UTEP Football: Miners should win at least once in 2018
By Zach Bigalke
2018 UTEP Schedule and Predictions
| WEEK | DATE | SCHOOL | OPPONENT |
| 1 | Sep. 1, 2018 | UTEP | vs. FCS Northern Arizona |
| 2 | Sep. 8, 2018 | UTEP | @ UNLV |
| 3 | Sep. 15, 2018 | UTEP | @ Tennessee |
| 4 | Sep. 22, 2018 | UTEP | vs. New Mexico State |
| 5 | Sep. 29, 2018 | UTEP | @ UTSA |
| 6 | Oct. 6, 2018 | UTEP | vs. North Texas |
| 7 | Oct. 13, 2018 | BYE | WEEK |
| 8 | Oct. 20, 2018 | UTEP | @ Louisiana Tech |
| 9 | Oct. 27, 2018 | UTEP | vs. UAB |
| 10 | Nov. 3, 2018 | UTEP | @ Rice |
| 11 | Nov. 10, 2018 | UTEP | vs. Middle Tennessee |
| 12 | Nov. 17, 2018 | UTEP | @ Western Kentucky |
| 13 | Nov. 24, 2018 | UTEP | vs. Southern Miss |
By the time UTEP gets back on the field against FCS Northern Arizona on Sept. 1, it will have been more than 21 months since the Miners last won a football game. The Lumberjacks offer a good chance to break that losing streak, but then again NAU was a participant in last year’s FCS playoffs. If not the Lumberjacks, a trip to Sin City to face UNLV presents the next best chance to win a game.
Even with the misfortunes befalling Tennessee in recent years, a win in Neyland Stadium would truly be an upset. Taking down newly-independent New Mexico State at home would be less surprising.
In conference play, UTEP will probably need to go at least 4-4 to have any shot at a bowl invitation. Road trips to UTSA, Louisiana Tech, Rice, and Western Kentucky will all be hard outs for a team like the Miners. Home showdowns against North Texas, UAB, Middle Tennessee, and Southern Miss probably won’t be much easier.
What’s next for UTEP?
At this point, it is all about the Lumberjacks. UTEP needs a win badly to rebuild its confidence heading into the new year. Dimel, the former Bill Snyder acolyte, will look to keep his team from looking past Northern Arizona lest they become the newest victim of the FCS-vs.-FBS upset special to open the year.
Prediction: 5-7 (3-5 C-USA)
UTEP looks likely to start the year 2-0 for the first time since 2005. Then things will come back to earth for the Miners, who are destined to regress back to the mean before too long. This team definitely has talent, but it will be a struggle reaching bowl eligibility.
dark. Next. Post-spring top 25 projections
In the end, it will all come down to the final weekend of the regular season. A loss at home to Southern Miss two days after Thanksgiving will cost UTEP a trip to the postseason. But Dimel and his staff will give fans hope for the new year by ending the losing streak and keeping the Miners competitive into November.