FACTS & STATS: Site: Sun Bowl (51,500) -- El Paso, Texas. Television: None. Home Record: Tulane 2-2, UTEP 1-2. Away Record: Tulane 0-1, UTEP 1-1. Neutral Record: Tulane 0-0, UTEP 0-0. Conference Record: Tulane 1-0, UTEP 2-0. Series Record: Texas-El Paso leads, 2-1.

GAME NOTES: The Tulane Green Wave hit the road this coming Saturday as they travel to El Paso to take on the UTEP Miners at the Sun Bowl in a Conference USA West Division matchup. Tulane will be playing its second road game of the season, having dropped its only other road game to Alabama to open the season. After starting 0-2, the Green Wave responded with back-to-back home wins against UL-Monroe and SMU but were upset last week by Army 44-13 at Tad Gormley Stadium. It was the Green Wave's first loss to an unranked opponent. The 31-point loss to the Black Knights was the worst loss under head coach Bob Toledo (17 games) and it ended the nation's longest losing streak at 10 games. The Miners started the season 0-3, but won their last two games against conference foes UCF and Southern Miss. Last week's game against the Golden Eagles featured six lead changes and was decided in double overtime when QB Trevor Vittatoe hit Kris Adams from seven yards out to win the game for the Miners. UTEP will try to start 3-0 in league play for the first time since 2000 when it went 7-1 in conference and won a share of the league title. This week's game will be the fourth time the Green Wave and the Miners have met with the latter winning two of the three previous matchups. Tulane won last year's clash in New Orleans, 34-19.

In the loss to Army, the Green Wave offense put up some decent numbers but made numerous mistakes that in the end proved too costly to overcome. Tulane committed four turnovers, including having a fumble and an interception returned for a touchdown, and the Black Knights blocked a punt and field goal attempt. Tulane also committed 10 penalties for a loss of 89 yards. Tulane was led offensively by QB Kevin Moore who threw for 273 yards and one touchdown and RB Andre Anderson who ran for 107 yards (on 21 carries) and caught six passes for 59 yards. It marked the third straight game in which Anderson ran for more than 100 yards. Jeremy Williams caught three balls for 81 yards and scored a touchdown. The numbers for Tulane are somewhat surprising as through its first five games, the Green Wave have actually outgained their opponent 408.8 ypg to 263 ypg but are allowing 25.8 ppg to their 20.2 ppg. Tulane has averaged 144 ypg on the ground and has outgained its opponents through the air by more than 145 ypg. The Green Wave even has a more than 10-minute edge in time of possession. But it all comes down to scoring as Tulane has allowed 17 touchdowns while only reaching the end zone 12 times. Anderson has paced the Green Wave thus far having rushed for 597 yards on 141 carries with five touchdowns. He is averaging 119.4 ypg on the ground and another 34.4 receiving. Moore has completed over 61 percent of his passes for 1,260 yards but his touchdown-to-interception ratio is even with six a piece. Jeremy Williams leads all Green Wave receivers with five touchdowns.

The Green Wave actually outgained the Black Knights 486-334, however, Tulane's run defense, which had been outstanding so far this season, got scorched by Army's option offense. Tulane had entered the game ranked ninth nationally against the run in allowing 68.5 ypg, but allowed the Knights to run for 291 yards, averaging an incredible 6.6 ypc along the way. Army's Collin Mooney ran for 187 yards and scored four times which marked the first time all season that the Tulane defense allowed 100 yards rushing in a game. The Tulane defense, which entered the game leading the nation in sacks with an average of four per game, was held without a sack as Army only attempted five passes, completing four of them. Logan Kelley leads the way with four sacks, four tackles for a loss and two forced fumbles. Evan Lee, Reggie Scott and Josh Lumar all have two sacks apiece for the Green Wave.

UTEP was outgained 541-382 by the Golden Eagles last weekend, and the Miners ran for only 116 yards, led by Damian Buckram's 59 yards (on 12 carries). The offensive star for the Miners was QB Trevor Vittatoe who was 25-of-43 for 266 yards and four touchdowns. A total of 11 different Miners caught passes from Vittatoe. Kris Adams only caught two balls on the day but both of them went for touchdowns. UTEP is currently ranked fourth in the conference in scoring offense with 32.2 ppg and with the 40-37 win over Southern Miss, the Miners have scored 40 or more points in back-to-back games. The 98 points scored over the past two games is the highest combined total the Miners have had in a two- game stretch versus FBS opponents since 1967. The Miners do not rely on the every-down back or go-to receiver but rather use a committee approach to move the ball. UTEP is averaging 144.8 ypg on the ground as five Miners have carried the ball 20+ times on the season. Terrell Jackson leads the team with 52.2 ypg. Not one Miner has 20 receptions through the first five games but Adams leads the team in receiving yards (276), average per reception (19.7 ypr), average per game (55.2 ypg) and touchdowns (three). Vittatoe has been good but not great, averaging 205.6 ypg through the air and in 165 pass attempts he has thrown nine touchdowns and only four interceptions, however, he has completed only 54.5 percent of his total throws. The Miners did not turn the ball over against Southern Miss and it was the first time in 22 games that UTEP did not commit a turnover.

The Miners allowed the Golden Eagles to gain 277 yards on the ground and have given up an average of 172.8 ypg in their first five games. Opponents have also thrown for more than 250 ypg against the Miners and have scored 16 touchdowns through the air. The UTEP defense has forced 14 turnovers putting it in a tie for 11th in the nation in that department. The club is also on pace to surpass last season's sack total of 16 as it has 12 so far this season. The Miners have recorded multi-sack games three straight weeks and if they get two or more sacks this Saturday it would be the first time since 2006 that they have had four consecutive games with multiple sacks against FBS opponents. Nine different Miners have registered at least one sack and Brandis Dew leads the team with 2.5 sacks and four tackles for loss. Senior DB Cornellius Brown leads the team with three interceptions and he has blocked a kick as well.

This week will mark the first time that UTEP has hosted Tulane on Homecoming so look for the Miners to come right at the Green Wave defense with a solid mix of run and pass. The game should be competitive throughout as neither team has the playmakers to take over but playing in front of the home crowd with a chance to stay undefeated in conference play should be the difference for UTEP.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Texas-El Paso 34, Tulane 27