EL PASO – Whatever optimism remained for UTEP (2-6) were seemingly extinguished at the Sun Bowl on Wednesday night in a 28-7 loss to New Mexico State (5-3) in the 100th edition of the Battle of I-10. It was the first conference game between the two foes since they were both members of the Borderland Conference in 1961. That meeting? A blowout win for the Aggies. 

The game was tied 7-7 at halftime after a Kevin Hurley one-yard sneak with 12:26 left in the second quarter put the Miners on the scoreboard. The contest was decided in the third quarter when New Mexico State outscored UTEP, 14-0, and outgained them 185 to 24. The Aggies scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the second half. Their quarterback – Diego Pavia – threw for 186 yards, ran for 96, and accounted for all four of the team’s touchdowns. Montre Watkins added 109 yards. 

THREE THOUGHTS 

No passing game: UTEP was in this game going into halftime tied at seven thanks to a pair of missed field goals by New Mexico State as the defense held tough against Pavia and a strong rushing attack. The dam broke in the second half as the plays mounted on a thin Miners defense. They needed the offense to step up and keep pace with the Aggies, but Cade McConnell and the offense couldn’t conjure the magic from the Week 7 win over FIU. 

The sophomore – in his second start – completed 15 of 32 passes for 179 yards. He lost 21 yards as a rusher mostly thanks to four sacks. A week after hitting wide receiver Kelly Akharaiyi eight times for 223 yards and two scores last week in a win, the two only connected once for six yards in the loss to New Mexico State. McConnell completed as many passes to running backs as he did to wide receivers. 

The bright spot for the Miners offense was the running game. Deion Hankins had more than half of UTEP’s yards at one point in the fourth quarter. Hankins finished with 120 yards rushing on 16 carries to go along with two catches for 13 yards. Torrance Burgess, Jr. added 25 yards rushing and four catches for 62 yards – both good for second on the team. UTEP ran for 125 yards and one touchdown on 31 carries. That was good for 5.5 yards a carry when adjusted for sacks. 

When UTEP won seven games and reached a bowl game in 2021 the passing game was a key feature, especially the explosive, vertical game. That is nowhere to be found in El Paso. It’d be easy to blame it on injuries since starter Gavin Hardison is out, but the regression began in 2022 and has continued in 2023 outside of the win over FIU. To only score seven points at home with an adequate run game is hard to accept. 

These types of regional rivalry games remain best for college football: As the conference realignment chipped away at the soul of college football by erasing long-standing regional rivalries in favor of television ratings and revenue, the 100th rendition of the Battle of I-10 between UTEP and New Mexico State was provided a shot in the arm when the Aggies joined Conference USA ahead of the 2023 meeting. 

“This was always more than a regular season game,” an excited Miner fan told me over carnitas and corn chips outside of the famed Sun Bowl. The campuses are only separated by 41 miles and the last meeting as conference foes was as members of the Border Conference in 1961 – before I-10 connected the cities. “We don’t have many neighbors out in the Southwest part of Texas, so bragging rights are on the line.” 

That’s not to say the residue of change isn’t visible in the crowd. The game was on a Wednesday – so the conference could get more visibility (and money) with games on ESPN and CBSSports – which impacted the crowd size and overall atmosphere. The announced attendance was 19,727, but much of that was late arriving due to work and traffic. 

What is the future for Dana Dimel, UTEP? The trajectory was great in El Paso two years ago at this time. The Miners were headed towards a seven-win season and a bowl invite for the first time since 2014. Dimel took over in 2017 after a winless 2016 campaign for UTEP and elevated the win total to one game in 2018 and 2019 to three games in a shortened 2020 season before breaking through in 2021. 

Optimism and expectations were high heading into 2022 as the Miners sought consecutive bowl invites for the first time since 2004-2005 – something the program has only done three times in history. Instead, UTEP took a step backwards and finished with five wins. That put pressure on Dimel to perform in a new-look Conference USA this season with an experienced defensive line, star linebacker, stud running back, and a three-year starter at quarterback. UTEP is 2-6 with the loss against New Mexico State with games remaining against conference favorites Liberty and Western Kentucky. 

Dimel agreed to a two-year contract extension in 2022 that raised his base salary to $800,000, so he’s on the books for the 2024 season. He’d be owed roughly $550,000 if he was terminated prior to the 2024 season. He’s 19-46 in five full seasons plus seven games of a seventh at UTEP, but that is misleading. He took over a dumpster fire of a job and turned it into a bowl team by year four. The problem is the combined 7-13 overall record and 4-8 conference record in the last two seasons. 

UTEP is a hard job and the program is unquestionably in a better position today than it was when Dimel took over in 2018. But this is a results business, and with a loss to a rival at home with a coach in year two combined with upstarts like Jax State thriving right away, the seat is clearly warm for the head man in Sun City.