EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – After beating Rice on Saturday, UTEP has clinched a winning season for the first time since 2014 and head into their final regular season game at UAB in search of just the ninth eight-win season in program history.
They’ll have to get the win on a short week, though, as the game will be played on Friday in Birmingham, Ala.
It’s not the first time this season UTEP has had only six days in between games. The Miners had a short week to prepare for Boise State and that didn’t go very well; the Broncos steamrolled the Miners, 54-13 in September.
But Boise State got two more days of preparation for that one than UTEP did; this time around both the Miners and Blazers will have a short week. UAB lost to UTSA on Saturday, 34-31, on a touchdown with three second left. Dana Dimel said they’ve made some change to their preparation this time around to help get ready in five days instead of six.
“This week’s game is coming up fast. It’s on a Friday. There’s nothing more fun – I told the guys we used to do it a lot, played arch rivals on Friday and nothing more fun than playing on a Friday after Thanksgiving – it’s a great college football atmosphere,” said Dimel. “We have a wonderful opportunity to go down to Birmingham, and play, as everyone knows, a really good football team. It’s one of the top defenses in the country, really good against the rush, statistically.”
UTEP and UAB will kickoff at noon MT in Birmingham on Friday. The game can be seen on ESPN+. UTEP will leave for Alabama on Thanksgiving day.
