College Football Predictions – UTEP Miners 2020 College Football Preview
August 19, 2020
2019 Recap
Record – 1-11
ATS – 3-8-1
YIKES.
The Miners opened with a CLOSE SHAVE vs Houston Baptist (W 36-34) and then proceeded to lose the next 11 (!) games of the season. There wasn’t any drama to speak of as only one of those losses was a one-score game. Things have been really tough in El Paso over the past three years and they’ve only managed to win TWO games since 2016.
Is there any hope for improvement in 2020?
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
West Division – #7
Conference USA – #13
UTEP Miners 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Miners were inept across the board (#9 C-USA rushing offense, #11 passing offense) and scored fewer than 20 PPG for the third consecutive season. There are a ton of new faces in the mix this year and just three returning starters so it’s hard to forecast how things will go. The QB position needs a yuuuuuge upgrade and it remains to be seen if one of a couple of youngsters (Gavin Hardison, TJ Goodwin) can provide said improvement. RB Quadraiz Wadley led the team in rushing in 2018 (627, 5.1, 7 TD) but missed LY due to injury. He’ll be the focal point of the offense if able to stay healthy. There’s potential at WR with the return of their top-two wideouts including Jacob Cowing who averaged a healthy 17.7 YPC LY. The Miners only bagged 9 TD receptions as a TEAM a season ago so there’s a long way to go before we can consider them to be dangerous in the THROW GAME. Only two starters return up front and they’ll need to do a better job this year if anything is to be accomplished on offense. They allowed the 2nd most sacks in C-USA LY (35) and were 10th in TFL/game allowed.
There are almost certainly be more issues on offense and it’s hard to see them clearing the 20 PPG mark. Keep an eye on the QB play early on to see if there is upside potential.
DEFENSE
When you lose 11 games in a row it’s likely that your defense isn’t doing the job, and that was indeed the case for UTEP in 2019. They didn’t get any help from the offense and finished the year ranked last in the conferences in scoring defense (35.9 PPG) and 2nd-last in total defense (431 YPG). There are only four returning starters on this side of the ball and just a pair in the front seven. Several of the new faces, and hopefully key contributors, will be some of the many junior college transfers that joined the program. Sophomore DE Praise Chukwukelu is a decent piece to build around (tied for team lead in sacks LY with 3) and they have a pair of senior returning starters at CB. Things will be made a lot easier if they can find a way to get more pressure on opposing QBs. Only two teams recorded fewer sacks than UTEP LY (12).
Things look bleak. It’s hard to sugarcoat it, yo.
SPECIAL TEAMS
PK Gavin Baechle did a fine job in very limited action LY (13/16 FG, 22/22 XP) and he may take over the punting duties this year. Note that KR Duron Lowe returned a KO to the HOUSE in 2019.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Nine games are booked. We’re awaiting the announcement of the remainder of the schedule. Our UTEP INSIDERS seem to think that SF Austin (FCS) is a likely opening opponent.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing too spooky is noted. They’ll be massive underdogs in most games.
Season Win Total
Waiting for Vegas/Offshore number.
MEGALOCKS says:
Waiting for Vegas/Offshore number.
MEGAmazing Tidbit
The UTEP Miners’ mascot’s name is PAYDIRT PETE. May not be appropriate for the current state of the program, but we like it!
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
Things have to turn around at some point. Right? RIGHT? The offense has a few good-looking pieces at RB and WR but it’s tough to know at this point what they have in the QB room. The defense has a lot of new faces and will almost certainly spend a lot of time on the field. We’ll call for them to struggle mightily once again but hope they can bag a win or two.
#PicksUp !
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