The conference opener did not go as planned for the UTEP football team (1-3, 0-1) as it fell against Southern Mississippi 31-13. Now the Miners are set to take on The University of Texas at San Antonio (1-3, 0-1) at home this weekend.
Last season, UTEP fell to the Roadrunners 31-20 in San Antonio and look to improve from this last matchup against the Golden Eagles.
UTSA is coming off a bye week after losing to North Texas the previous week by a score of 45-3. UTSA has lost three straight games and allowed 501 yards against North Texas.
UTEP will be heading into the game against UTSA with several players banged up.
The Miners were plagued with the injury bug against Southern Mississippi with redshirt sophomore defensive back Justin Prince, senior offensive lineman Ruben Guerra, sophomore wide receiver Tre ‘Shon Wolf, senior quarterback Kai Locksley and sophomore linebacker Sione Tupou all leaving the matchup against the Golden Eagles at some point with an injury.
Head Coach Dana Dimel mentioned in a postgame news conference that the injury to Prince doesn’t look good.
Prince is tied for first for the most tackles on the squad with 28 and averaged seven tackles a matchup for the Miners.
The Miners were down early in the game against Southern Miss by a score of 14-0 six minutes into the first quarter and allowed 351 passing yards versus the Golden Eagles. Southern Mississippi had 519 yards of total offense against the Miners. UTEP’s pass defense has not played as exceptional as it would like against the pass, allowing an average of 265 yards per game. That ranks the Miners second to last in Conference-USA against the pass.
When it comes to the passing offense of the Miners, at times it has been abysmal. The Miners have the worse passing offense in Conference-USA averaging just 144 yards per game through four games this season. The bad news for the Miners is UTSA has the best passing defense in Conference-USA allowing a solid 147 passing yards per game.
Senior linebacker Andrew Martel leads the Roadrunners with 28 total tackles and has one forced fumble this season.
Locksley ran for 114 yards against Southern Miss and scored on a 63-yard rushing touchdown against Southern Miss while throwing for 109 yards. Senior quarterback Brandon Jones added 59 passing yards against Southern Miss.
Senior running back Treyvon Hughes will look to have a stronger performance against UTSA after rushing for just 5 yards on four carries against Southern Miss, Hughes is currently ranked first in rushing touchdowns in Conference-USA with six and is ranked seventh in rushing yards per game with 66.
UTSA lead redshirt sophomore quarterback Frank Harris has 486 passing yards and 126 rushing yards on the season.
Freshman running back Sincere McCormick leads the Roadrunners in rushing with 250 yards and three touchdowns. McCormick is averaging 62 rushing yards per contest, through four games.
UTEP takes on UTSA 6 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Sun Bowl and fans can score a “Winning Combo, a ticket, a hot dog and a soft drink for just $15. It can be purchased at any UTEP Ticket Center location, or by calling 915-747-5234.
Isaiah Ramirez may be reached at [email protected]
