UTEP Miners (3-3) vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-3)
The UTEP Miners face off against the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in the Conference USA showdown at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana, on Saturday night with the kick-off at 7:00 PM ET. It’s Week 6 of the 2022 college football season, and the Bulldogs open as 3-point home favorites with a total of 52.5 points.
Louisiana Tech has won eight of its previous nine encounters with UTEP. However, the Miners stunned the Bulldogs in 2021, grabbing a 19-3 victory as 6.5-point home underdogs.
After pulling off a huge upset with a 27-10 home victory over the Boise State Broncos in Week 4, the UTEP Miners recorded their second straight win in Week 5, outlasting the Charlotte 49ers 41-35 as 3.5-point road dogs. Jadrian Taylor and Tyrice Knight returned a fumble for a score each, while junior signal-caller Gavin Hardison completed ten of his 14 passing attempts for 173 yards and three touchdowns.
Taylor made it 41-21 with a 100-yard fumble return early in the fourth quarter. The Miners allowed a couple of unanswered scores but managed to survive a late scare and improve to 1-1 in the conference play.
“Jadrian Taylor had been bothering me about being a running back,” UTEP head coach Dana Dimel said. “I told him to leave me alone about it, but after seeing him run down the field I'll take that, he looked pretty doing that.”
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Hardison also had five carries for 50 yards, and the Miners tortured the 49ers on the ground, racking up 252 yards on 45 rushing attempts. Deion Hankins posted 20 totes for 112 yards, while Ronald Awatt added 88 yards on 13 carries. This duo has combined for 642 yards and three touchdowns in 2022.
The Miners are scoring just 20.7 points per game (111th in the nation) on 346.2 total yards (103rd). They are allowing 26.8 points in a return (76th) on 352.0 total yards (48th), and the Miners’ D ranks 31st in the nation in passing yards (188.5 per game). UTEP held Boise State to a paltry 177 total yards two weeks ago, playing as a huge 16.5-point home underdog.