UTEP favored over Wildcats? Miners don’t much care
The number is a small one and ultimately means nothing to people who aren’t college football gamblers, but it still ranks as the most remarkable stat in recent UTEP memory.
The Miners are going on the road to play a Big 10 school, in this case Northwestern on Saturday, and they are favored. They are only favored by a point and a half, but this is for a team that is 56 years removed from beating a power conference school (Ole Miss in the 1967 Sun Bowl) and has never beaten one on the road.
They have never been favored to beat a power five team.
This is supposed to be the week UTEP players talk about “shocking the world” (or at least the American college football world), about embracing being the underdog, about taking its puncher’s chance at history.
So much for that. But of course they can try.
“We may be a one-point favorite but everyone considers us the underdog,” said Tyrice Knight, who has more tackles this year than anyone in the nation heading into the weekend. “We have to have a good week of practice, get on top of the film, get into the game plan and execute.”
Trez Moore, whose fourth-quarter interception is the Miners’ only turnover this year and sealed the Incarnate Word win, put a slightly different spin on it.
“I don’t think the favorite means much,” Moore said. “We were probably favored against Jacksonville State, right? We lost. That means nothing, we have to come to practice, work hard, get the dub. We can do that, for sure.”
For the record, UTEP was a onepoint favorite two weeks ago on the road at Jacksonville State and lost 1714.
For its part, Northwestern is on a 12game losing streak, the longest in the nation, and are coming off a 24-7 loss to Rutgers where they used a last-minute touchdown to avoid a shutout. The postgame vibe around the Wildcats was one of relief that they finally got back on the field after an offseason of turmoil that saw coach Pat Fitzgerald fired amid teamwide hazing allegations.
As for what they think of UTEP, interim coach David Braun barely mentioned the Miners in his weekly press conference, a fairly normal occurrence when a power five teams hosts UTEP (or any group of five school). Like most
everyone at this point, their focus is on themselves.
Back in El Paso, UTEP is taking being favored in stride. The Miners know to make that line come true they have to buck plenty of history. And for the most part they truly don't study the gambling line.
“Block out the noise, know we're not good away, but be better,” tailback Torrance Burgess said. “Change that culture to where we can win on the road.”
Most of them are taking a moment to appreciate playing in a Big 10 stadium, albeit one that probably won't see a crowd approach its 47,000-seat capacity.
“It's definitely fun,” Praise Amaewhule said. “As a college player you want to play in those big arenas. The Sun Bowl is a great stadium, but getting to travel to a northern state, play in a Big 10 stadium, that should be fun.”
Predictably, quarterback Gavin Hardison was the most even-keeled about UTEP being a favorite.
“We don't look at that, pay attention to that,” Hardison said. “We just pay attention to our preparation and what we have to do to win.”
That will involve traveling well, something UTEP hasn't shown much flair for historically. The Miners are 5-25 away from the Sun Bowl in Dimel's six seasons, a fairly normal number (they were 0-7 on the road in 2017, the year before he arrived).
Reversing those numbers mean more to the team than playing as a point-anda-half favorite.
“We're not taking that into account because it's not like we're a big favorite,” Dimel said. “We've just got to be a good road team. If we want to accomplish the goals we want to accomplish we have to be a good road team.
“That's important because it's still going to be a tough environment, a Big 10 road environment in a tradition-rich program in Northwestern.”
As for how to do that, this is one of those times when the most boring answer may be the best one. Here's what the nation's leading tackler, Knight, had to say: “It starts with Friday morning walkthroughs and meetings,” he said. “We have to have good meetings at morning before we board the flight, be locked in and focused.”
The Miners are trying to keep this trip simple, shut out the noise of them being favored, and have good meetings. That's a formula they think they can manage.