UTEP and New Mexico State, I-10 rivals for 90 years, will meet on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in the Sun Bowl.
The Miners (1-2) were idle last week and are coming off a 47-31 loss to 23rd-ranked Boise State on Sept. 18. The Aggies dropped to 1-3 with a 38-3 setback to New Mexico on Saturday in Las Cruces.
NMSU managed just 124 yards of offense against the Lobos. The Aggies mustered only 36 yards in the first half, falling behind 17-0 at the intermission.
"I thought the Aggies played like they might have been too emotionally high for the game," said UTEP coach Mike Price at his Monday media luncheon. "I've seen them play much better in previous games on tape. It wasn't their best game, and it might have been New Mexico's best game."
Price acknowledged that it is important for his team to keep its emotions in check on Saturday. "We need to get in a winning groove, and get in our comfort zone," he said. "Not really relaxed, but we need to be calm and alert."
While Price will be getting his first taste of the rivalry this weekend, he admitted that fans have already educated him on its significance. "One of the things that bothers me a little bit is people say the Aggies take [the rivalry] more seriously than the Miners do," he said. "That's baloney. We are going to be plenty serious [about the game]. Two years ago we were embarrassed in Las Cruces. We've been on the other end enough to know that this is an important game."
UTEP fell at New Mexico State, 49-14, in the last meeting between the two schools on Oct. 5, 2002 in Las Cruces. However, the Miners have won four in a row over the Aggies in El Paso. UTEP leads the all-time series 46-33-2, including a 32-15-1 advantage in games played in the Sun City.
A large crowd is expected on Saturday at the 51,500-seat Sun Bowl, which could bode well for UTEP's chances. The Miners are 11-4 when playing before crowds of over 40,000 in the stadium, including 3-1 when NMSU is their opponent.
"We want this stadium to be full," Price said. "We want it to be a horrible place for our opponent to play. We want it to be loud, and we want our opponent to be dominated by our fans."
New Mexico State ranks 110th nationally in total defense (478.8 ypg) and 115th in total offense (227.8 ypg).
"They haven't faced many teams who have our sets, so we don't know for sure how they're going to defend us," Price said. "We have an idea [of what they're going to do]. I'm assuming that they're going to blitz more than they did against New Mexico. We're preparing for anything that they could throw at us."
For ticket information, please call (915) 747-5234.
|
|
