Facts and figures: UTEP at FIU
Bret Bloomquist
Traveling across two time zones is tough for any college football team, but UTEP usually finds a way to make matters tougher still. That becomes relevant as the Miners travel to Miami on Saturday to take on Florida International.
The first time they traveled to the Eastern time zone was 1949 and they came away with a 13-13 tie against West Virginia. Since then, the Miners have lost 23 straight games when they've journeyed two time zones, which given that five teams in Conference USA play home games in the Eastern time zone is a problem.
"It's such a long flight," Justin Rogers said. "We're not used to going that far and it will change the way our pregame is. The day will feel different, it won't feel like a normal game day. It will be about adjusting and just being ready to play."
Predictably, coach Dana Dimel downplayed it.
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"It's hard on the way back," he said. "On the way there it's not so bad. I'm going to study a lot of football and we give tests and things to them on the plane to study.
"With all the technology they can watch movies and all those things and relax as well. I think it's a good opportunity for us. I think our football team is looking forward to going down there and playing a football game."
Tight end Jess Tressell had an honest answer when asked how a team goes about winning after traveling so far.
"It's never easy to go two hours of a time change," he said. "We're going to have to lock in, make sure we get some good sleep, and just ... whatever it takes.
"I really don't know, either."
UTEP's special teams have had some struggles in the past few weeks and now they have to shore up against a Panthers team that has been outstanding in areas.
Punt returner Maurice Alexander only has six returns so isn't eligible for the national leaderboard, but he would be on top of it, as he has six returns for a 28.7 average, including a 90-yard touchdown.
Also, punter Tommy Heatherly averages 45.6 yards per attempt.
"Special teams are going to be very, very important this week," Dimel said. "We need to create big plays and minimize big plays from them. ...
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"We need some defensive and special teams touchdowns."
FIU leads 2-1, including 1-0 in Miami. UTEP won the first meeting, 33-10, in 2013, which was Sean Kugler's first year as head coach.
In 2015, the only meeting in Miami, the Panthers opened up a quick 42-0 lead and won 52-12. FIU won in El Paso 35-21 in the most recent meeting in 2016.
This is FIU's homecoming, which does not bode well for the Miners. Panthers coach Butch Davis is 12-1 in homecoming games with a winning streak of 11. That includes his time as a head coach at North Carolina, Miami and FIU (the Cleveland Browns don't have homecoming games).
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UTEP ranks in the bottom 10 nationally in total offense (123rd), passing efficiency (1212), scoring offense (120), third-down offense (129), third-down defense (128), fourth-down defense (120) and first-down offense (128).
On the bright side, they are 17th in red zone offense after scoring 15 of 16 times.
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Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.