Sep 6, 2006, 16:40 GMT
- Facing off against each other for the first time since 1998, 24th-ranked Texas Tech hits the road this Saturday night to do battle with in- state rival Texas-El Paso in a non-conference affair from the Sun Bowl. Heading into the season the Red Raiders found themselves ranked 25th in the nation as they prepared to tangle with the SMU Mustangs, but due to the fact that Tech handled the Ponies so easily last week, 35-3, it managed to move up one spot in the AP poll. While there's a weak Southeastern Louisiana squad lined up for the next home game for Texas Tech, the team will first have to fight through 23rd-ranked TCU in Fort Worth next weekend and then get ready for Big 12 Conference play at the end of the month. As for the Miners, they seemed to have their hands full with an upstart San Diego State program in their opener on August 31, but eventually broke through for a 34-27 victory on the road at Qualcomm Stadium. Like the Red Raiders, UTEP has two more non-conference games against New Mexico and New Mexico State to close out the September before beginning Conference USA action against SMU at home on October 7. The Red Raiders have won three straight meetings in this rivalry and now hold a 10-6-1 edge over UTEP all-time. The most recent win for the Miners took place nearly half a century ago when the squad posted a 26-14 victory in 1957 at home when they were still known as Texas Western. The schools were scheduled to meet five years ago but the game was canceled due to the events of September 11.
SMU scored the first points of the game against the Red Raiders in the season opener, but the game then belonged to the home team as it posted 35 unanswered points. Graham Harrell became the latest and greatest gunslinger for the fiery Red Raiders as he threw for 342 yards on 34-of-49 passing, posting five touchdowns in the process. The five scoring passes tie Missouri's Chase Daniel for the most during the first week of play. Robert Johnson was the recipient of many of Harrell's passes, reeling in a school-record and personal-best 15 balls for 139 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Shannon Woods placed second on the unit with six catches for 32 yards, but his primary function was to give Harrell another option coming out of the backfield as he carried the ball 15 times for a team-best 104 yards on the ground. Last season the Red Raiders were one of the top scoring offenses in the Big 12, putting up 39.4 ppg, thanks in large part to a pass offense that averaged more than 385 ypg. Playing behind Cody Hodges, Harrell took a number of snaps and completed better than two-thirds of his attempts for 422 yards and three touchdowns, so he's no stranger to the aggressive scheme at all.
Last season SMU stunned nationally-ranked TCU, effectively keeping the Horned Frogs from making a serious run at a BCS bowl, but this year the Red Raiders refused to be treated the same way by the Ponies. Following a game-opening field goal on their first possession, the Mustangs proceeded to punt on eight of the next 10 possessions, with the only other two being a missed field goal and a fumble. SMU was held to just 71 yards passing and 189 yards of total offense, converting only 3-of-13 on third down in the process. Fletcher Session led the way for the home team with five tackles, while both Kellen Tillman and Keyunta Dawson both recorded four tackles and each accounted for one TFL. Dawson also recovered a fumble and returned it 26 yards in the fourth period, eventually leading to yet another touchdown for the Tech offense. Usually when an offense is so dominant the defense for the team suffers, but in the case of the Red Raiders last year that wasn't the case as the unit held opponents to a mere 18.8 ppg. Considering how fast Texas Tech could strike, forcing teams to try and battle back just as quickly, the pass defense for the squad always seemed to be up to the challenge, limiting opponents to just 180.4 ypg and a total of 12 touchdowns in 2005.
Jordan Palmer was expecting to have a breakout season for UTEP in 2006, but the signal-caller had more than his share of troubles in the opener versus San Diego State. Palmer did convert 20-of-29 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns, but he was also intercepted four times. Primary receiver Johnny Lee Higgins collected seven receptions for 90 yards and scored once, with the other two TD passes going to Jamar Hunt and Jake Sears. Marcus Thomas paced the group on the ground with his 24 yards and one score, but he carried the ball 17 times in order to average less than one and a half yards per attempt. The Miners as a whole gained a meager 30 yards on 19 rushing chances. Palmer started all 12 games for the Miners a year ago, completing close to 60 percent of his attempts for more than 3,500 yards and 29 touchdowns. Higgins was the recipient of many of his throws, checking in with 49 catches for 837 yards and nine touchdowns, all of which were team highs for the wideout. Thomas has already proven he can carry the load for UTEP, leading the unit in '05 with 791 yards and tied for the lead with five rushing scores.
As badly as Palmer looked at times, it's a miracle that the Miners still had a chance to pull off the win and actually did so. Although the defense gave up three rushing touchdowns in the second half alone and a total of 275 yards through the air, the secondary still played well enough to keep receivers from finding the end zone. Troy Collavo led the Miners with 13 tackles, of which two came behind the line of scrimmage, but the real star on the defensive side of the ball for UTEP was Quintin Demps as he recorded a pair of interceptions, returning them for 37 yards en route to being named the Defensive Player of the Week in Conference USA. Last year, Demps placed fourth on the team in tackles with 78 and also led the squad with three interceptions, which means he is well on his way to destroying that number this time around. Collavo was one of two players to record triple-digit tackles in 2005, checking in with 112 stops. He also tied for the team lead with 14.5 TFLs and was responsible for three and a half sacks as well.
Both of these teams are going to light up the airways with aerial attacks that would make any defense run for cover. Expect Palmer to have a better outing this time around and make better decisions in the pocket, but still not play well enough to come out on top of Harrell.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Texas Tech 35, Texas-El Paso 27
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