CBS Sports Ranks UTEP Football Among Worst 25 Teams Right Now
Each week, CBS Sports writer CBS Sports writer Tom Fornelli ranks the 25 worst programs in college football, featuring humorous bits on teams and blurbs on other miserable programs.
Despite the Miners locking in a 20-13 win against NM State, which was considered "The Bottom 25 Game of the Century" by Fornelli, UTEP is ranked 13th this week among the bottom FBS programs.
Through three games, UTEP (1-2) ranks near the bottom of FBS in scoring offense, averaging just 15.3 points per game. They are in the bottom-10 across the country in rushing offense (#120), punt returns (#126) and first down defense (#122). Additionally, they struggle in statistical categories like team passing efficiency, rushing defense and fourth down percentage defense.
The bright spot, though, is UTEP has only played three games thus far. The team is still trying to find an identity on offense. While their defense doesn't seem as talented as they were last year, they have improved year after year.
The other sign of positivity is that the Miners will end up playing five of the 25 teams in this list, including Charlotte (4th-worst team), NMSU (6th), Florida International (14th), Rice (18th) and Middle Tennessee (22nd). Since the Miners already beat the Aggies, their magic number is five games in order to be bowl eligible for back-to-back seasons, something they haven't done in consecutive seasons since 2004-05. This makes the Miners' upcoming matchup against New Mexico even more important.
UTEP will travel to Albuquerque to face New Mexico (1-1) on Saturday, Sept. 17. The game will have a 6 p.m. kickoff and the broadcast can be heard on KLAQ (95.5 FM).