Fresno State Bulldogs vs. UTEP Miners guide: What to know about New Mexico Bowl matchup
A bowl game will sometimes come down to motivation and whether a team wants to be there, is just happy to be there, would rather be someplace else. But that should not be a problem for Fresno State when it plays Texas-El Paso on Saturday at the New Mexico Bowl after a wild nine-day stretch after the end of the regular season.
The Bulldogs lost coach Kalen DeBoer to Washington and quarterback Jake Haener to the NCAA transfer portal, only to rebound with the hire of coach Jeff Tedford and the return of their quarterback, a little bruised by social media but no worse for wear anywhere it really counts.
Fresno State can win a 10th game this season, something the Bulldogs have done only 10 times in their history. They can put some good football on tape for Tedford (who won’t be coaching Saturday), and head into the offseason on a high note.
“They have an opportunity to play in a game,” interim coach Lee Marks said. “At the end of the day, it could be a bowl game, it could be a regular-season game, but this is an opportunity to play in a game, which is big. It’s not like basketball or baseball where you have a ton of games to play. In football, you can have anywhere from 12 to 15 games and that’s it. Just having an opportunity to finish the right way, it’s big.
“The beautiful part is they’ll be done with school. It’s right around the holidays and those things, and they get a chance to go and travel down to Albuquerque and spend time in a hotel and do different bowl events. All of that stuff is fun. They get to be with their teammates, and just how awesome is that?”
Fresno State with Haener back has not named a starter and Marks said he wouldn’t until kickoff – freshman Jaylen Henderson and redshirt freshman Logan Fife were competing for the start when Haener was in the transfer portal.
With or without Haener, the Bulldogs have been a double-digit favorite against a team playing in its first bowl since it lost to Utah State in the 2014 New Mexico Bowl.
UTEP is ranked third in Conference USA in passing defense, but did not play any of its top three teams in passing offense, and the Bulldogs didn’t have much trouble moving the football against their non-conference opponents including a 40-37 win at No. 13 UCLA, rolling up 569 total yards.
Fresno State vs. Texas-El Paso
When: Saturday, 11:15 a.m.
Where: University Stadium, Albuquerque
TV: ESPN (John Schriffen, Rene Ingoglia, Stormy Buonantony)
Find it fast: AT&T (Channels 602, 1602), Comcast (32, 724, 1205), DirecTV (206), Dish Network (140)
Radio: Bulldog Sports Network (Paul Loeffler, Pat Hill, Cameron Worrell)
Find it fast: Fresno (AM1340), Bakersfield (AM970), Visalia (AM1130), Modesto (FM92.9), Stockton (AM1280), Bulldogs app, iHeartMedia app
The coaches: Lee Marks (0-0, interim coach), (Dana Dimel 12-32 in fourth season, 42-71 overall)
The records: Fresno State 9-3; UTEP 7-5
The series: Fresno State leads 8-3-1
Last meeting: UTEP won 24-21 in 2004
The line: Fresno State -12
Tickets: 559-278-DOGS or gobulldogs.com
About UTEP: The Miners are playing in a bowl for the first time since 2014 and have lost six bowls in a row since beating Ole Miss in the 1967 Sun Bowl. If UTEP wins the New Mexico Bowl it will have only its 11th season with eight or more wins in the past 84 years. Fresno State by comparison has 11 seasons with eight more wins in the past 19 years. … UTEP led Conference USA in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert on only 55 of 172 plays, 32%. That is an area Fresno State has fared well, converting 42.9% of its third-down plays into first downs even though Haener has struggled on third-and-long situations, completing just 26 of 55 passes (47.3%). A year ago, Haener was 20 of 31 on third-and-long (64.5%). … The Miners have pluses and minuses defending in the red zone. The plus: opponents have only scored a touchdown on 52.8% of their trips inside the Miners’ 20-yard line. The minus: opponents have extended drives into the red zone a lot, 53 times, ranking 12th in Conference USA and in a tie for 114th in the nation. … UTEP is averaging just 25.2 points per game, 11th in Conference USA. The pass game revolves around sophomore Jacob Cowing (67 receptions) and senior Justin Garrett (49), who have 116 of the Miners’ 187 receptions. Cowing has 1,343 receiving yards and seven touchdowns and has had 100 or more receiving yards eight times this season and a school-record tying 13 times in his career. … Quarterback Gavin Hardison has hit just 56% of his passes, but is averaging 8.9 yards per attempt. The Miners have 10 pass plays of 50 or more yards, tied for second in Conference USA and the nation. The Bulldogs’ pass rush could be a big factor – Hardison has hit 62% of his passes when working in a clean pocket and just 34.2% when under pressure, according to Pro Football Focus. UTEP allowed only 17 sacks in its 12 games. … UTEP has had 300 or more yards of total offense in every game this season, something it has not accomplished going back through the 2000 season. That is a long time, but it’s not always as easy as it seems. Fresno State is leading the Mountain West Conference in total offense, averaging 463.6 yards per game, but the Bulldogs were limited to 259 yards of offense in a 17-0 victory at Wyoming. …