Owls Look for Road Win Against Miners



The Matchup: Florida Atlantic (3-4, 2-1 C-USA) @ UTEP (3-4, 1-2 C-USA)


When: October 22nd, 4:00 PM

Where: Sun Bowl

TV: None

Stream: ESPN+

Radio: 640 The Hurricane

Line: FAU -5

Weather: Current conditions in El Paso, TX

The Series: The Owls lead 2-1, and took last season's meeting 28-25

UTEP Team Site: Here


Key Stats Comparison:




Owl Notes

Quickly turning back to road play, FAU will face-off against the Miners in an immediate western division rematch which comes after the dispersion of former members Marshall, Southern Miss, and Old Dominion. Last year's contest in Boca Raton ended up being in a dog fight in the end.

A touchdown by running back James Charles would give FAU a 28-10 lead in the 4th quarter, only to see UTEP make a game of it behind a 15 point rally. The teams are vastly different this season overall, but one aspect that may linger is another close game.

From a trending standpoint, after Saturday's results against Rice the Owls are now giving up more per yard than they are gaining. Albeit not by much at .1 yards per play. Conversely, the secondary's showing against Rice, which included three interceptions, has driven opponents completions percentage down nearly 4 points. The trio of picks stands 5th all time as a program mark amongst a number of other contests.



Senior leader Romain Mungin (photo above) was busy catching passes before the start of the game in warm-ups, and it is safe to say that he was unaware that drill work would pay off as he was the first to net an opponents pass.

The most important trend the Owls will be looking to change is a 1-for-11 mark outside the state of Florida since 2020. Aside from a 38-19 road win against Florida International in 2020, the only other victory away from Schnellenberger Field was a 38-9 victory against Charlotte at Jerry Richardson Stadium in 2021.

Wide receiver LaJohntay Wester had his record tying touchdown catch negated by a fumble on Saturday night in heartbreaking fashion. He'll try again on Saturday, but FAU won't get much of a break in opposing coverage success with the Miners representing the second straight foe who sits in the top 35 in passing yards allowed.


Miner Notes

UTEP returns to the home turf after a bye week. Last time out, they fell to LA Tech 41-31 in week six action. In their 2022 C-USA debut, they dropped a 31-13 affair to North Texas. The Miners lone conference win came on the road against Charlotte 41-35 and was the program's first ever win in the eastern time zone. That's saying something considering UTEP's first year of play was over 100 years ago in 1914.

Offensively, the squad isn't lighting up the scoreboard, as they check in with just 22.1 points per outing. League wise, this is only ahead of FIU's paltry showing of 16.6 points. They also have the 2nd lowest touchdown production (17), but do claim the field goal title with 12 balls through the uprights on the year. No other C-USA member is even close.

Two of those field goals were nailed in what is their statement win of the year against Boise State, resulting in a 27-10 victory that set the Broncos into a downward spiral and saw the firing of their coach.

Quarterback Gavin Hardison is currently a 51% passer, and has eight touchdowns with six picks. He's got two primary targets in that of receivers Tyrin Smith (616 YDS) and Reynaldo Flores (393 YDS). On the ground the back tandem of Ronald Awatt and Deion Hankins account for just over 110 yards per game (83% total production).

Defensively, UTEP is allowing a respectable 356 yards per game (3rd C-USA) to the opposition and 28.9 points (3rd C-USA). Linebacker Tyrice Knight is the anchor with 58 total tackles, and safety Kobe Hylton isn't far behind with 56.

Saturday's contest against the Owls will be Military Day at the Sun Bowl.

"Anytime you get a 'W' it's satisfying. It's huge to have that momentum. The difference between a four game losing streak and a one game win streak. We've got to learn how to take that defeating adversity on the road now." FAU OC Brent Dearmon on upcoming UTEP game. Go Owls 🦉

"We've been able to defend our home turf pretty well. That's going to be important for us with these three games coming up and then obviously two road games, but they're in the state of Texas so the trips won't be as difficult for our team. So, I like the way the schedule is laid out. We just need to take advantage of it."

"Obviously, it just starts with one game at a time, and Florida Atlantic definitely is a team that's got lots of physical talent. They've got good size up front on their offensive line. They got two really talented running backs, a good group of wide receivers and a quarterback that's very athletic and is really improved as a quarterback throughout his last two years."

"Then defensively, they play a lot of guys on defense, they rotate a lot of defensive linemen, they rotate through their linebackers, they've been rotating their secondary. I mean, they play as many guys as anybody that we've faced all year because they're able to get that kind of talent down in the state of Florida. They have a lot of talent all across the board, across their defense."

"It'll be a challenge for us, but one that we need to be up for and play really good football."

- UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel

Notables form Todd Orlando's media session this morning:

"It was a great team win, we fought through a lot of stuff and found a way to win…and that's the start of a championship level football team" - on the Rice Win

"If you watch (you see) the similarities of what they do and what we just got done with with Rice. I've competed against their head coach. He's tough, he's old school and very similar to my beliefs philosophically in terms of controlling the clock. They have some really good skill players, and their quarterback is accurate and can throw the deep ball. But we have to be mindful that they are going to run the football." - on UTEP

"He's got experience, he's got size, and it was a huge part of that game the way we played up front…once you do that up front, when one person demands two guys, then the guys behind them have an easier job. He's a guy that can win for us. " - on return of Evan Anderson

Blue Drip for Saturday:

Great Day for some football - now we just need the win to make it complete

Let's GO 🦉🦉🦉

I don't wear it often, but win I do, I EXPECT a win.

Busting out the OG Tee for today's game. #FAU LET'S GO! 🦉 pic.twitter.com/wkSS57dcRT

— Rick Henderson (@Florida_Owl) October 22, 2022

Owls kick off and immediately leading tackler Eddie Williams is down.

He hobbles off the field.

Not a good start.

A penalty aids the Miners, but FAU gets one themselves and a stop on the first drive.

The punt is a disaster for UTEP, 11 yards.