Jared Sackett made three field goals, including the game-winner with two seconds left, to lift UTSA to a 9-7 victory over Marshall and secure bowl eligibility on Saturday night at the Alamodome.
With the win, the Roadrunners improved to 6-4 overall and 3-4 in Conference USA play and snapped a two-game losing skid in the process. The victory was the program's first in two meetings with the Thundering Herd, who fell to 7-4 and 4-3.
Sackett, a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, was good on all three of his attempts and his 40-yarder in the waning seconds was the first game-winner by a Roadrunner since Daniel Portillo's 22-yard boot in overtime in a 30-27 decision at Charlotte on Nov. 14, 2015.
Meanwhile, the UTSA defense held Marshall to 229 yards of offense, the fifth time an opponent has failed to gain 300 yards against the league's top defense this season. The Herd managed just 40 yards on the ground, the second-lowest total allowed by the Birds this season (37, Texas State).
UTSA held a 6-0 lead at halftime and for most of the second half before a late touchdown pass by the visitors.
Marshall quarterback Chase Litton hit Hyleck Foster on a 20-yard pass in the corner of the end zone and Kaare Vedvik's extra point barely sailed over the crossbar to give Marshall a 7-6 advantage with 1:31 left to play.
The Roadrunners quickly marched 52 yards on the ensuing possession to set up Sackett's game-winner.
Senior quarterback Dalton Sturm hit Marquez McNair and Kerry Thomas Jr. on back-to-back 14-yard completions and Thomas Jr. again for 13 yards. Sturm then found Josh Stewart open on a slant pattern for 11 yards down to the Marshall 23-yard line with the clock winding down. After a pair of incomplete passes, Sackett, a true freshman from Fort Worth, calmly drilled the 40-yarder to help send UTSA to victory.
Sturm finished with 264 yards through the air on 25-of-38 passing.
Thomas Jr. caught a school-record-tying 10 passes for 106 yards, his second and the program's 12th 100-yard receiving game. Stewart added 69 yards on five receptions, while McNair had four for 44 yards.
La'Kel Bass led the defense with seven tackles, while Carl Austin III tallied five stops, including one behind the line of scrimmage. Marcus Davenport posted four tackles and a TFL to give him 15.5 this season and 36 for his career, both school records.
The Roadrunners opened the scoring on a 24-yard field goal by Sackett late in the first quarter which capped a 16-play, 75-yard drive that took 8:45 off the clock, the longest drive by time this season.
Sackett doubled the home team's lead when he split the uprights from 24 yards out with seven seconds left in the first half.
UTSA dominated the time of possession with a 35:57-24:03 advantage and ran 78 plays compared to just 46 by the Herd.
The Roadrunners will travel to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech (5-6, 3-4) in the regular season finale on Saturday, Nov. 25. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. at Joe Aillet Stadium.
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