UTEP
1-1Mountain West · Scotty Walden, year 3 (6-20) · Sun Bowl · 51,500 · 24,580 avg in 2026
LastW 51–10 vs Texas Southern · Sat Sep 12 · EJ Colson 239 pass yds, 4 TD, 49 rush yds
Nextat Michigan · Sat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ET · Michigan Stadium · Michigan by 35 · first meeting on record · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
All 80 stats
FBS rankings · 2026 season · all stats vs 136 FBS programs
| Player | # | G | Cmp/Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | INT | Rate | ZPR | QBR | Adj ANY/A | Sack% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.24 EPA/play | 1 | 2 | 20 / 33 | 60.6 | 291 | 8.8 | 4 #36 FBS | 0 | 174.7 | — | 41 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Car | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Stuff% | 10+% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +0.45 EPA/play | — | 2 | 21 | 128 | 6.1 | 1 | 33 | — | — | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||||
| Player | # | G | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| +1.20 EPA/play | 5 | 2 | 5 | 52 | 10.4 | 1 | 18 | |
Yards by week → | ||||||||
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | TFL | Sack | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | Solo | Ast | TFL | Sack | PD | INT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 8 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | Tot | PD | INT | TFL | Sack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 12 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 32 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | |
| 20 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 16 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 #22 FBS | 1 | 0 | |
| 23 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Player | # | G | FG M/A | FG% | XP M/A | Pts | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 91 | 2 | 1/4 | 25 | 6/7 | 9 | 35 |
| Player | # | G | No | Yds | Avg | Long | In20 | TB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 | 2 | 6 | 231 | 38.5 | 59 | 0 | 0 |
Net average is unavailable — CFBD's punting feed carries gross yards only, with no return-yardage or touchback deduction.
2026 stat leaders · UTEP
through 2 gamesXavier Smith leads UTEP with 10 tackles through 2 games.
UTEP fields a struggling pass-first, explosive, big-play offense behind a strong, bend-don't-break defense.
Percentile vs all FBS, based on this season's per-game production. Bar = where this team ranks — right is better.
UTEP reads strongest in explosive plays (top 4%) and rushing epa allowed (top 18%); the crux lives in success rate, where UTEP sits at the 1st percentile.
offense · strengths lead
defense · higher bar = harder to play against
hidden math · special situations
Home-field advantage · UTEP · 2018–present · FBS opponents
UTEP is worth +4.2 points more at home than on the road.
Middle of FBS, 51st percentile of 133 programs
28% at home, 17% away against FBS opponents since 2018 (10–26 home, 8–40 away). Interval ±3.4.
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge — per-team modelling was tested and did not survive scrutiny (why) — and the books use about 3. Against the closing line, UTEP has beaten the number by −0.9 more at home than away over 73 games — inside the ±5.5 that many games can resolve. Results here cannot tell the flat number apart from the building, and that is the honest reading of nearly every FBS stadium.
Sun Bowl seats 51,500 and has averaged 36% full (18,341, 24 games reported). Visitors face the 7th-longest trip of 135 FBS venues: a median 811 miles since 2018. The map isn't translating, though — the split above still reads middle of fbs. 10% of the 2026 roster (10 of 104 located players) grew up inside 100 miles of the stadium.
Edge = half the gap between average home margin and average road margin, FBS opponents only, non-neutral games since 2018; the interval is 95%. Market line: closing spread, seasons with lines on file. Trip length is straight-line miles from the visiting team's campus to the venue, measured across all 45 home games since 2018.
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Ratings
Comparable teams
Most similar programs · UTEP
Reads like
Matched on how the programs are built — tier, prestige band, kind of fanbase, conference, voice and roster size — not on this season's stats. A calibration, not a prediction.
Conditions
75°F average kickoff temp; 3% of games had measurable precipitation; 9 mph average wind.
Based on 68 home games with weather data.