UTEP NOTES | ARIZONA NOTES | CUSA NOTES

EL PASO, Texas – UTEP will face its second consecutive Power Five opponent when the Miners travel to Tucson to take on Arizona and former UTEP WR Jacob Cowing on Saturday afternoon. The Miners and Wildcats are set to kick off at 9:00 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network while the game will be broadcasted on 95.5 KLAQ. 
 
UTEP and Arizona are playing for the first time since the 2017 season, while the former Border Conference and Western Athletic Conference foes will meet for the 53^rd time. 
 
UTEP (1-2) is coming off a 38-7 loss at Northwestern on Sept. 9. The Wildcats outscored the Miners 31-0 in the second half after going into the halftime tied 7-7. Tyrice Knight, the nations' leading tackler, racked up 14 more tackles including 11 solo stops and a half sack. Offensively, Jeremiah Ballard was the highlight as he tallied a career-best 92 yards on four receptions, while Zach Fryar snagged his first career touchdown on a four-yard leaping catch in the end zone. McKel Broussard added a career-high seven tackles, while Josiah Allen tallied his first career sack (half sack with Knight). Maurice Westmoreland recorded his first career sack along with a pass breakup. Gavin Hardison struggled in the second half. After starting the day 7-of-8 with a touchdown pass, finishing 17-of-25 for 192 yards and two interceptions. 
 
Knight, following his performance at NU, was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11, his first career weekly award. 
 
Arizona (1-1) is coming off a 31-24 overtime loss at Mississippi State on Sept. 9. The Wildcats outscored the Bulldogs 10-3 in the fourth quarter to push the extra period. UA QB Jayden de Laura threw for 342 yards on 32-of-46 passing with two touchdown tosses but four interceptions. Former Miner Jacob Cowing caught seven balls for 31 yards including a 17-yard TD in the third quarter after being down 21-7. Cowing added three yards on a rush attempt and completed a pass for -2 yards. Arizona opened the '23 season on Sept. 2 with a victory over NAU, 38-3. De Laura passed for 285 yards and three scores, including a four-yard TD toss to Cowing for the Wildcats' first points of the season. Overall, de Laura has thrown for 627 yards, ranking 13^th in FBS. He ranks eighth in passing yards per game (313.5). Arizona's passing offense ranks 17^th nationally, while its redzone defense ranks ninth in FBS. 
 
"Arizona is our biggest test of the year and for one reason alone is that they're a very, very, very talented team. Start with their offensive line, a big physical athletic offensive line. (They have) a really deep backfield with running backs, good tight ends and then some good size at wide receiver. Then obviously they got Jacob (Cowing), who's just a tremendous player for them," UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel said. "So, they got really a group of very, very talented receivers and a quarterback that's very athletic and makes a lot of plays. So offensively, they're a big, big test for us and they're very versatile with what they do offensively. Defensively they've gotten a lot better. They've recruited well, they've got more talented defensive players on their team now. They're very deep up front. They got some solid depth at linebacker, and they're very deep in the secondary. So, they have the size and the speed on defense. I think they're much improved this year defensively from what they were last season with the things they're doing, as everybody expected them to be. They're going to be a tough test force for sure, as we try to attack them offensively and then try to stop them defensively."
 
UTEP (1-2, 0-1) at Arizona (1-1, 0-1)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 16
Time: 9:00 p.m. MT/8:00 PT 
Location: Tucson, Ariz.
Venue: Arizona Stadium (57,400)
X Updates: @UTEPFB
 
TV: Pac-12 Network
PxP: Jordan Kent
Analyst: Bob Davie
 
Radio: 95.5 KLAQ
PxP: Jon Teicher
Analyst: Cole Freytag
Sideline: Mando Medina
 
WHERE TO WATCH & LISTEN
The contest will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Jordan Kent (play-by-play) and Bob  Davie(analysis) calling the action. Fans can tune into 95.5 KLAQ with "The Voice of the Miners" Jon Teichercalling play-by-play in his 43^rd season. 'Teich' is joined by former UTEP WR Cole Freytag (2012, 2014-16) in the booth providing analysis in his second season and Mando Medina reporting from the sidelines. The action can also be heard on the UTEP Miners app.
 
SERIES VS. ARIZONA
Arizona leads the series 39-11-2. The last meeting came on Sept. 15, 2017 as the Wildcats ran past the Miners 63-16 on a Friday night matchup in the Sun Bowl. Arizona has won the last 13 meetings. The Miners' last victory over the Wildcats came on Nov. 14, 1970 in El Paso, 33-17. UTEP is 6-21-1 in Tucson and last won there on Nov. 16, 1957 when the Miners beat the Wildcats 51-14. Arizona joined the Border Conference in 1931, while UTEP joined in 1935. The two programs then joined the WAC – the Wildcats in 1962 and the Miners in 1967. Arizona exited the WAC after the 1978 season to join the Pac-10, while UTEP entered CUSA in 2005. 
 
PLAYING THE PAC-12
UTEP is 0-13 vs. Pac-12 schools since 1978 with five of those contests coming against Arizona. 
 
THE BCS ERA
UTEP is 0-37 all-time versus BCS Power Five schools (0-27 on the road) since its inception in 1998. Overall, UTEP is 1-58 against programs in Power Five Conferences with its lone victory coming against Ole Miss (14-7) in the 1967 Sun Bowl. 
 
