How they match up: UTEP Miners at Sam Houston State
UTEP's showdown with Conference USA and FBS newcomer Sam Houston State is distinguished for two reasons: It's one of two Wednesday games this week, and no other matchup in America pits two teams with fewer combined wins.
The 2-6 Miners are 125th out of 130 teams nationally in scoring offense, while 0-7 Sam Houston would be last except as a transition school its stats don't count this year.
The Bearkats, however, are 3.5-point favorites to get their first win as an FBS school.
Here is how they match up in the first game between these two programs.
More: CUSA football standings
Quarterback Edge: Sam Houston
Cade McConnell will get his second career start and will try to regain the form he had in his first start against Florida International. Sam Houston's Keegan Shoemaker is coming off one of his best games of the season against FIU when he completed 66% of his passes with two touchdowns.
Running backs Edge: UTEP
The Miners are starting to hit their stride here as Deion Hankins and Torrance Burgess Jr. are now fully healthy. This area has been a struggle for Sam Houston, which averages 74 yards a game on the ground and doesn't have a back averaging 40.
Receivers Edge: Sam Houston
UTEP is now a two-man show at this position with Kelly Akharaiyi and Jeremiah Ballard. Sam Houston has six pass catchers averaging more than 23 yards a game.
Offensive line Edge: UTEP
Sam Houston has been a little better at protecting the quarterback, the Miners have been a lot better at running the football.
Defensive line Edge: UTEP
The Miners have developed quite a bit of depth here, shown by the fact that backup end Kanious Vaughn shares the CUSA lead in sacks with fellow Miner Praise Amaewhule. Sam Houston's two top tacklers are linebackers, an indicator their line is doing good things.
Linebackers Edge: UTEP
This is a game between two teams whose top tacklers are linebackers. Tyrice Knight's tackle numbers have dropped off a bit in the last few weeks, but not that much as he's still among the national leaders.
Secondary Edge: Sam Houston
UTEP finally has an interception from an active defensive back (Torey Richardson), while Sam Houston has two. The Miners are fighting injuries at the safety spot.
Special teams Edge: Sam Houston
Neither team is particularly distinguished here, though the Miners can take heart that last week they broke a streak of having a disastrous special teams play once a game.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: How they match up: UTEP Miners at Sam Houston State
