S-M-U (5-4) at Texas-El Paso (5-4)

[The PonyGrad]

Post 3000!

FACTS & STATS: Site: Sun Bowl (51,500) -- El Paso, Texas. Television: None. Home Record: SMU 3-2, UTEP 4-1. Away Record: SMU 2-2, UTEP 1-3. Neutral Record: SMU 0-0, UTEP 0-0. Conference Record: SMU 4-1, UTEP 2-4. Series Record: SMU leads, 10-7.

GAME NOTES: Lone Star State rivals collide at Sun Bowl Stadium on Saturday night, as the Texas-El Paso Miners play host to the SMU Mustangs in a critical Conference USA showdown.

Bowl eligibility is on the line for both of these 5-4 squads. SMU is tied with Houston for first place in the league's West Division after the Mustangs rallied for a come-from-behind 31-17 win at Tulane last Saturday. The win snapped a two-game slide for SMU.

UTEP will be playing its home finale, where the Miners have assembled a 4-1 record this season. They are trying to become bowl eligible for the first time in five years and get to the six-win barrier for only the seventh time in the last 40 seasons. UTEP has lost three straight, most recently a 16-12 setback at Marshall last weekend.

SMU holds a 10-7 series edge, although UTEP has won five of the last seven meetings.

SMU has a well-balanced attack engineered by sophomore quarterback Kyle Padron, who ranks 11th nationally in total offense (304.9 ypg) and 14th in passing yards (276.7 avg.). His 22 touchdown passes rank third in the nation. In five C-USA games, Padron has thrown for 1,569 yards and 11 TDs as he leads the league in pass efficiency (150.33). Last week at Tulane, the Mustangs were trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter, when Padron led the comeback with four unanswered touchdowns. Aldrick Robinson heads the receiving corps with a C-USA best 95.9 receiving yards per game (120 ypg in league games) and four TDs in his last five games. Cole Beasley has a team-best 55 catches and is averaging 79.8 receiving yards per tilt, while sophomore Zach Line heads up the ground game, averaging 102 rushing yards to lead C-USA. However, turnovers have been an issue, as SMU's turnover margin of -1.00 ranks 11th in C-USA and is tied for 112th in the FBS.

Defensively, the Mustangs rank third in the conference in total defense (366.9 ypg) and fourth in scoring defense (27.0 ppg). While it was Padron and the offense that ultimately got credit for engineering the comeback against Tulane, it would not have been possible had the defense not held the Green Wave out of the end zone for the entire second half. One of Tulane's two TDs for the game came when Beasley lost a fumble and a Green Wave defender returned it for a touchdown. Tulane made four trips into the red zone and came away with only one touchdown and one field goal. In addition, the SMU defense held the Green Wave to only 4-of-15 on third downs and 1-of-3 on fourth down. Youri Yenga led the effort with 14 tackles, while Pete Fleps finished with 12 stops. On the season, Taylor Reed paces the squad with 91 tackles, while Fleps is next in line with 79. Ja'Gared Davis ranks among the national leaders with 8.5 sacks.

UTEP's normally potent offense has gone missing over the last few weeks. During the Miners' three-game skid, they are averaging just 14 points. The offense has posted a total of four touchdowns in that span, with three of those TDs coming in a 34-24 loss to Tulane two weeks ago. Against Marshall last week, the same kinds of problems resurfaced. The Miners took a 12-7 lead with 5:25 to play, when Trevor Vittatoe hit Kris Adams for a 23-yard touchdown pass. UTEP then went for two, but Vittatoe had his pass intercepted and returned 100 yards for a two-point PAT return, making the score 12-9. After the Thundering Herd took the lead on the ensuing possession, UTEP had one final chance with 1:47 to play, but the drive stalled after six plays. Vittatoe finished with 229 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 22- of-40 passing. Adams had 82 yards and a touchdown on six catches, while Donald Buckram carried 16 times for just 48 yards. The Miners had to settle for field goals on their only two trips to the red zone.

The UTEP defense allowed a touchdown drive on the opening possession of last week's game, then kept the Herd off the scoreboard the rest of the way. That is, until Marshall's last and most critical possession. Leading 12-9 with less than two minutes to play, the Miners came up with a goal line stand and forced Marshall to kick a game-tying field goal. However, Antwon Blake was flagged for roughing the kicker, setting up Marshall with a 1st-and-goal on the 1, and the Herd scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play. Those are the kinds of lapses that have cost UTEP throughout the season, and coach Mike Price is certainly not happy that they're still popping up after nine games. On the season, the Miners rank second in C-USA in scoring defense (22.4 ppg) and fourth in total defense (374.6 ypg). Isaiah Carter leads the team with 67 tackles, while Travaun Nixon paces the secondary with three interceptions and eight passes defended.

With bowl eligibility up for grabs for the winner of this game, neither team can afford a mental lapse. While these teams have identical records, SMU has been playing better ball of late. Look for Padron and the Mustangs' offense to attack all levels of the UTEP defense.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: SMU 31, Texas-El Paso 21



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/11/03/23 ... z14Fo5TyWi

[BUS]

Really good coverage from this paper - It is a shame that our home town team does not give this type of coverage.

Mustang Militia
"We come to win"

[CA Mustang]

Home finale on Nov. 6? The schedule makers weren't nice to UTEP!

[BIGHORSE]

Home finale on Nov. 6? The schedule makers weren't nice to UTEP!

Why are they having a night game in November anyway?

[CalallenStang]

For some reason, the KC paper covers us like we are their hometown team. Really odd.

[RE Tycoon]

For some reason, the KC paper covers us like we are their hometown team. Really odd.

I believe this is a syndicated story that they choose to run on their website. It's not like they have a writer dedicating time to writing about SMU. It's still better than any effort the DMN puts out when it comes to previewing games.

[CalallenStang]

Ah, that would explain it. DMN could easily pick it up and put it on their site as well.

[ponyte]

We are better this year than last year. Our defense is more solid and has a little depth. Our O has an improved running game and solid passing game. The major difference and reason we are 5-4 is turnovers. Our D last year got us turnovers. We have so few this year. And it is killing us. Turnovers against TTU may well have cost us that game. A key turnover against TCU certainly ended a chance of a comeback. And turnovers against Tulane should have cost us that game. We are in need of a few turnovers going our way the last three games of the year.

[rich59]

Amen, ponyte!

[The PonyGrad]

Ah, that would explain it. DMN could easily pick it up and put it on their site as well.

DMN usually puts up some lame AP preview.

[The PonyGrad]

As predicted, the minimalist AP preview:

http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/11/smu-at-ut-el-paso-what-you-need-to-know.html