What UTSA coach Jeff Traylor, Roadrunner players said after 45-14 loss at Tennessee

Tennessee’s Joe Milton ran for an 81-yard touchdown on the first play of the game against UTSA Saturday at Neyland Stadium. By the 3:21 mark of the second quarter, the lead for the Vols was 31-0.

The Roadrunners answered with 14 straight points in the third quarter, while shutting Tennessee out, before the Vols hit back with two more touchdowns in the fourth on the way to a 45-14 win.

Here’s what UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor and players said after the loss in Knoxville:

UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor

The mistakes UTSA made in the first half of the game

“They ran a zone read, we misfit it. He’s really fast. That’s how it started. We messed up on a couple of short yardage situations with some penalties. We couldn’t protect our quarterback. We couldn’t block a lightbox. They had great boxes to run the ball into. They were playing coverage in the back and we couldn’t block them.”

UTSA’s mentality coming into the week

“We’re fine. We just played a better team than us today. We’re fine. Mentally we’re fine. Our culture is stronger than that. We all want to be 3-1. We are 1-3. It is what it is. When we go to Temple, we will be 0-0. Criticism? Cool. My kids will bounce right back out of it.”

Tennessee’s success on the ground (33 carries, 303 yards, four touchdowns)

“That was surprising. We thought we could hold up in there better and we didn’t. That’s two weeks in a row now. We have to look at that. That’s a great question. Obviously, there are a lot of things we have to look at, but it’s just hard. There is a lot of stuff going on right now. We’ve played four good opponents in a row and today was the best one by far. It’s the best environment in college football. It was incredible, unless you’re a Roadrunner, or you’re a quarterback trying to communicate, or if you’re a linebacker trying to communicate to your down people. They have a great home environment here. It’s incredible.”

East Tennessee native Tykee Ogle-Kellogg’s impact at UTSA

“Really happy for him. He’s overcome a lot. He’s got his degree now. For him to come back home and play in front of his people, catch the slant route, break a couple tackles, it’s a pretty cool story. I wish we could’ve played better today. We are obviously disappointed in that. That was one of the highlights of the day.”

The status of UTSA redshirt senior quarterback Frank Harris (turf toe)

“We will see. He’s got the turf toe we’re battling. He’s gotten a lot better. He could’ve played (today). It’s just a matter of what it’s going to do for a nagging injury the rest of the year. We are trying to get that thing healed up all the way, so when he comes back it’s not something everyone is holding their breath about the entire year.”

UTSA quarterback Owen McCown’s play against Tennessee

“I was not surprised. He does that all the time. We just could not protect him or Eddie (Lee Marburger) very well. That’s disappointing. We knew those guys were really good at rushing the quarterback, we just thought we could have held up a little bit better up front. We just got really physically whipped up front to be honest with you. We could not run the ball in a lot of boxes. We couldn’t protect the quarterback against the four-man rush. It’s the first time I thought our line did not handle the opponent. I thought we played really good against Houston, really good against Texas State and really good against Army. I thought we took some physical whooping up front today. I have to look at that as a coach schematically. Did I give them the best chance? If we did as a coaching staff, then my players have to look at that. If we didn’t as a coaching staff, then obviously I have to look at that, but that is disappointing.”

If Owen McCown did enough to move to the No. 2 quarterback

“We’ll have to look at that. It’s way too soon to make that judgement. We had planned on playing both quarterbacks in both games, but we couldn’t get the ball back against Army. We never got to see both quarterbacks. When I realized Frank (Harris) wasn’t going to be able to go, our intention was to make sure we played a lot of our roster so we could make an honest evaluation of what we have before we go to Temple.”

If UTSA will be significantly healthier going forward

“I have to look and see how bad we are with injuries today. We played a very good, physical football team. We took a few shots today that we’re not even sure about yet. We’ll see where J.T. is. We’ll see where Frank is. We have a couple of linemen that should be coming back pretty quickly. We should be getting some help.”

UTSA senior safety Rashad Wisdom

How the first half got out of hand, with Tennessee building a 31-0 lead

“I feel like the biggest thing for us is that we just got off to a slow start. We went in at halftime and made some adjustments and said, ‘let’s just go play football and do what we always do.’ I feel like coming out in the second half, we did just that. We definitely had a lot more momentum, a little more swag to us and we were just out there playing ball. With a team like Tennessee, you can’t come out and wait until the second half to play ball and that’s the biggest thing that hurt us today. Tennessee is a great team and has a lot of dudes. We are going to use this bye week the best we can and get ready for Temple. The games are really going to start counting now since it’s conference play, so games are big now.”

UTSA’s approach to the game at Tennessee

“We approached it like we approach every game: just go out there and go play. It’s not like we’re going to lay down for anyone, whether it’s Tennessee or a middle school team, it doesn’t matter. We are going to prepare the same way. We did that throughout the whole week this week and we weren’t able to execute the way we wanted to. It’s just part of it. You get a couple bumps here and there, but you have to keep rolling with the punches. Like I said, we’re going to use this bye week and get our bodies right, get our minds right and we’ll be ready to go to Philadelphia here in two weeks.”

UTSA senior wide receiver Tykee Ogle-Kellogg

UTSA’s offensive struggles in the first half

“We just didn’t do what we came out and talked about. As long as we work at it in practice every day, we’ll be fine.”

What it meant to play and score a touchdown in his home state, with family attending the game

“It was amazing. It felt great. It was a great pass from Owen (McCown). Everyone did their job, and I just got the ball and did a move with it.”

What it will take for UTSA to regroup from this game

“I think we’ll be out of our heads by tomorrow. We’ll come in tomorrow, watch film and correct what we need to correct, then get ready for Temple.”

UTSA senior wide receiver Joshua Cephus

What changed for UTSA in the second half

“I feel like our details got better. We started running the ball better. Receivers started making plays. All of that has to do with details and what we’re targeting, how we are getting open, where we are targeting and stuff like that.”

Getting to see Owen McCown play in the second half

“I think he played well. I think everything that he’s been working on showed tonight. He got in and immediately started going crazy. Just did his job well to the best of his ability. He definitely changed the game tonight.”

Tykee Ogle-Kellogg catching a touchdown in his home state

“It meant a lot. I know he’s also been working on his run after catch, and that definitely showed tonight for him to score against Tennessee, which is his home team. Then, to score in front of his family meant a lot to him, I’m sure.”