Week 5 Preview: UTEP vs Southern Miss
By: Tony Thomas
September 25, 2019
The Southern Miss Golden Eagles take on the UTEP Miners Saturday at the Rock.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 49-7 loss to #2 Alabama. UTEP is coming off a 37-21 defeat at the hands of Nevada. Southern Miss just finished up a brutal 3-game stretch on the road that also included Mississippi State and Troy to begin the season, going 1-2.
UTEP is 1-2, with their only win coming against Houston Baptist. The Miners are not a good football team. They rank near or at the bottom in every meaningful offensive and defensive statistical category. Through 3 games, the defense has 4 sacks, 2 INT’s, and recovered 2 fumbles.
UTEP’s record is an awful 1-23 over the last 2 seasons.
Southern Miss is 13-3 in C-USA home games, and head coach Jay Hopson is 10-5 coming off of a loss. The Golden Eagles have won the last 4 meetings against the Miners and also leads the series record at 7 wins vs 4 losses.
QB Jack Abraham has passed for 1164 yards through the first 4 games, and has thrown 6 TD’s, but has also thrown 4 INT’s. Abraham should have a great day against the Miners.
WR Jaylond Adams is ranked in the Top 5 in the country in kickoff returns for TD’s (2), kickoff return average (34 yards) and punt return average (20 yards). Look for him to add to those numbers on Saturday.
The Golden Eagle defense ranks 13th in the country in sacks with 12, averaging 3 per game. DB Devin Thomas has been a beast, leading C-USA in INT’s (2) and solo tackles (22) through the first 4 games. He is 2nd in the conference with 34 total tackles, and he also has 7 tackles for loss.
Even without a running game to speak of, Southern Miss should win this one going away.
My pick to win: Southern Miss
Thank you for reading.
Material for this article sourced from http://cfbstats.com http://sports-reference.com http://sportslogos.net
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