AUSTIN — Over the last two seasons, the Texas Longhorns haven’t performed well after ascending to No. 1 in the rankings, but Steve Sarkisian’s team has a chance to reverse that trend on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium against a UTSA Roadrunners team that is a nearly 30-point underdog.
Ball security and third-down defense were both issues that Sarkisian wants corrected in the wake of last week’s thrilling 24-23 comeback against Ohio State as Texas goes through its final tuneup before embarking on its SEC schedule next week in Knoxville.
Similar to last week, Texas warmed up in its new indoor practice facility — the offense came out onto Campbell-Williams Field with about an hour until kickoff, but the defense did not.
As expected, freshman running back Derrek Cooper was dressed after sustaining an ankle injury in the season opener against Texas State, but sophomore tight end Nick Townsend was not dressed. Townsend injured his knee last week. Also not dressed — sophomore defensive lineman Justus Terry, junior safety Kobe Black, and junior nickel back Xavier Filsaime.