UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor would love to use fake crowd noise for college football games. He is not allowed!
The AAC does not permit teams to arbitrarily pump in fake crowd noise during standard competition and the administration in San Antonio refuses to cheat.
Traylor can only focus on winning college football games. Everything else is out of his control.
Brian Hartline questioned UTSA’s fanbase.
This latest saga began earlier in the week. First-year USF head coach Brian Hartline dismissed any concerns about crowd noise in his first trip to the Alamodome. He questioned how it can get so loud inside the stadium if there aren’t a lot of people in the stands.
The jab was two-fold. Hartline mocked the Roadrunners for failing to draw a crowd worthy of acknowledgement. He also reignited a longtime debate about the crowd noise at the Alamodome. UTSA is often accused of pumping in fake noise.
Traylor refused to address Hartline’s comments at the time. The 58-year-old encouraged the fanbase to show up and show out.
And they did! Kind of. Well, not really…
The Roadrunners announced a total attendance of 17,632 for Thursday’s home game. Although it was the fourth-lowest total since 2021, it was up from the last home game against Colorado State and up from the Thursday night game in 2025.
The student section was packed.
Traylor gave them a well-deserved shoutout after the win.
However, he admitted that he and his players were still a little bit disappointed with the turnout for a crucial AAC matchup.
“The noise was great. But I’d be honest if my kids weren’t disappointed. They saw so many seats. They were disappointed. I tried to warn them to your point. I tried to explain to them that Thursday night, Spurs, Cowboys…”
Traylor also said that they “do a lot more with less in San Antonio.” The Roadrunners still took down the Bulls.
In fact, UTSA decided not to kick a field goal to win the game as time expired. It kept its foot on the gas and punched it into the end zone out of an offensive formation with eight offensive linemen.
Statement made. The Roadrunners sit alone atop the AAC standings… for now.
Jeff Traylor isn’t allowed to use fake crowd noise at the Alamodome.
Brian Hartline said what he said about the Alamodome. It completely backfired with the loss.
USF called its final timeout with nine seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. UTSA played the video of Hartline on the jumbotron, which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Because of how the Alamodome is built, as a giant concrete dome, it does get much louder than other stadiums— even if the attendance is underwhelming. Traylor wants to be very clear that the fake crowd noise allegations are completely untrue. He actually wishes it was true. He would love the added boost if he was allowed to use it.
In the meantime, Traylor hopes that other head coaches will follow Hartline’s lead. He loved it.
The Roadrunners can’t worry about the noise. They can only focus on winning. And they did!