SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Another first has arrived for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) football team as the Vaqueros are set to play against their first FBS opponent Saturday at 2:30 p.m. as they take on the UTSA Roadrunners at the Alamodome. 
 
The Vaqueros (1-0) know a tough test is ahead. This will be UTSA's season opener, and a large crowd is expected to fill the Alamodome. UTRGV quickly sold out of its allotment of tickets, and Vaqueros fans are excited to take advantage of the long weekend and fill the visiting side in white shirts. Though the Vaqueros are no strangers to playing in front of large crowds after ranking 11^th in the FCS in attendance last season and treating a program-record crowd of 13,698 to a home win last week, the environment for this game and it being their first indoor contest will take a minute to adjust to. 
 
UTRGV knows it has nothing to lose in this game, and the Vaqueros are ready to play like that. They recognize how big the opportunity is to play a FBS opponent in just their second season, and they're hungry to show the extra eyes on this game how capable this squad is. Additionally, UTRGV has 12 players on the roster who played their high school football in the San Antonio area, including a pair of 2025 FCS Football Central Freshman All-Americans in linebacker Jaiden Haygood and offensive lineman Nick Hughes, a Southland All-Conference Second Team selection. Three of the first 10 Vaqueros to sign are 210 products. Head coach Travis Bush wants his team to soak up the moment, enjoy the opportunity, and leave their best on the field. 
 
"Guys are excited to get back home and they'll have a lot of family there. We'll have a lot of people from the Valley there, too. Should be a good environment," Bush said. "We'll have to make some adjustments on some things because of the crowd noise, but the guys are excited. You should enjoy it. It's just a matter of locking in and focusing on the details and making sure that we're doing our job. Really, it doesn't matter if we're playing UTPB, UTSA or the Green Bay Packers. We're going to plan practice and prepare to win the ball game." 
 
UTRGV's defense will be battling an experienced and skilled Roadrunners offense led by redshirt senior quarterback Owen McCown, who is on seven major award watch lists heading into the season including for the Davey O'Brien, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, Manning, Maxwell, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose awards and Walter Camp Player of the Year. UTSA's offensive line has combined to play 192 games and the Roadrunners have a top back running behind it in Will Henderson III. 
 
The Vaqueros defense was one of seven in the FCS to pitch a shutout in Week 0. They held UT Permian Basin to just 13 rushing yards and only gave up 165 total yards of offense while reeling in three interceptions. Harlingen High alum Nathan Huerta has FBS experience under his belt and will anchor the defensive line while Haygood and Co. look to limit the skill positions. 
 
Offensively, the Vaqueros will continue to use two quarterbacks in Garret Rangel and Aidan Jakobsohn. Rangel leads the Southland Conference (SLC) in passing efficiency (220.2) and passing yards per attempt (14.07) after going 12-for-15 with 211 yards in the hair and a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and one in the air, in the season opener. Jakobsohn leads the conference in yards per completion (18) after a 10-for-16 day with 180 yards passing and one touchdown. 
 
The Vaqueros led FCS in Week 0 with 675 total yards of offense and had two receivers go over 100 yards in Kyran Lee (141) and Corey Holmes (119). UTSA brings an experienced and deep defense to the game, aiming to slow UTRGV down after a fast and clean start. 
 
"They've got a phenomenal football team. It's going to be an opportunity to see how we stack up. We're going to have to play at our highest level to have a chance to compete Saturday. And that's good. Great competitors, they want that. They want those matchups. It's going to maximize our potential and force us to step up our game," Bush said. "They're good across the board. Defensively, they're very similar schematically to a lot of things we do. They're sound. They're simple. But they do things well and they're well coached. They'll fly around. Definitely going to be a lot to handle up front defensively. Offensively very versatile. Skill wise, they're extremely long and fast. They'll expose some weaknesses and we can see what we need to fix before conference." 
 
Facing a team in the highest level of college football will get UTRGV ready to roll when SLC action gets underway next week. Last season, the Vaqueros played three non-Div. I opponents before their first conference contest. Bush felt the first half of that inaugural conference game at Southeastern showed that it took the Vaqueros too long to catch up to the speed of the game after playing lower-division opponents. The Roadrunners will give UTRGV early exposure to fast, physical, demanding football right on time.
 
The Vaqueros are set to face a roster that is projected to cost $4-5 million, according to UTSA athletic director Lisa Campos, and is funded by NIL revenue sharing and a collective. That number paints the picture behind the increased gap between subdivisions since NIL went into effect in July 2021. 
 
In the last five completed seasons since FBS schools started paying big money for their rosters, the FCS is 34-568 (.056) against the FBS. Last season, there were 126 games played between FCS and FBS teams. Only four of those were won by the FCS team (Tarleton State def. Army, 30-27; Austin Peay def. Middle Tennessee, 34-14; LIU def. Eastern Michigan, 28-23; Bryant def. UMass, 27-26). The FCS is already 0-6 against the FBS in 2026. 
 
The SLC is 5-119 (.040) against FBS opponents dating back to 2015. The last time a Southland school defeated its FBS opponent was UIW beating Nevada, 55-41, in 2022. 
 
The Vaqueros are always striving to be 1-0 at the end of the day, but the experience from this game is what will really carry over for UTRGV. It's going to be another special day for the young program that will show the commitment to the growth and success of UTRGV football.
 
"So many guys in that first class didn't have a home and chose to walk-on here on a dream, on a vision. And now they're about to start in front of 30,000 fans. Just really proud for all those guys and excited for the ones that have been here, stuck it out, worked their way up, earned scholarships," Bush said. "It shows the trajectory of where this program wants to go. We could have chosen not to play those opponents, but we know that's the direction we want to go with this program." 

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