Miners looking for rare win against Owls

Similar to their opponents, the Miners will try to bounce back from a crushing loss as they travel Nov. 5 to Houston to take on their old foes, the Rice Owls.

Rice, who is looking to recover from a 73-34 rout by the No. 13 Houston Cougars, will play UTEP in a matchup that dates back to their days in the Western Athletic Conference. The two have faced each other every year since 1996 with the Owls holding an 8-6 advantage in the series. Rice is 5-2 against the Miners at home.

The last time the Miners faced Rice, former quarterback Trevor Vittatoe paced UTEP with 327 yards and a three touchdowns to beat the Owls 44-24 in the Sun Bowl. The win snapped a four-game losing streak to Rice.

Owls' head coach David Bailiff is rotating three quarterbacks into the offense using senior Nick Fanuzzi, sophomore Taylor McHargue and at times, sophomore running back Turner Petersen.

"We might have two defensive game plans based on their quarterbacks, but their previous starter did both," head coach Mike Price said. "Fanuzzi, for some reason, is just in there throwing. Petersen is pretty much there running. Now, can he throw? Probably. But he didn't have to against Houston."

The Miners will have their hands full with the Owls' senior defensive end Scott Solomon who missed the 2010 season with an injury.

Solomon was a preseason first-team Conference-USA selection and a member of Dave Campbell's Texas Football All-Texas team. Through eight games this season, Solomon has 5.5 sacks, 21.5 for his career and is on pace to break the school record of 24. Price said that sometimes his teams do have game plans for solid pass rushers like Solomon, similar to what they did against the two starting defensive ends for Southern Miss.

"He's a young man that we recruited out of high school also so we've known a lot about him over the years" Price said. "He's a really good player. I don't know what the answer is going to be for him, but we're definitely going to look for that answer."

The Miners will look to take advantage of the success from the running game against an Owls defense that is allowing over 200 yards per game on the ground.

This season, the Miners are relying more on the run, which is averaging 161.4 yards per game. It is a 24-yard improvement from last year's totals and they are looking to get back on track after rushing for 68 yards in their loss to Southern Miss.

UTEP's junior punter Ian Campbell leads the nation with 47.78 yards per punt, which is helping the Miners in the field position battle. UTEP opponents have averaged a starting position from their own 27-yard line.

According to Price, the Miners should have every player back and healthy for this game. They were without senior defensive back Travaun Nixon for the second consecutive game and for the fourth time this year.

"Our team is healthy. We should be ready to go," Price said. "We have a chance for our seniors to leave here with a legacy of winning and going to a bowl game. We still have that opportunity and that's what I want them to concentrate on."

At 4-4, the Miners are two wins away from being bowl eligible for a second consecutive season.

Daniel Ornelas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu