Fresh off an impressive and important road win at NMSU in Sean Kugler’s first win as a college head coach, the Miners turn their attention to the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners.

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Don’t let the 1-2 record fool you.

UTSA’s lone win was back on August 31st in a 21-13 victory at UNM in their first game of the season, yes the same UNM team that came to El Paso and defeated the Miners just over a week ago.

In two losses, the Roadrunners played tough against Oklahoma State and Arizona.  Arizona sits at 3-0 with impressive wins over Northern Arizona (35-0) and UNLV (58-13) prior to their recent win over UTSA this past Saturday.  Oklahoma State also 3-0 and ranked #11 in the nation (AP/ESPN) had some trouble with the Roadrunners early before pulling away in a 56-35 win back on September 7th.

To say this team is battle tested is an understatement and head coach Larry Coker would like nothing better than to start off Conference USA play with a win in the Sun Bowl.

With only four home games remaining on the UTEP football schedule, Kugler and the Miners have limited opportunities to improve their win-loss record in El Paso as the opponents become more challenging in the coming months.

Similar to the NMSU game, this week’s conference home opener could be a considered a must win with six road games remaining.  If UTEP can somehow manage to go 2-4 in those away games, the Miners have to win at least three of their last four home games to finish the season at 6-6.

UTEP let a golden opportunity slip away in the home opening loss to UNM, but with a win this Saturday against a tough UTSA team and they can atone for that disappointing loss to the Lobos while improving their record to 2-1 before heading to Colorado State next week.

After a dominating second half over the hated Aggies in the Battle of I-10, the Miners seem to be on the right track to start the “New” Battle of I-10 on a winning note over the visiting Roadrunners.

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