[6] ECU Pirates (4-5, 3-2) @ [8] UTEP (4-5, 1-4)
6:05 p.m. MT Saturday November 12th
-Sun Bowl, El Paso, TX-
The ECU Pirates and the UTEP Miners will face off at 6:05 p.m. (MT) in the Sun Bowl on Saturday, both teams desperately searching for two victories to get them to bowl eligibility. The Miners are coming off perhaps their worst performance of the year, a 41-37 loss at Rice last Saturday.
The Pirates are trying to bounce back from a poor loss of their own. They lost 48-28 to #22 Southern Miss on their home field, but gave up 14 points on ints returned for touchdowns, and another 14 on a punt return and blocked punt. They held the Golden Eagle offense to under 300 total yards for the game.
The young series between these two schools is led 2-0 by East Carolina. That record also includes a 1-0 mark here in El Paso. The two teams last met in 2008 in Greenville, NC, a 53-21 win for the Pirates. The last contest in El Paso came in 2007, when ECU walked away with a 45-42 OT victory.
Projection: UTEP 34, ECU 28
In other action around Conference USA
[1] #11 Houston Cougars (10-0, 6-0) @ [12] Tulane Green Wave - Houston 73-17 F (Thursday)
[9] Rice Owls (3-7, 2-4) @ Northwestern Wildcats (5-5) - Northwestern 28-6 F (Saturday)
[5] Marshall Thundering Herd (4-6, 3-3) @ [3] Tulsa Golden Hurricane (7-3, 6-0) - Tulsa 59-17 F (Saturday)
Navy Midshipmen (3-6) @ [4] SMU Mustangs (6-3, 4-2) - 3:30 p.m. ET
[10] UAB Blazers (1-8, 1-5) @ [11] Memphis Tigers (2-7, 1-4) - 4:15 p.m. ET
[7] UCF Knights (4-5, 2-3) @ [2] #22 Southern Miss Golden Eagles (8-1, 4-1) 8:00 p.m. ET