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UTEP beat North Texas in a controlling fashion late Saturday night to earn a much desired sixth victory.
FINAL from El Paso: @MeanGreenFB 17, UTEP 35. pic.twitter.com/Ef0gLbJ0gx
— Mean Green Athletics (@MeanGreenSports) November 16, 2014
Bowl eligibility is out of the way and now we can solely focus on finishing with a winning record for the first time since 2005.
As impressive as we looked if you want to see areas of improvement from this game here's a nine minute video showing that it was actually North Texas who looked good against us.
UTEP's 351 rushing yards was the most against a conference foe since we rushed for 404 against Wyoming in 1982.
Speaking of 400 rushing yard games, the 1999 UTEP defense can thank the (16) Nebraska Cornhuskers for taking over the record books. Melvin Gordon's 408 yards Saturday night eclipsed Tomlinson's 406, but the big difference being Gordon did it in 25 while it took LT 43 carries.
Melvin Gordon: FBS single-game record 408 rushing yards #GordontoGotham
— Badger Football (@BadgerFootball) November 15, 2014
Now that UTEP is one of 63 bowl eligible teams we can start planning our travel arraignments. Most experts are predicting a short trip up I-25 as the common denominator seems to be The Gildan New Mexico Bowl.
If UTEP ends up in NM Bowl: Possible MWC opponents include Boise State, Air Force, San Diego State, Nevada and Utah State #utepbowleligible
— Darren Hunt (@dhuntabc7) November 16, 2014
We'll start in house with SB Nation's Jason Kirk. He has us in the New Mexico Bowl against (8-3) Utah St.
New Mexico | UTEP | Utah State | 12/20/2014 | Albuquerque, NM | C-USA vs. MWC 2-7 |
Over at ESPN both Brett and Mark have us in Albuquerque. Brett says we will square off against (5-5) San Diego St while Mark has us against Utah St.
2014 Bowl Projections - Week 12 | ||
BOWL (MATCHUP) | Mark Schlabach | Brett McMurphy |
R+L Carriers New Orleans (MWC vs. Sun Belt) |
Temple vs. Louisiana-Lafayette | Louisiana-Lafayette vs. Michigan |
Gildan New Mexico Bowl (MWC vs. CUSA) |
Utah State vs. UTEP | San Diego State vs. UTEP |
Jerry Palm from CBS Sports has in Hawaii against (6-4) Nevada.
Hawaii Bowl | Dec. 24 | Honolulu, Hawaii | Mountain West vs. C-USA | Nevada vs. Texas-El Paso |
Phil Steel thinks we will end up in the New Mexico Bowl against Utah St otra vez?
NEW ORLEANS BOWL
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NEW MEXICO BOWL | LAS VEGAS BOWL |
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DEC 20 • 11:00 AM ET • ESPN
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DEC 20 • 2:20 PM ET • ESPN
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DEC 20 • 3:30 PM ET • ABC
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MW vs Sun Belt | CUSA vs MW | MW vs Pac-12 |
San Diego St vs UL Lafayette
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UTEP vs Utah St | Boise St vs Stanford |
Bill Bender of Sporting News also has us in the Lobos' house against (5-5) San Diego St.
Dec. 20: Gildan New Mexico Bowl: San Diego State vs. UTEP
Tampa Bay Times staff writer sees us playing the New Mexico Bowl against Utah St.
New Mexico: (C-USA vs. MWC) Albuquerque, Dec. 20, 2, ESPN - UTEP vs. Utah State
Athlon Sports has in familiar territory playing in New Mexico against Utah St.
New Mexico
Dec. 20, C-USA vs.Mountain West
UTEP vs.Utah State
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College Sports Madness is thinking outside the box and places us in the Bahamas Bowl vs (7-3) Bowling Green.
Poinsettia Bowl | Boca Raton Bowl | Bahamas Bowl | |||||||||||||||
12/23/2014 | 12/23/2014 | 12/24/2014 | |||||||||||||||
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San Diego State | Navy | UAB | Ohio | UTEP | Bowling Green | ||||||||||||
MWC | Navy | C-USA | MAC | C-USA | MAC | ||||||||||||
Qualcomm Stadium: San Diego, CA | FAU Stadium: Boca Raton, FL | Thomas Robinson Stadium: Nassau, Bahamas | |||||||||||||||
Buy Tickets | Buy Tickets | Buy Tickets | |||||||||||||||
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Let's get ready for another 2 in 1 UTEP sports weekend. Friday December 19th we will host the top ranked Arizona Wildcats in hoops action, and less than 12 hours later we could find ourselves in Albuquerque playing a former WAC rival for some football hardware.
At first I liked the idea of UTEP playing in Dallas but as a local El Pasoan I just don't see myself driving, or flying to Dallas the day after Christmas. I have warmed up to the idea of an Albuquerque road trip if we get invited.
We get to enjoy a sold out Haskins center and then watch our football team play in the post season. After what will be a historic weekend #makehistory (beat Arizona then win bowl game) We come back home and celebrate the holidays with our friends and family in the warmth of our home.