UTEP Miners football plays rare Friday Sun Bowl game as they take on Louisiana Tech
The UTEP football team's best chance to salvage its football season comes Friday night at a place where it has had some success against a team it often loses to: Louisiana Tech in the Sun Bowl.
This is the only nationally televised Friday game of the season for the Miners; the last time they played on a Friday was 53 weeks ago when they pulled one of the great upsets of their recent history, a rout of Boise State as a 17-point underdog.
UTEP football on TV
UTEP doesn't play on a Saturday again until November, as after this, it rolls into the Wednesday night portion of its schedule, when all three nationally televised October games will be played.
This game features something even more rare than a Friday game. There will be an actual halftime show, as El Paso hip-hop artist Krystall Poppin will perform. This is all part of Noche Latina night.
As for the game itself, Miner fans down on their team's 1-4 start have reason to take heart, even against a team that owns a 9-2 series edge against UTEP. Louisiana Tech brings a 17-game road losing streak to the Sun Bowl, a string that includes a big loss to UTEP in 2021.
As for those records, this is the only college football game in the country this weekend between two teams playing their sixth game. UTEP and Louisiana Tech got a head start on the season with Week 0 games, and neither has had a bye week yet.
The Miners rate as a 1-point favorite in this game against the 2-3 Bulldogs, one of the other four teams that stayed with Conference USA in the latest realignment.
How to get tickets
Tickets for the 7 p.m. kickoff range from $10 to $60, and there will be plenty at the gate or online. The game will be televised on the CBS Sports Network for fans wanting to enjoy it from the couch.
The teams seem evenly matched.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football plays Friday Sun Bowl game vs. Louisiana Tech
