UTEP vs. New Mexico State details

Date: Sept. 22, 2018

Location: The Sun Bowl in El Paso

What channel is UTEP vs. New Mexico State on? 

UTEP vs. New Mexico State will be broadcast live on ESPN3. 

How can I buy tickets to UTEP vs. New Mexico State? 

Click here to buy tickets to the UTEP vs. New Mexico State game in El Paso.

UTEP vs. New Mexico State preview

EL PASO -- UTEP (0-3) hosts NMSU (0-4) in a highly anticipated rivalry matchup for the 96th annual Battle of I-10 game on Saturday.

The Aggies last year snapped UTEP’s eight-game win streak, as they beat the Miners 41-14 in Las Cruces. In the Aggies’ win, NMSU quarterback Tyler Rogers lit up the Miners with 283 yards and two touchdowns, and running back Larry Rose III had 144 on the ground. Both Rogers and Rose III have graduated from the program, thus NMSU is a lot younger than before. 

Last week, UTEP was shut out against Tennessee, 24-0, and had trouble generating any sort of offense. They finished the day with just 39 yards through the air and couldn’t score under junior quarterback Kai Locksley, who finished the day 9-of-22 for 39 yards through the air and had just 24 rushing yards. 

Tennessee’s sophomore running back Ty Chandler rushed for 158 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown run and sophomore Jarrett Guarantano completed 12-of-16 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown for the Vols.

“Even in that ballgame (at Tennessee) in the first half we had some running plays that had some good knock off and some good push to them,” Dimel said. “I expect Kai (Locksley) to keep improving with his play as we move forward to this game. Again he’s only a two-time starter and played in three (games total). Improvement will come with him.”

For NMSU, they lost their first rivalry matchup against New Mexico on Saturday, 42-25. NMSU started off hot, but New Mexico rallied and held the Aggies in the end to beat out NMSU. The Aggies totaled five turnovers, which resulted in three touchdowns for the Lobos.

Josh Adkins, a redshirt freshman quarterback from San Antonio, will be the Aggies’ starter against the Miners. Against UNM, he finished 12-of-21 for 168 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. He relieved junior Matt Romero, who threw two interceptions in the game.

“Offensively they are like us, they are a work in progress,” Dimel said. “They’re working to improve. As everybody knows they’ve made a move to start their young quarterback (Josh Adkins). I’ve been impressed with that young quarterback. I knew him in high school. I evaluated him in camp in high school. I thought he was a good football player in camp. I was surprised that he wasn’t the starter going into this season as a redshirt-freshman. 

“So when I saw that he had got the starting nod for this ballgame it didn’t surprise me. I think he’s a talented player that does a good job. So we need to make sure that we’re prepared to handle him. He threw the ball well the last ballgame. I think he’s athletic enough to run the football as well.”

The Miners have quarterback woes of their own. Locksley’s passing inefficiency on Saturday showed that the team still has some work to do, but Dimel says it is about a team execution in the passing game. 

“We’ve got to be better on our route running,” Dimel said. “We’ve got to be better on our quarterback play in the passing game. Our backs have to do a good job in their protection, when they’re staying in to protect. So all segments in our passing game need to improve. To me, it’s just a matter of execution with what we’re doing.” 

Saturday’s game against NMSU will be a tight game for both teams and could come down to the turnover margin. Currently, the Miners have a minus-3 turnover margin, improving it after causing two turnovers against Tennessee.

“I talked about rivalries that we were involved in before at Kansas State, comparing it (the UTEP/NM State rivalry) to the Kansas State/KU rivalry, which is a very heated rivalry just like this one is. That’s just how these rivalries are. It’s a huge rivalry,” Dimel said. 

Saturday’s kickoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. MT at the Sun Bowl.