FRISCO — Two of the nation’s most successful Group of Five college football programs will face off when the University of Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners and the Marshall Thundering Herd meet in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl at Toyota Stadium in Frisco on Tuesday night.
The teams have gone head-to-head three previous times, and Marshall leads the series 2-1 as each team has successfully defended its home field, but this will be the first meeting at a neutral site.
While UTSA had a better season and has had more success over the past few years, the Roadrunners respect the Thundering Herd as one of the early Group of Five teams to display a consistent record of success and open the doors for those teams to compete against more prominent schools.
“It’s where … we want to be one day,” UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor told the media during a press conference on Monday. “We want to be talking about us one day being to 10 [or] 11 bowls in a row. That’s pretty cool. And the history of the program, just all the great players. You look at it, and you go, ‘Man, they’ve had a lot of great players come to that place.’ That’s all really cool.”
Notable Marshall football alumni include former NFL players like Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss and quarterbacks Byron Leftwich and Chad Pennington, among others.
Pennington’s son, Cole, is expected to start the bowl game for Marshall.
UTSA quarterback Frank Harris is one of the first players to leave a lasting mark on the Roadrunners’ program, becoming the team’s all-time passing leader, third-leading rusher, and fifth-leading scorer. He and the 17 other seniors will play their last game on Tuesday and leave as the school’s winningest class.
“It really hasn’t hit me much yet, but I know tomorrow night, win or lose, I’ll have some tears coming down my eyes cause it’s my last time playing in that UTSA uniform,” Harris told the media on Monday. “It’s been there for so long, and all the struggles that we’ve been through to have the success we’ve had last couple of seasons just means a lot. We’re definitely going to cherish that moment.”
While UTSA continues to try to cement itself and create history in the same tier as the Marshall football program, one thing still eludes the Roadrunners after 12 seasons: a bowl win.
“We want to play well, and if we do that, the winning and losing will take care of itself,” Traylor said. “But I think nine and four [with the] first bowl win in the history of the school [and] going seven and one in the AAC the very first time in the conference, there’s a lot of momentum there. Eight and five and losing your last two, that just kind of sounds like some straight black coffee with no cream in it at all.”
UTSA made its first bowl game in 2016 and lost to New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl. The program did not return to the postseason until Traylor’s first season as the head coach in 2020 and has now made four bowl games in a row. He credits Harris and defensive back Rashad Wisdom for helping lead the turnaround.
“It’s going to be a fun day,” Traylor remarked. “A sad day because I’ll miss coaching these two kids, and I’m very grateful for what they’ve done for our program. I think the history of this place will always look back at the leadership of Frank and Rashad for turning this program around.”
