[5] Under the direction of third-year head coach Tyson Helton,[6] Western Kentucky began their season with a sound defeat of UT Martin, as Bailey Zappe passed for seven touchdowns in the Hilltoppers' 38-point victory.
Road wins at Old Dominion[11] and FIU[12] and a homecoming victory over Charlotte brought the Hilltoppers close to a .500 record, which they would go on to achieve the following week against Middle Tennessee.
[13] Western Kentucky extended their win streak further with victories against Rice and Florida Atlantic, putting their record at 7–4.
[18] The Roadrunners, led by second-year head coach Jeff Traylor, opened their season with a week one road upset of Illinois.
[25] After another narrow victory against Western Kentucky,[4] the Roadrunners beat Rice in a blowout on homecoming,[26] earning them their first national ranking when they entered the AP Poll at No.
[32] Scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. CST start, the game began on CBS Sports Network at 6:06 p.m., with the opening kickoff from Hunter Duplessis being returned to the Western Kentucky 22-yard line.
On UTSA's ensuing drive, the Roadrunner offense drove into opposing territory in three plays and ended up finding themselves facing a 4th & 1 on the Western Kentucky 22-yard line; Sincere McCormick carried the ball for two yards to convert it and later carried the ball for the same distance to score a touchdown and give UTSA their first lead.
Hunter Duplessis' ensuing kickoff went through the end zone for another touchback, and Western Kentucky reached UTSA territory relatively quickly.
UTSA faced a fourth down on their next drive as well; however, they were unable to convert with one yard to gain, and Western Kentucky took possession at their own 47-yard line.
From there, Western completed a 50-yard pass to reach the UTSA 21-yard line and scored on a one-yard Kye Robichaux receiving touchdown, cutting the deficit to eight points.
UTSA responded with a touchdown of their own, as Frank Harris found De'Corian Clark for a 28-yard score on the drive's tenth play.
Five plays later, Bailey Zappe completed a pass to Jerreth Sterns for a 34-yard touchdown, which narrowed UTSA's lead to eight points once again.