College football: Northeastern State to play in front of big crowd in San Antonio

Northeastern State once drew some good crowds to Gable Field in Tahlequah. Maybe still does. But the RiverHawks — I still want to call them the Redmen — will open this football season in front of a crowd unlike any in school history.

NSU plays Texas-San Antonio in the Alamodome, the inaugural game in UTSA history. And the crowd could be huge, perhaps as much as 50,000.

Last week, UTSA athletic director Lynn Hickey said ticket sales have approached 45,000. That includes 29,000 tickets sold and 15,000 reserved for students. The Roadrunners have sold 10,000 season tickets. San Antonio businessman Red McCombs, former owner of the NFL Vikings, said he plans to buy 1,000 tickets and distribute them throughout the city.

UTSA is coached by Larry Coker, an NSU alumnus who served as offensive coordinator at Tulsa, OSU and OU, before going to Miami and eventually coaching the Hurricanes to the national championship. UTSA has joined the Western Athletic Conference and will play a 10-game independent schedule this season before playing a full WAC schedule next year.