Who should you root for during Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl? Before UTEP and BYU kick off at 2 p.m., here’s a handy set of criteria by which to declare your allegiance.
New Mexico Bowl: Your Rootability Index For UTEP Vs. BYU
Each player is followed at all times by their own personal mariachi band. At least that’s the impression the Bowl seems intent on making on the arriving teams at the airport.
That would get very old very fast, especially when they follow you into the bathroom.
His name is Buckram, and you will address him as such. A running back whose name is a combination of two bumptious words must be quality in cleats. UTEP running back Donald Buckram, a 1500 yard rusher in 2009, spent most of the year in dry dock due to injury. However, he should be in his best shape since the beginning of the 2010 season for the bowl, and will join a crowded backfield for what will likely be a run-heavy gameplan. (Starting qb Trevor Vittatoe’s ankle is “dinged,” a football term meaning “in an agony that would reduce normal people to tears.” He’ll start, of course.)
The holders of the Chile Cook-off Curse arriveth. BYU is cursed by having won an upset in the New Mexico Bowl Chile Bowl Cook-Off, but they’re used to it by now. 2010 got off to a hexed start when, after beating Washington in an upset, the Cougars dropped four in a row including a 31-17 debacle at Utah State. Bronco Mendenhall called for an exorcism, fired defensive coordinator Jaime Hill, and the Cougars finished 5-2 down the stretch heading into the bowl at 6-6. It’s not pretty, but it could have been much, much worse.
Selling points for UTEP. Paydirt Pete looks like a Tom of Finland fantasy of a miner, a tidy punt return game, a balanced offense (20 TDs passing, 18 on the ground,) the possible motivation of a rumored Mike Price retirement, and dodging the bullet of the Chile Bowl Cook-Off Curse.
Selling points for BYU. A rebuilt defense led by safety Andrew Rich, a real comfort with the potentially nasty conditions in Albuquerque this afternoon (UTEP DE Bernard Obi: "Too cold," he said. "I've lived all my life in Texas. I don't like the cold or the snow.") a productive if not spectacular run game, and Bronco Mendenhall's 3-1 record in bowl games. They will be prepared, on time, and neatly dressed.
LEAN: UTEP. We never, ever bet against the Chile Bowl Cook-Off Curse. You may have won in Kitchen Stadium, BYU, but you lose on the gridiron and extend the curse’s streak to 5-0.
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