TLDR: Wyoming has won 4 straight and controls its own path to the Mountain West title game. UTEP is 0-5 in league play and has lost 5 in a row, and on Saturday, November 14, the Cowboys come to the Sun Bowl.
Wyoming arrives in El Paso having won 4 straight, already bowl-eligible and in control of the Mountain West title-game race, with a run game that piled up 351 yards at UNLV. UTEP is 1-8 and hasn't topped 14 points in 5 straight games, though it pushed Hawaii to a 3-point finish last time out. The matchup is Wyoming's ground game against a Miners offense that has struggled to score, and the only real worries for the Cowboys are their own late-game defensive lapses and the 28-0 shutout they took from North Dakota State.
+Moore-to-Ezinwa TD shows the passing game has some life
−14 or fewer points in 5 straight games
−Gave up 303 passing yards to Hawaii's Alejado
−Lost to New Mexico 61-7
This one comes down to whether Wyoming can run the ball, and lately the answer has been yes. In the 41-35 win at UNLV, the Cowboys put up 483 yards, and 351 of them came on the ground with 3 rushing touchdowns. Samuel Harris led the way with 128 yards and 2 scores. That's the formula: lean on the backs, keep the chains moving, and keep the opposing quarterback on the sideline. The win also clinched Wyoming's first bowl trip since 2023 and put the Cowboys in the driver's seat for a spot in the Mountain West Championship Game.
UTEP is in a much worse place. The Miners are 1-8, 0-5 in the Mountain West, and haven't scored more than 14 points in any of their last 5 games. Their most recent loss was their most competitive one, though. Hawaii's Micah Alejado threw for 303 yards, but UTEP stayed in it, and Raymond Moore III hit Judah Ezinwa for a 15-yard touchdown that made it a 3-point game in the 4th quarter before the Miners fell 17-14 at home. Whether that close finish was a sign of real progress or just a one-week blip is the biggest question UTEP has heading into this one.
The schedule gives the two teams 2 common opponents, and both comparisons favor Wyoming. The Cowboys won 16-13 at San José State, while UTEP lost 11-24 to the Spartans at home. North Dakota State beat both of them, and Wyoming's loss there was ugly: shut out 28-0 on the road. That game is a reminder that this offense has stalled badly before. Just not lately.
The UNLV game also showed Wyoming's weak spot. The Cowboys led 41-21 and then gave up touchdowns late in the 3rd and with 8:32 left in the 4th. Tyson Shamsid-Deen had to make his 2nd interception of the night in the end zone with 50 seconds left to seal it. A defense that gives up 2 quick scores to UNLV isn't going to make UTEP nervous, but it does suggest Wyoming can relax once it has a lead.
The forecast for El Paso is football weather: low 60s, partly cloudy, light wind, with a small chance of rain. Nothing about it should change how either team plays. Wyoming has a title-game spot to protect and doesn't have to do anything fancy to protect it. UTEP has 1 win to show for the season, and the Hawaii game is the only recent evidence that it can stay close with a league opponent.
