Game Preview: UTEP Miners versus No.7 Texas Longhorns

Texas managed to get in the win column last week against San Jose State, but it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for the Longhorns. Texas scored 28 of their 38 points in a five minute span of game time in the first half. Outside of those five minutes, Texas looked sloppy and like a team that could have a couple of more losses as the schedule thins out. Regardless of opponent, 12 penalties cannot happen to this Texas team, let alone any college football team. Penalties kill your own drives and extend your opponent’s drive. The Longhorns must clean those up or it will be a long season when SEC play begins.

The Longhorns welcome UTEP to Austin on Saturday in what amounts to another game that Texas should win handily. The ‘Horns were favored by 36.5 against San Jose State and stand as 41.5 favorites against the Miners. UTEP enters the game with a 1-1 record, with their win coming last week against FCS UT-Martin. While a win is a win, the competition will be a major step up for UTEP this week. That being said, Texas must still come out and show why they’re favored by over 40 points. The game is played on the field not on paper.

UTEP Brings a Balanced Offense

The first two weeks of play, Texas has faced teams in Ohio State and San Jose State. Ohio State wanted to establish the run and protect their young quarterback, while San Jose State wanted to throw it around the yard all day. UTEP will present the first opponent with a true balance on offense. In their week one 28-16 loss to Utah State UTEP threw it 37 times and ran it 35 times. They followed that up against UT-Martin with 29 pass attempts and 25 rushing attempts.

Offenses in the SEC are typically very balanced and UTEP will present that as well. This game is good prep-work for the Longhorns in advance of the gauntlet of SEC matchups. In an interesting note, UTEP quarterback Malachi Nelson was a five star quarterback prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, alongside Arch Manning. Prior to Lincoln Riley leaving Oklahoma, many thought Nelson and Manning would be the next great quarterbacks for Oklahoma and Texas respectively. Nelson followed Riley to USC before transferring to Boise State and now UTEP. Nelson will certainly be looking to put on a show and remind people why he was ranked so highly as a prospect out of high school.

The Arch Manning Ryan Wingo Connection Must Start Producing

Coming into the 2025 season the high expectations around the Texas offense were high, largely due to the dynamic duo of Arch Manning and Ryan Wingo. We all know the flashes Arch showed last year, but Wingo on the other hand played more snaps than Manning and had more production in 2024. Wingo would have started on a lot of teams and with the departure of Matthew Golden and Isiah Bond, it was expected he would take the torch and run. So far this season that has not happened.

The responsibility is not solely on Arch to force Wingo the ball, or Wingo to try and turn every touch into a 50 yard touchdown. Sark hinted in his press conference on Monday that Wingo may be trying too hard to be perfect. Against Ohio State there were some passes to Wingo that Arch would like back. Wingo followed that up with some plays against San Jose State that he would like back – most notably a drop that would have been a 20 or 30 yard gain. The reality for Texas is that the offense needs both Arch and Wingo on the same page or they will struggle when they get to conference play. The next couple of weeks are pivotal for Manning and all his receivers to get on the same page, but especially for him and Wingo.

Texas Must Improve Third Down Offense

The Texas offense currently ranks 119th in the country when it comes to third down conversions. The Longhorns have converted less than 27% of their third downs through two games. That’s an extremely alarming statistic, especially given they went 2/12 on third down last week against San Jose State. Last week, Texas should have been able to do whatever they wanted to on offense. The nonconference games against San Jose State, UTEP and next week against Sam Houston State should be games where the offense looks better than good. If you cannot convert third down against San Jose State at home, it’s scary to think what may happen against Oklahoma in Dallas or Georgia in Athens.

There are reasons why Texas has struggled on third down. The biggest is they are facing third and long much too frequently. That is due to penalties on early downs or not getting any push in the run game on those early downs. When the offense is facing third and long, everyone knows a pass is coming and that is not what you want for a young offensive line looking to gel along with a quarterback with limited experience. If Texas can establish the run better on first and second downs, the third down offense will be a lot more efficient.