Fans of the UTSA football team are encouraged to arrive early for Saturday's season opener at the Alamodome against the University of Houston.
The Roadrunner's historic season last year will be celebrated before the 2:30 p.m. kickoff.
A banner marking UTSA's Conference USA championship last year will be unveiled in the Dome rafters before the game against 24th ranked Houston. The championship game against Western Kentucky last year attracted 41,000 fans to the Dome.
UTSA coach Jeff Traylor told insiderunnersports.com the university with 35,000 students is fired up about the new season.
“It’s pretty electric,” Traylor said about the buzz around UTSA. “This thing has built up to a pretty unique experience. I really do love the university. I love the city. I love the people. It’s special to me and it means a lot to me that these people care for us and our team. We’re really excited.”
UTSA had its winningest football season ever and was nationally ranked for the first time. It went 12-2 for the year and was ranked 24th in the Associated Press Top 25 college teams.
Pundits said the team has a great chance to repeat as conference champs this year. It can make a national name for itself again with good showings against Houston, Texas, and Army as part of its upcoming 12-game schedule. Its greatest competitor for the conference championship appears to be the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Home games besides Houston this year are Texas Southern on Sept. 24, Western Kentucky on Oct. 8, Louisiana Tech on Nov. 12, and UTEP on Nov. 26. The C-USA Conference Championship is scheduled for Dec. 2. The host venue is still to be named.
Traylor is hoping Roadrunner fans will turnout during the holiday weekend for the season opener against Houston.
“It’s the loudest place in the country when we get over 40,000 in there. We have such a great team. Other than it being Labor Day weekend, I can’t think of another why that place wouldn’t be packed Saturday. We need everybody to be there,” Traylor said.
Tickets can be purchased at goUTSA.com.
