Eleven carries should not be enough to do this much damage. A’Marion Peterson gained 179 yards and scored four touchdowns against North Texas on Saturday night, turning an unusually small workload into the defining performance of UTSA’s 35–16 win at the Alamodome. The Roadrunners threw for only 85 yards. Peterson made that limitation seem almost beside the point.
North Texas’ defense had stretches of resistance. It intercepted Owen McCown, held UTSA scoreless in the third quarter and forced a punt after the Mean Green pulled within 21–16 in the fourth. But its best work could not survive the biggest runs. Peterson’s late touchdowns from the UNT 38 and 46 finished a game North Texas had made competitive again.
Peterson finished with 179 yards and four touchdowns on 11 carries. His scoring runs covered 47, 2, 38 and 46 yards. Three touchdowns traveled at least 38 yards, a pattern too large to dismiss as one unfortunate break.
UTSA ran for 241 yards on 35 attempts while North Texas managed 109 on 40. The passing contrast made Peterson’s night even more important: UTSA won despite completing 15 of 24 passes for 85 yards and no passing touchdown.
The first major warning came after North Texas had spent 7:07 and 16 plays moving 83 yards before settling for a 31-yard field goal. That drive cut the deficit to 7–3, and the Mean Green had made UTSA work for every inch. The response was far quicker.
On second-and-5 from the UNT 47, Peterson went 47 yards for a touchdown, turning a promising North Texas defensive situation into a 14–3 hole in one play.
Peterson’s 2-yard touchdown late in the second quarter was less spectacular, though it carried its own damage. Baron Tipton’s lost fumble gave UTSA possession at its own 43. The Roadrunners still had 57 yards to cover, and they covered them, with Peterson finishing from the UNT 2.
The turnover removed a North Texas scoring opportunity; the ensuing march punished it again. UTSA reached halftime ahead 21–3.
North Texas did not fold neatly into the script. Tayven Jackson was injured during a third-quarter run and left the game. Chris Jimerson Jr. then guided two scoring drives that made the game competitive again. Jimerson connected with Max Reese for a 16-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and his 9-yard run in the fourth brought North Texas within five points at 21–16.
The defense also supplied time for that recovery. UTSA went scoreless in the third quarter, and Brenden Reese intercepted McCown. After Jimerson’s fourth-quarter touchdown, the Roadrunners went backward on a three-play possession and punted from their own 4. North Texas possessed the ball for 32:24, compared with UTSA’s 27:36, so the late damage cannot be reduced to a defense simply being stranded on the field.