ABOUT ARIZONA
The Wildcats won in their season opener, 38-3, over NAU on Sept. 2. Arizona followed with an overtime loss at Mississippi State, 31-24. Arizona QB Jayden de Laura has thrown for 627 yards, ranking 13^th in FBS. He ranks eighth in passing yards per game (313.5). De Laura leads the team in rushing (91 yards) and rushing scores (two). Arizona's passing offense ranks 17^th nationally, while its redzone defense ranks ninth in FBS. De Laura is coming off a 342-yard performance on 32-of-46 passing with two touchdown tosses but four interceptions against the Bulldogs. Former Miner Jacob Cowing caught seven balls for 31 yards including a 17-yard TD at Mississippi State. Cowing has 10 receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns this season. WR Tetairoa McMillan has hauled in 11 catches with a team-leading 226 yards and two TDs. RB Michael Wiley leads the team with 14 receptions for 117 yards, while ranking second with 85 yards on the ground. LB Jacob Manu leads the Pac-12 with 21 total tackles, while averaging 10.5 per game. Manu also had 1.5 sacks. S Dalton Johnson ranks second on the team with 14 stops. 
 
CONNECTIONS
Current Arizona WR Jacob Cowing played at UTEP from 2019-2021. Cowing's final season as a Miner was a successful one, gaining 1,354 yards on 69 receptions and eight total touchdowns. His '21 receiving yards rank second-best all-time during a single season in program history. Cowing ranks eighth on the program's reception's list with 141, while his 2,595 yards rank fifth all time. 
 
UTEP offensive coordinator Scotty Ohara graduated from the University of Arizona in 2008 with a degree in molecular and biological biology. Ohara was a volunteer assistant coach during the 2007 and 2008 seasons under then-head coach Mike Stoops. 
 
Eight current Miners on the roster are from the state of Arizona. They included CB Amier Boyd-Matthews(Tempe), S Josiah Dye and RB Joshua Dye (Gilbert), CB Ilijah Johnson (Maricopa), OL Julian Laborin (El Mirage), CB Brandon Shivers (Scottsdale), DE Osaiasi Taueli (Mesa), and Sione Tonga'uiha (Tempe). 
 
TYRICE TEARING THROUGH OFFENSES
LB Tyrice Knight leads the nation with 43 total tackles and 28 solo stops, while he ranks no. 2 nationally at 14.3 tackles per game. Knight ranks tied seventh nationally with 4.5 tackles for loss.  
 
KNIGHT TIME
LB Tyrice Knight racked up another 14 tackles, this time at Big Ten program Northwestern. He opened campaign with 13 tackles at Jax State and followed with a career-high 16 tackles in a win over UIW. The redshirt senior now has 15 double-digit tackle performances in his career. Knight tallied 14 at UTSA and 11 against North Texas in 2020. In 2021, he recorded double-digits six times, highlighted by his career-high 15 against Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl. Also, that season he tallied 12 against UNM, 11 at UNT, 10 against UTSA and 10 more at UAB. In 2022, he added four more with 14 stops at UNM, 12 at Rice, 11 against UNT and 10 versus Middle Tennessee.
 
3 IN A ROW
LB Tyrice Knight has posted three consecutive games of double-digit tackles for the second time in his career. Knight concluded the 2021 season with double-digit tackles, while opening the 2022 campaign with double-digit performances. 
 
CAREER HIGH FOR MCKEL
S McKel Broussard tallied a career-high seven tackles at Northwestern. His previous high was six stops in the season opener. 
 
FIRST SACKS
DE Maurice Westmoreland registered his first career sack, while CB Josiah Allen recorded his first, a half sack at Northwestern. 
 
CAREER BEST FOR BALLARD
WR Jeremiah Ballard tallied a career-high 92 yards on four receptions at Northwestern. Ballard added a long catch of 36 yards. His previous best was 64 yards against Boise State last year. Ballard has 110 yards on seven receptions (15.7 avg.) this season. Last season, Ballard tallied 118 yards on 10 receptions and a TD. 
 
FIRST FOR FRYAR
TE Zach Fryar hauled in his first career touchdown on a four-yard leaping reception in the end zone during the first quarter at Northwestern. 
 
CUSA LEADER
RB Deion Hankins leads Conference USA and ranks eighth nationally with 255 yards rushing. Hankins tallied a career-high 174 yards against UIW a few weeks back. 
 
VINSON GETTING IN ON THE ACTION
Transfer TE Marcus Vinson caught his first pass in a UTEP uniform, an eight-yard grab in the fourth quarter at Northwestern.
 
FIRST ACTION FOR FRESHMEN & TRANSFERS
True freshmen RB Ezell Jolly, and WR Caden Harris, and redshirt freshmen QB Jake McNamara and FB Zachary Essih saw their first collegiate action at Northwestern. Jolly carried the ball five time for 10 yards and was targeted two times, while McNamara threw for 23 yards on 2-of-5 passing and an INT. Harris returned a kickoff 28 yards, and Essih played in special teams kickoff coverage. 
 
CONSECUTIVE STARTS ON THE O-LINE
Senior RG Elijah Klein has started the last 41 games in a row on the offensive line. The string of consecutive contests started on Nov. 2, 2019 at North Texas. 
 
MOVING THE CHAINS
UTEP ranks sixth in FBS and first in CUSA with 65 first downs in 2023. 
 
UP NEXT
UTEP returns to the 915 to face Mountain West program UNLV on Sept. 23. The Miners and Rebels are set to kick off at 7 p.m. in Sun Bowl Stadium. The contest will be streamed on an ESPN Platform and can be heard on 95.5 KLAQ and the UTEP Miners App. 

---

 
Help Support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club. Visit https://givingto.utep.edu/mac today!
 
UTEP football is celebrating 60 years in the historic Sun Bowl. You're invited to pledge to support the Miners' success during the 2023 season. You can pledge to support each Miner win, bowl eligibility and even a CUSA Championship. Personalize your support of the Miners! https://caringcent.org/utep/football23
 
For complete coverage of UTEP Football, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPFB (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.