New Mexico Bowl, BYU Vs. UTEP: Cougars Obliterate Miners, 52-24

SB Nation’s Miner Rush examines UTEP’s keys to victory in this afternoon’s New Mexico Bowl:

UTEP came into this season with high expectations returning a slew of veteran players including Senior QB Trevor Vittatoe, Senior RB Donald Buckram, and Senior WR Kris Adams from a 4-8 team that lost 5 games by a TD or less. In all, 48 letter winners, and 11 starters returned from that squad.

The season started on a high note as the Miners shot out to a 5-1 record, with its only loss coming on the road to a fully healthy Houston Cougar team. The Miners seemed poised to contend for a C-USA championship as their next three games would be against sub .500 opponents. UTEP wound up losing all three of those game to slide to 5-4 with SMU, Arkansas, and Tulsa still on the slate. The Miners went on to beat the Conference USA West champ SMU, at home, before losing on the road at no. 8 Arkansas, and at Tulsa to end the season.

The 2010 New Mexico Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. EST. For more information, browse our complete 2010 college football postseason schedule.

When I arrived on campus in 2001 as a freshman, I was so excited to be a part of BYU football’s bowl game tradition. In fact, I basically expected the fact that BYU would go to a bowl game every year I was there. I didn’t know that it could be any other way. What I didn’t know as an 18 year old, was how changing the bowl game approach, would change my BYU experience, and my life forever.

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So this time of year, as the Cougars head off to New Mexico, most people will be focused on the outcome of the game on Saturday. For me it stirs the emotions of the opportunities we were given throughout the bowl week, to give back to the community and touch the lives of people we have never met, nor will see again!The 2010 New Mexico Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. EST. Browse our complete 2010 college football postseason schedule, and connect with UTEP and BYU fans at SB Nation’s Miner Rush and Vanquish The Foe.

Acknowledging The Past

While the 2006 New Mexico Bowl was the first Division I Bowl game in the state of New Mexico, there was postseason action in the Land of Enchantment before. In 1980, the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Mustangs played Eastern Illinois at University Stadium in the Division II championship game, called the Zia Bowl. It snowed in Albuquerque just two days before the game and the weather was unusually cold. Helicopters were brought in to dry the fields and the grass was painted green. A very small crowd showed up to the Cal Poly win the D-II national title, 21-13.

Compounding matters, winning the bowl itself may actually impose a W-L curse on the victors. No team that’s won the New Mexico Bowl has gone on to compile a winning record the following season. Spookay!

The 2010 New Mexico Bowl kicks off at 2 p.m. EST, Saturday, December 18. The game will be televised on ESPN. Browse our complete 2010 college football postseason schedule, and connect with BYU and UTEP fans at SB Nation’s Vanquish The Foe and Miner Rush.