SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Frank Harris threw for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns and ran for 49 yards and one other rating, lifting No. 23 UTSA to its second-straight Conference USA championship with a 48-27 victory over North Texas on Friday night on the Alamodome.
UTSA knocked off North Texas for the second time in six weeks. In a game on Oct. 21, it took Harris’ 10-yard pass to De’Corian Clark with 15 seconds remaining to provide UTSA a 31-27 victory.
Not wanting a repeat of its regular-season finale per week earlier by which UTSA found itself in a 24-0 hole against UTEP, the team got here out firing from the beginning, scoring on the opening possession.
After falling behind 10-7, the Roadrunners reeled off 17 unanswered points, including 10 in the ultimate 1:12 of the primary half to take a 24-10 lead on the break and never trailed again.
Harris and the offense, which has scored a minimum of 30 points in 12 of 13 games this season, kept the pressure on, rolling up 571 yards of total offense. Harris had scoring passes of 32, 14, and 39 yards to senior Zakhari Franklin, and his fourth — a 16-yard toss to junior tight end Oscar Cardenas — sealed the victory with 4:07 left.
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Junior quarterback Austin Aune, who engineered a scoring drive that got North Texas inside 34-27 early in fourth quarter, threw for 194 yards and rating, but was picked off twice.
The Roadrunners, who ran the table in conference play this season, improved to 11-2 and can await a bowl invitation. Projections include a possible bid from the Recent Orleans Bowl. North Texas fell to 7-6 and is bowl-eligible.
The title game marked the ultimate Conference-USA game for each programs, that are set to hitch the AAC starting next season. UTSA leaves with back-to-back crowns and UNT bows out with two straight losses within the title gamet. The Mean Green lost to Florida Atlantic 41-17 within the 2017 C-USA championship.
Harris, a sixth-year senior who will still have one 12 months of eligibility, has not decided if he’ll come back next season because the Runners’ signal caller. He set UTSA passing records for yards in season (3,865), profession (9,158) and TDs in a season (31) and profession (73).
While Franklin was setting a UTSA record for profession touchdowns, UNT’s Aune’s lone scoring toss gave him a UNT season-record 32 touchdowns passes.
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