UTSA wins Frisco Bowl (with video); TFB will be bowl-busy

The University of Texas-San Antonio has now won a bowl game.

It took them five tries, and it was a slow start to Tuesday night’s Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl in Frisco, Texas, at Toyota Stadium against Marshall. But the Roadrunners turned a 17-14 close one into a 35-17 rout of the Thundering Herd (Freshman McCown leads UTSA to 35-17 Frisco Bowl win over Marshall).

The Football Beat was there, photographers Alex Nabor and Jacob Lucas, and we’ve got photos and video along with this coverage.

But the ‘Runners didn’t have quarterback Frank Harris, nor did they have defender Rashad Wisdom or linebacker Trey Moore. Moore announced back in early December that he was transferring; Wisdom, a safety and a team leader, was out with a broken arm; and coach Jeff Traylor told the media about an hour before the game that Harris wouldn’t play due to a shoulder injury.

Harris was a seven-year starter for the program who is arguably the most decorated player in its history.

So Traylor went to his bench and found a McCown – as in, a member of the quarterbacking McCown family, redshirt freshman Owen McCown, the former Rusk (Texas) High School player and son of Jacksonville, Texas’ Josh McCown.

It wasn’t a great beginning for the younger McCown, but he got over it – and quickly. He finished 22-of-31 for 251 yards and two touchdowns. And his dad was there to see it.

The Roadrunners also had rushing touchdowns by Robert Henry (two of them: a 3-yarder and a 1-yarder) and by Rocko Griffin (one for 17 yards) in the win.

Cole Pennington – the son of another former NFL quarterback, Chad Pennington, of the New York Jets – got the start for Marshall. Pennington threw for 258 yards, but he was sacked six times. Pennington was starting in place of the transferring Cam Fancher.

Marshall went up 14-0 on a 1-yard touchdown by Ethan Payne and a 64-yard run by Rasheen Ali, before UTSA got hot.

Marshall lost seven of its last nine games.

Traylor admitted his team knew for about three weeks that Harris wouldn’t play.

“Our team didn’t tell a soul,” Traylor said. “It was the best kept secret ever in the history of San Antonio I would imagine. He tried. He wanted to play more than life itself. He prepared Owen all week. He’s as much the reason we won as anybody.”