Remember the “we lost to ranked teams” line? It just got a lot harder to say.
Michigan and Oklahoma, the two ranked programs that blew out UTEP in September, are both out of the AP Top 25 heading into Week 6.
The Receipts
On Sept. 4, then-No. 10 Oklahoma shut out UTEP 51-0 in Norman. The Sooners outgained the Miners 401 yards to 186, and UTEP missed three field goals.
Michigan, ranked No. 19, followed with a 52-17 win in Ann Arbor on Sept. 19. UTEP led twice in the first half, and EJ Colson hit Carver Cheeks from 45 yards and Lamar Sperling from 18. But Michigan was up 45-14 after three quarters.
The Poll Shakeup
Oklahoma lost 17-10 at Michigan two weeks after the UTEP game. The Sooners fell from No. 11 to No. 24 and are now unranked.
Michigan has been worse since beating UTEP. The Wolverines are 3-2 after back-to-back losses to Iowa and Minnesota, their first loss at Minnesota since 1977. They’re out of the poll too.
Here’s a stat for the fan base. UTEP scored 17 on Michigan, and Oklahoma scored 10. Maybe that stat doesn’t say much, other than that’s how football goes sometimes.
What It Means for UTEP
Let’s be honest. Those losses carry less weight now, and “we played the big boys” doesn’t hold up when the “big boys” are now both unranked. The Miners are 1-4, so the cushion is gone.
The nonconference chapter is now closed, and no one can really look to it and be happy. The season now runs through the Mountain West.
The Road Ahead
UTEP is 0-1 in league play after the 61-7 loss at New Mexico. Seven games remain: Nevada, San Jose State, North Dakota State, Hawai’i, Wyoming, Air Force, and Northern Illinois. The Miners need to go 5-2 to reach six wins.
That’s a tall mountain to climb, but the schedule has openings. After this weekend’s results, Nevada (1-3), Hawai’i (1-4), Wyoming (2-3), and Northern Illinois (0-4) all have losing records. North Dakota State, on the Oct. 31 trip, is 5-0.
If UTEP Football continues to show poor performances through this half of the schedule; then maybe changes are needed sooner rather than later.
What El Paso Should Hold Onto
Colson was efficient at Michigan, and Raymond Moore III just ripped off an 86-yard touchdown run in Albuquerque. The pieces are there. What’s missing is the consistency that keeps a game close for four quarters.
Bottom Line: The Michigan and Oklahoma losses no longer carry weight, and that’s fine. UTEP’s season will be decided by what it does in the Mountain West. Nevada comes to town Saturday, Oct. 10, at 5 p.m. on FS1, and that’s the game that starts the climb. Show up, El Paso.
