UTEP Miners to play Fresno State Bulldogs in New Mexico Bowl
UTEP has a familiar bowl destination with a familiar, if dated, opponent.
The Miners are heading back to Albuquerque for the PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl, the third consecutive time they've gone bowling there, and the opponent is an old WAC foe, Fresno State.
UTEP confirmed the pairing in a 12:55 p.m. tweet.
UTEP is expected to open as a 17-point underdog against the 9-3 Bulldogs, the biggest spread of all 42 bowls. Fresno holds an 8-3-1 advantage in a series that dates back to 1938 and includes nine WAC games. This will mark the first meeting since a 24-21 Miner victory in 2004, the season before UTEP left for Conference USA.
"What better challenge than us to play a team like Fresno that had a great season," coach Dana Dimel said. "In a bowl game you want to do something special and it would be something special to get a win."
Specifically UTEP hasn't won a bowl game since the 1967 Sun Bowl, the nation's longest bowl-game victory drought. The Miners have never won a bowl game outside of the Sun Bowl. This season they haven't beaten a team with a winning record.
Despite being huge underdogs, the Miners will be playing a team in a bit of turmoil. Last week starting quarterback Jake Haener entered the transfer portal after throwing for 3,810 yards and 32 touchdowns this season and head coach Kalen BeBoer left to take the coaching job at Washington after two years in Fresno.
Running backs coach Lee Marks is the interim head coach and freshman Jaylen Henderson, who threw eight passes this year, is now the only quarterback listed on the depth chart.
"We're still trying to get a fix on who will be coaching for them and we're doing a good study on this quarterback," Dimel said.
What excites Dimel the most about the New Mexico Bowl is the proximity for UTEP fans.
"It will be great for our fans to get out and come see us, close by," Dimel said. "We encourage everybody to get in their car and drive up I-25 to see us."
Fresno's season includes a seven-point loss to then-No. 11 Oregon, a three-point win against then-No. 13 UCLA and a 10-point victory against then-No. 21 San Diego State. UTEP and Fresno have two common opponents. The Miners lost to Boise State 54-13 and the Bulldogs lost to them 40-14. UTEP beat New Mexico 20-13 and Fresno beat the Lobos 34-7.
That left UTEP 1-1 against Mountain West opposition.
"This is the rubber match," Dimel said.
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The series between UTEP and Fresno includes the Miners' 23-13 victory in 2000 in the Sun Bowl against quarterback David Carr, two years before he was the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.
UTEP is 5-9 in bowls, having lost its last six after going 5-3 in Sun Bowls. Its last three bowl wins are against Florida State (1954), TCU (1965) and Ole Miss (1967).
The Miners are 0-2 in New Mexico Bowls, getting routed by Brigham Young in 2010 and losing 21-6 to Utah State in 2014. Conference USA was not a bowl partner with the New Mexico Bowl in 2010, the Pac-12 was then, but arrangements were made to get UTEP to the closest destination.
Those two games featured the highest attendance for the 16-year-old New Mexico Bowl outside of the four times the University of New Mexico was playing.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
New Mexico Bowl
What: 16th annual New Mexico Bowl
Who: UTEP vs. Fresno State
When: 12:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 18.
Where: University Stadium in Albuquerque.
Tickets: $25-40.
TV: Game will air on ESPN.
More information: newmexicobowl.com
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football to play Fresno State in New Mexico Bowl
