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EL PASO, Texas – UTEP travels to the Magnolia State this week to open Conference USA play against Southern Miss in a game that kicks off at 5 p.m. MT on Saturday, Sept. 28 at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
The game will be streamed on ESPN+ for subscribers with Jason Baker (play-by-play) and Marchant Kenney (analysis) calling all the action on Saturday night. Fans can also tune in to the radio broadcast on ESPN 600 El Paso to hear Jon Teicher (play-by-play), Bernie Ricono (analysis) and Mando Medina (sideline).
"The first conference game of the season is a really exciting thing to look forward to," head coach Dana Dimel said in his weekly press conference. "Southern Miss is a really big challenge for us. I think they are a really, really good football team in our conference. We know the kind of athletes and talent that they get. They are very diverse in their offense. It is as diverse of an offense that you are going to see anywhere in the country. I said last week going into the Nevada game that I thought it was going to be a measuring stick for our football team. From the measuring stick that I saw, we have made some tremendous strides, but we just have to eliminate the mistakes and we win a football game against a really good football team."
The Miners and Golden Eagles last met when the two teams closed out the regular season in 2018 in a game Southern Miss won, 39-7, in El Paso. The all-time series dates back to the 1953 season when the two teams played in the Sun Bowl in a game the Miners won, 37-14, over Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles lead the all-time series, 7-4, including having won four straight contests over the Miners. The series is tied 2-2 in games played in Hattiesburg.
PREGAME NOTES
- UTEP continued its red zone perfection last weekend against Nevada as the Miners are now one of only 12 FBS teams in the nation to put up perfect numbers inside the red zone through the first four weeks of the college football season. The Miners enter Saturday's road game versus Southern Miss a perfect 10-for-10 inside the 20-yard line. In three games, UTEP has six touchdowns (6 rushing) and four field goals for a total of 53 points put on the board in the red zone thus far.
- UTEP running back Treyvon Hughes is making a living finding paydirt for the Miners this season. The senior currently leads the Miners in touchdowns with four rushing scores in three games, which ranks first in Conference USA and 23rd nationally. Hughes scored his first two touchdowns of the season in the 2019 season opener versus Houston Baptist, while he followed that performance with another pair of scores in UTEP's latest home game versus Nevada. Following his performance against the Wolf Pack, Hughes became the first Miner to score multiple touchdowns in the first two home games of a season since Aaron Jones in 2014.
- Prior to the start of the 2019 season, the Miners saw two key additions to the team during fall camp, both of which are paying off in a big way early in the campaign. Ykili Ross (USC) and Devaughn Cooper (Arizona) both joined the Miners midway through camp, but it didn't take long for the two to make an impact. Ross currently leads the defense with a pair of interceptions, while Devaughn Cooper (Arizona) is one of the top receivers on the team with six catches for 96 yards.
- UTEP tight end Jess Trussell, one of the many new additions for the Miners this season, has turned into a big target on offense through three games. The 6-5, 250-pound Trussell has caught a pass in three consecutive games for the Miners, including a long reception of 37 yards against Nevada (9/21). Trussell had a pair of 13-yard receptions in the first two games and continued his strong play to start the season with three catches for 53 yards against the Wolf Pack. A transfer from Purdue, Trussell had no catches in 22 games for the Boilermakers from 2016-18.