SAN ANTONIO — Memphis football finally flew too close to the sun.

The Tigers (7-2, 3-2 AAC) have been in three consecutive close games against conference opponents they should've beat handily, but they managed to eke out wins over North Texas and Charlotte.

Not so on Saturday, when Memphis lost 44-36 to UTSA in the Alamodome, ending the Tigers' College Football Playoff hopes and likely shutting down their AAC title hopes with three games left to play.

Memphis scored a touchdown on its first drive but had problems keeping pace with the UTSA offense throughout the second game. Roadrunners quarterback Owen McCown threw for 280 yards and four touchdowns, and Memphis' defense had no answers down the stretch.

The Tigers' offense went dormant in the second half and started with three punts followed by three turnovers.

Memphis trailed by 20 points before scoring twice late in the game to cut the deficit to only eight points.

Memphis' goals are out of reach

The talk all offseason was about the Tigers' expectations: Win the AAC title game and go to the College Football Playoff. Those expectations took a hit with the loss to Navy, but Saturday's loss officially extinguished any chance of reaching the playoff and all but eliminated Memphis from the AAC title picture.

It's a major disappointment for a team that was picked to win the AAC in the preseason poll.

Fourth-down decisions are a talking point ... again

Memphis missed two key fourth-down conversions in last week's win against Charlotte, and the Tigers were quickly faced with similar situations Saturday against the Roadrunners. Memphis went for it twice on 4th and 1 in the first half, and both plays resulted in Mario Anderson runs that went nowhere.

The first failed conversion quickly led to a UTSA touchdown.

The Tigers ended up going 0-of-4 on fourth-down conversion attempts in the game, including a stretch of back-to-back in the fourth quarter that helped UTSA ice the game.

Memphis' defense struggles against the pass

The Memphis defense had been dominant for most of the first half of the season, but the Tigers have had issues the past three weeks. They struggled to contain McCown and the rest of the Roadrunners offense in a performance that looked a lot more like last year's Memphis defense.

McCown threw three first-half touchdowns, with each one going to a different UTSA tight end. The Tigers switched up their personnel on a few occasions, but nothing really worked to slow down the UTSA offense.

Greg Desrosiers returns, but injuries still plague the Tigers

Running back Greg Desrosiers played for the first time since he suffered a clavicle injury on Sept. 14 against Florida State, but there was plenty of negative injury news for the Tigers.

Receiver Jyaire Shorter suffered an apparent leg injury on a third-down conversion in the first half and left the game. Receiver Demeer Blankumsee scored a 69-yard touchdown but appeared to injure himself on the celebration. Blankumsee returned in the second half.

Running back Brandon Thomas and cornerback Kobee Minor both missed their second consecutive game.

Next up

Memphis returns home to face Rice on Friday night at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football's College Football Playoff hopes end with loss at UTSA