Nebraska Football Game Preview: University of Texas El-Paso

Date: Saturday, August 31st, 2024

Location: Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

Time: 2:30 p.m. Central Time

TV Broadcast Info: FOX with Jason Benetti, Brock Huard and Allison Williams

Radio Info: Husker Radio Network with Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning and Jessica Cody. A list of affiliates can be found at Huskers.com/Listen

Nebraska – UTEP History: First ever meeting.

Head Coach: Scotty Walden (1st Season at UTEP)

Bio: Walden, 34, joins the Miners after four seasons as the head coach at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn. Last year, he led the Governors to a 9-3 record, a perfect 6-0 mark in the United Athletic Conference, and a no. 13 FCS national ranking. It marked the first undefeated conference season in school history. He was named a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, presented by FedEx Ground and Stats Perform to the FCS National Coach of the Year. Walden will bring a pass heavy offense into this game, as his system worked really well for Austin Peay last year.

Last Season: UTEP finished 3-9 last season, going 2-6 in Conference USA play. They averaged 19.9 points per game last season (which ranked 116th in the nation) and gave up 28.5 points per game (which ranked 85th in the nation). The Miners averaged 362 yards per game, ranking 83rd last season, while giving up 386.8 yards per game, ranking 75th last season.

The Miners offense returns a minimal amount in terms of production. Their rushing attack returns very little at all as the only returning player is Ezell Jolly, who ran 20 times for 48 yards and 3 scores last season. Cade McConnell (pictured above) will look to get the start at Quarterback. The Redshirt Junior played in 7 games last year, completing 53.5% of his passes and throwing for 1437 yards, 6 TDs and 4 INTs. Emari White is the leading returning receiver, having only 8 receptions for 132 yards.

On the defensive side of the ball, Senior Maurice Westmoreland returns as the leading tackler. He had 37 total tackles while playing in all 12 games a year ago. Look for him to patrol the middle of the field in the Bandit position. The Miners only forced 12 turnovers all season, most of that production either transferred out or graduated.

There is no secret that this UTEP team is probably not going to be very good. Having said that, Nebraska has found a way to play immensely ill-disciplined football and lost to bad teams. Currently listed as a 27.5 point favorite, Nebraska just needs to do something it hasn’t done in nearly two decades, take care of the football. A relatively inexperienced quarterback mixed in with a ton of new faces should cause UTEP plenty of problems in a raucous environment. Just execute on both ends of the ball and then focus on getting better week to week.