SAN ANTONIO — UTSA senior tight end Oscar Cardenas has always had the football know-how, but it was his talent in another sport that made him the college football player he is today.
"Honestly I would say it would be the baseball background," he said. "I was a catcher and I feel like having that hand and eye coordination pretty much helped that."
The redshirt senior Roadrunner from Brandeis High School has shown the ability to make clutch fingertip catches in the biggest game situations.
"The one that is up there is the North Texas game (2022 Conference USA Championship Game)," he said. "(Former UTSA quarterback) Frank (Harris) was like, 'You better get open because I'm throwing it to you.' I was like, 'OK.'
"I knew I had to get open, and once I got past the linebacker he just dropped it in perfectly and I had to make the catch. But it was also a really good throw."
And then there's the catch that everybody asks him about: the tipped ball reception against UAB during the 2021 season that sealed the win over the Blazers.
"That is a good one for sure," he said. "Everybody talks to me about that one. I still like the North Texas one better. The UAB one was really good too; that was definitely a distraction drill."
And then, most recently in spring ball last March, Cardenas had an amazing one-handed catch that reeled the throw in like a magnet.
"The quarterbacks make me look good. I try to make them good, too. That's really all it is."
Cardenas reiterated that his baseball days at Brandeis deserve lots of credit improving his football game skills.
"Catching a 95 mph fastball is much more difficult than catching a football," he said. "The football is much bigger and not as fast, and a baseball is much smaller and must faster. That's a big help."
He no doubt is equipped with the range, and big guys don't always have that. But he's also one of the very sure-handed talented tight ends in college football.
"I'm more of a slim guy now," he said. "That's the way I like to think of myself. I think if it is in my reach, I'm gonna catch it. If I don't, I don't know what happened."