UCF at UTEP Open Gamethread

The Central Florida Knights come to town to take on the UTEP Miners in a Conference USA matchup at the Sun Bowl. The Knights enter the contest at 7-2 overall, 5-0 in conference play, and are coming off a 42-17 drubbing of SMU. The Miner enter at 2-7 overall, 1-4 in conference action, and are coming off their bye week.

The Miners last played at Houston two week ago, a 45-35 loss. In that contest, the Miners struggled out of the gates, turning the ball over 6 times, and falling into a 45-7 hole. Redshirt freshman quarterback Blaire Sullivan entered the game and engineered four straights scoring drives for the Miners, cutting the score to 45-35 with about four and a half to play.

After the fourth score, UTEP was unable to come up with the onside kick, and the game ended at 45-35. Still though, there was much to take away from it as not only did Sullivan play well, but sophomore running back Nathan Jeffery did also, as did sophomore receiver Jordan Leslie, senior receiver Mike Edwards, and the Miner defense.

Today, however, will be a huge challenge for the Miners. The Knights are perhaps the best team in Conference USA, and they enter with a confident offense, and one of the best defensive units in the league. It will take a great effort by the Miners for them to keep this one close.

But, that's not to say they can't. The Miners have some extremely talented players on both sides of the ball. There's no question that our skill position players can match up well with the Knights defense. And, our defense will do its part if given a little help from the offense.

A bowl game may be out of reach for the Miners, but a respectable finish for coach Price, the seniors, and the team as a whole is certainly not out of the question. Let's get out there and support our Miners today, and hopefully watch them come away with a big win. Picks Up and Go Miners.