The Miners are in a quick turnaround this week after a 38-31 victory against Bethune-Cookman University. Both teams exchanged touchdowns to the bitter end of the contest with the Miners coming out on top. UTEP faces a greater challenge in the University of Boise State. The Broncos are coming off a 31-36 loss to the University of Central Florida last week.
“I have a lot of respect for [Boise State]. They’ve earned and proven what kind of football team they are,” said UTEP coach Dana Dimel during a Sept. 6 press conference. “They’ve done some tremendous things over the years, and when you do tremendous things, you’re able to recruit tremendous players… They’re deep, strong, fast and big.”
Boise’s offense poses a big challenge to the Miners as the Broncos can score at will on their opponents and in a hurry. For example, after a pick six that was caused by their defense that led to a score for the Broncos, Boise was able to score on their first drive at the 4:00 mark in the first quarter to put up more points to have a 14-0 advantage.
Dimel stated that the Miners are faced with a difficult short week, playing a game on Friday night and having a late game on Saturday while still finding time tweak strategies in preparation.
“We’ve had some meetings yesterday and got some preparation on Boise, and as well watching the Bethune-Cookman tape, getting that studied and corrected on mistakes from that. Also learning what we did and did not do well in that game,” Dimel said. “We studied Boise tape, not only because of the time frame, just because of their new head coach. He brings a lot of stuff with from Oregon.”
The Broncos’ offense last year averaged 241 yards per game through the air and 107.7 yards per game on the ground. Junior quarterback Hank Bachmier leads the Broncos’ pass-heavy offense in this upcoming game. He finished the previous game 25-for-39, tossing two touchdowns and one interception. Bachmier had also been named Phil Steeles All-Mountain West fourth team.
Defensively, the Miners must be on their toes against the quick slants over the middle and the long ball the Broncos often employ during games. The Miners gave up a total of 333 yards in the last game.
The Broncos’ defense also gave up 38 points last week, as well as over 300 yards in passing and 6.7 yards per play.
Offensively, the Miners could take advantage on the outside against the Broncos corners with the deep ball, as the Golden Knights were able to cause damage on the outside. The Miners’ stable of running backs rushed for over 200 yards in the last game, so it should keep an eye on keeping a balanced attack.
The Miners face Boise State Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sept. 10 at Albertsons Stadium in Boise, Idaho
