-play receiver has thrived in his new SEC home with seven receptions for 119 yards and two touchdown. He’s supported by Ryan Wingo and Emmett Mosley V in a group with plenty of size — as all three stand 6’2” or taller. Usually the tight end is the tallest receiver, but that’s not the case with Texas. However, the 6’1”, 245-pound Emaree Winston made several key catches instrumental to the Longhorns’ unforgettable comeback.
The run game was one of the greater weaknesses of the 2025 Longhorns, but Texas prioritized fixing that with the additions of transfers Hollywood Smothers (NC State) and Raleek Brown (Arizona State). It hasn’t been the best start for the unit, but Smothers has been effective with a pair of 70+ yard games. They’ll be supported by an offensive line led by NFL Draft prospect Trevor Goosby. The left tackle suffered a bone bruise in his left knee in August but has completed two games already without showing apparent signs of injury.
Texas’ defense was gashed by Ohio State in the first half, primarily by Jeremiah Smith. But Texas adjusted its coverage as the game progressed and prevented the All-American receiver from a catch for the game’s final 23 minutes. The Longhorns have been the epitome of a bend-don’t-break defense so far this year. They allowed Texas State to drive 349 yards but only yielded one touchdown to the Bobcats. Ohio State managed 372 yards, yet only reached the end zone twice. Texas has only forced two three-and-outs all season but the unit saves its best when opponents cross the 50.
The Longhorns already toted one of the best pass rushers in the country in Colin Simmons, who managed six tackles and a sack as a freshman against UTSA in 2024. Simmons added another sack to his stellar résumé last weekend, and now he has a partner in crime equally as effective in terrorizing backfields. Rasheem Biles racked up 31.5 tackles for loss across his last two seasons at Pitt, and he has both a forced fumble and interception to his name in his brief time in burnt orange.
Nickel Graceson Littleton has been the Longhorns’ premier player on the back-end thus far. He recorded the game-sealing interception against Ohio State and also cashed in a scoop-and-score in Week 1. Littleton frequently is involved in havoc plays, and he totaled six pass breakups, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles as a freshman in 2025.
Prediction
The result will be somewhere in between the Roadrunners’ near-scare in 2022 and the egg-laying in 2024. UTSA features one of the most dangerous offenses in the American. Laden with Owen McCown and a horde of veteran talent, they’ll be able to move the ball on a Texas defense that has surrendered at least 349 yards in both games — although that movement won’t always translate to points.
The greater mismatch in Austin will be Texas’ offense against UTSA’s defense. The Roadrunners struggled mightily against Texas State’s rushing attack, and the Longhorns will look to solve the run game prior to SEC play. Expect Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown to enjoy stellar outings as the Longhorns improve to 3-0 for the third time in four years.
No. 1 stays No. 1.
Prediction: Texas 49, UTSA 14
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