Who: UTEP Miners (1-0) vs. #11 Texas Longhorns (1-0)
When: Saturday, September 10th at 6PM CST
Where: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (Longhorn Network)
Odds: Texas -28
The Good:
UTEP notched a win in week 1 with a dominant offensive performance over New Mexico State. The Miners were led by senior running back Aaron Jones who accounted for 249 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Jones runs behind an experienced offensive line, and the offense is predicated on a strong running game. Junior quarterback Zack Greenlee transferred from Fresno State, and before that he was an Elite 11 finalist during his senior year of high school. The Miners’ passing attack accounted for 229 yards and three touchdowns under Greenlee in their week one victory. The balanced UTEP offense accounted for 518 yards on the day. The Miners also boast a strong run defense bolstered by an experienced defensive line. Though the UTEP defense allowed some big plays on the ground, they held NMSU to 139 yards on the day.
The Bad:
There isn’t a lot of bad to go off in week one for the Miners. Coming into the season it looked like the secondary was a distinct disadvantage for UTEP, but NMSU was only able to tally 206 yards on 41 pass attempts. The Miners were the more penalized team, and depth could be a concern. Most of the reserves on the UTEP defense are young and inexperienced.
The Uncertain:
It’s tough to take a lot of things away from a win over a team like New Mexico State, and Texas will certainly test their secondary at a different level. UTEP is also undersized up front, and Texas has a punishing running attack. If the UTEP rush defense can corral the Longhorn running game they might be able to pressure Shane Buechele into making some mistakes.
What’s at stake?
The Longhorns are riding high after shocking Notre Dame in the opener. The media tabbed Texas as #11 in the AP poll, and expectations are on the rise in Austin. The Longhorns need to follow up with a strong performance in order to keep building momentum in their young season. The Miners could play spoiler as an obvious trap game candidate if the Longhorns are feeling too good about themselves following Notre Dame. If UTEP could somehow pull off an upset, it would be one of the biggest wins in program history.
