After entering last week's season-opening matchup against Oklahoma as 41.5-point underdogs, the Miners return to the Sun Bowl as a 27.5 point favorite against Texas Southern, according to Action Network.
Texas Southern will enter Saturday's game with an overall record of 1-1, having won its season opener 42-30 against North Carolina Central before suffering a blowout 52-14 loss at Prairie View A&M.
Learning from mistakes against Oklahoma
Despite a rough night in Norman, Oklahoma, during a shutout loss to the Sooners Friday, UTEP head football coach Scotty Walden said his staff and players were able to draw several takeaways from facing one of the nation's best college football teams."I'm glad we played OU game one because it exposed a lot of weaknesses in our game, as opposed to playing somebody (else) and it masks a bunch of stuff. So I think it woke our guys up...Not that our guys were not ready or excited to play, it's just when we talk about things on film, [you spot things that can] come back and bite us if we don't get this fixed," Walden said.
For the night, the Miners generated 198 yards of total offense while giving up 401 total yards on defense. They also struggled on special teams, missing all three field goal attempts and allowing an 88-yard punt return for a touchdown.
Aside from the elite talent that UTEP matched up against last week, Walden said they had too many missed assignments throughout the night that cost them, which has been a priority for the team to turn around this week.
"They're a top ten team in the country. When you make mistakes against a team like that, they're going to expose your mistakes," Walden said. "I want to see us operate. I want to cut down [missed assignments]. We had I think 18 missed assignments on offense, maybe like 19,20. We were pretty close on both sides of the ball. "
Starting quarterback EJ Colson Jr., who recorded his first start for the Miners against Oklahoma, said the team had a clean practice Tuesday without missed assignments.
"We understand that we didn't play our best game in all accounts. But we know we did some great things on the field [too]. We know we are a special team. We had a heck of a practice today. We came out and attacked. We limited the MAs, I don't think we had any today. So that's the main thing, just being able to settle on offense, sustain drives, and execute every play," Colson Jr. said.
Despite Colson Jr. only throwing for 52 yards and completing 6-of-12 passes against Oklahoma, Walden said he liked quarterback's poise.
"I thought he saw the game really well. There was very little hesitancy in his game," Walden said.
Walden also found positive take aways in his offense's ability to drive past midfield three times against one of the nation's best defenses.
"Offensively we had some bright spots, we just couldn't finish drives...I thought that we played tough. I thought EJ played physical. I thought our O-line blocked physical. I thought our team ran the ball really well," Walden said. "We did some things up front that I had not seen here. Double-teaming these guys (OU) and getting vertical. Playing on their line of scrimmage against a front like that. We didn't win the game and there's no moral victories, but there's things as a coach and as a program that we can build upon. "
The Miners' home opener at the Sun Bowl against Texas Southern kicks off at 7 p.m. Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
