UTEP vs SMU

[ALEX LIFESON]

UTEP Miners (3-6) (2-3) CUSA vs. SMU Mustangs (5-4) (4-1) CUSA
Gerald Ford Stadium Dallas, Texas 1:00 p.m. MST

UTEP MINERS

After two heartbreaking losses to UAB and Tulane the Miners need to heal their wounds, pick up their collective moral and prove its gut check time and get a win in Dallas to keep the last glimmer of bowl hopes alive.

This game this Saturday wouldn't have to be labeled a "must win" if the Miners would have been able to close out the Tulane Green Wave in overtime last week. Although the Miners never had a large lead on the Wave, it sure looked like the Miners were going to walk away from New Orleans with a win.

The story of the Tulane game wasn't so much the offense, but the defense. The UTEP defense was unable to get the stops it needed it when it counted, especially late in the fourth quarter. Freshman Quarterback Ryan Griffin was able to drive 86 yards in less than 90 seconds to send the game to overtime. In the loss Donald Buckram had his second biggest game of the year with 234 yards on the ground, 109 receiving and four touchdowns in total.

Final Score: UTEP 38 Tulane 45 OT

So now at what point is the Miner team in the season, do they stay on the downward spiral and continue to lose? Anything can happen with wins and losses. We've seen this year, that the Miners have won games they were picked to lose and lost games they were picked to win. You never know what you are going to get week to week. One thing that has been constant this season has been RB Donald Buckram he is running well and is the 10th Miner Running Back to reach 1000 yards, not to mention being named to the semifinalists of the Doak Walker award.

If the Miners can somehow get both the offense and defense to work right at the same time, they could very well leave Dallas with a win and keep the bowl hopes alive. If they lose the bowl is lost and this season will be seen as another year of sub-.500.

SMU Mustangs

The SMU Mustangs have tried to return their once national prominence that they enjoyed under the old Southwest Conference Days. To do this they have employed the help of Coach June Jones. June Jones, if you don't recall helped the University of Hawaii Warriors, make it to a BCS game back in 2008.

In Jone's second season he has the Mustangs poised to make it to a bowl only needing one more win to become bowl eligible. The Mustangs have been able to go through CUSA rather respectfully this year, only losing to a ranked Houston team on the road. The Mustangs are a half game out of first place in the west, and are just waiting to see if someone can trip up Houston.

The Mustangs are led by Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell who has thrown for over 1700 yards on the season. Shawnbrey McNeal leads the backfield with 727 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Look for the Mustangs to be ready to take it to the Miners as want to make it to a bowl game for the first time since 1984. Will the Miners be up to the challenge and hold SMU off their goal for one week?


Series History

SMU leads the Miners 9-7 in the series between the two squads. The Miners have been able to win five out of the last six. The Miners are currently on a three game winning streak over the Mustangs, and in fact the last time the Miners came into Gerald Ford Stadium, they opened CUSA conference play and were able to battle back from a large SMU lead and force the game to overtime, where the Miners found themselves victorious on a Marcus Thomas run.

Last Meeting

The last time the Miners and UAB played was November 16, 2008, in El Paso, Texas. Trevor Vittatoe threw over 400 yards and had three touchdowns as he and the Miners were able to beat a rebuilding SMU Mustang team.

Final Score: UTEP 36, SMU 10.

Quick Miner Notes

• Donald Buckram as of last Saturday was the #4 running back in the NCAA FBS.

• UTEP has a large contingent of Miner Alumni in Dallas area, so look to see some orange in the stands and for them to be quite loud.

• UTEP's last home game will be their Senior Night as they play the Marshall Thundering Herd at 1pm November 28. This is the Saturday after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Eddie Delgado may be reached at [email protected]

[Mestengo]

Death to the Miners – In a friendly way of coarse…

[that's great raplh]

if his final score is as accurate as his article then we win