# 2020 UTEP Miners football team

The 2020 UTEP Miners football team represented the University of Texas at El Paso in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Miners were led by third–year head coach Dana Dimel and played their home games at the Sun Bowl. They competed as members of the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA).

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| N/A ||||

### C–USA media days

The C–USA Media Days were held virtually for the first time in conference history.
Media poll (West Division) :
| Predicted finish | Team |
| 1 | Louisiana Tech |
| 2 | North Texas |
| 3 | Rice |
| 4 | Southern Miss |
| 5 | UAB |
| 6 | UTEP |
| 7 | UTSA |
Media poll (East Division) :
| Predicted finish | Team |
| 1 | Charlotte |
| 2 | FIU |
| 3 | Florida Atlantic |
| 4 | Marshall |
| 5 | Middle Tennessee |
| 6 | Old Dominion |
| 7 | Western Kentucky |
Media poll (C–USA Championship) :
| Rank | Team | Votes |
| N/A |||

### Preseason All–C–USA teams

N/A

## Schedule

UTEP announced its 2020 football schedule on January 8, 2020.
The Miners had games scheduled against FIU, Nevada, New Mexico State, Rice, Southern Miss, Texas Tech and UAB that were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 7:00 p.m. | Stephen F. Austin* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN3 | W 24–14 | 6,047 |
| September 12 | 6:00 p.m. | at No. 14 Texas* | Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial StadiumAustin, TX | LHN | L 3–59 | 15,337 |
| September 19 | 7:00 p.m. | Abilene Christian* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN3 | W 17–13 | 6,056 |
| September 26 | 1:30 p.m. | at Louisiana–Monroe* | Malone StadiumMonroe, LA | ESPN2 | W 31–6 | 5,491 |
| October 10 | 5:30 p.m. | at Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet StadiumRuston, LA | ESPN2 | L 17–21 | 7,140 |
| October 24 | 10:00 a.m. | at Charlotte | Jerry Richardson StadiumCharlotte, NC | ESPN+ | L 28–38 | 1,042 |
| November 14 | 1:00 p.m. | at UTSA | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX | ESPN+ | L 21–52 | 6,243 |
| December 11 | 4:00 p.m. | at North Texas | Apogee StadiumDenton, TX | ESPN3 | L 43–45 | 5,612 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
Source:

## Game summaries
### Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| • Miners | 3 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UTEP –4 | 54 |
| Statistics | Stephen F. Austin | UTEP |
| First downs | 14 | 19 |
| Total yards | 230 | 364 |
| Rushing yards | 97 | 152 |
| Passing yards | 133 | 212 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 2 |
| Time of possession | 23:13 | 36:47 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Stephen F. Austin | Passing | Trae Self | 14/21, 133 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Stephen F. Austin | Rushing | Da'Leon Ward | 14 carries, 51 yards, 1 TD |
| Stephen F. Austin | Receiving | Quentyvian Borders | 2 receptions, 41 yards |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 17/28, 212 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 17 carries, 113 yards, 2 TDs |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 7 receptions, 116 yards |

### At Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| • No. 14 Longhorns | 21 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 59 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UT –42.5 | 58.5 |
| Statistics | UTEP | Texas |
| First downs | 14 | 28 |
| Total yards | 233 | 689 |
| Rushing yards | 43 | 208 |
| Passing yards | 190 | 481 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 34:17 | 25:43 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 12/27, 141 yards, 1 INT |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 11 carries, 34 yards |
| UTEP | Receiving | Justin Garrett | 4 receptions, 58 yards |
| Texas | Passing | Sam Ehlinger | 25/33, 426 yards, 5 TDs |
| Texas | Rushing | Keaontay Ingram | 9 carries, 44 yards |
| Texas | Receiving | Joshua Moore | 6 receptions, 127 yards, 1 TD |

### Abilene Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| • Miners | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UTEP –8.5 | 47.5 |
| Statistics | Abilene Christian | UTEP |
| First downs | 15 | 17 |
| Total yards | 308 | 293 |
| Rushing yards | 99 | 98 |
| Passing yards | 209 | 195 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 30:02 | 29:58 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Abilene Christian | Passing | Peyton Mansell | 14/21, 202 yards |
| Abilene Christian | Rushing | Tyrese White | 11 carries, 41 yards |
| Abilene Christian | Receiving | Taelyn Williams | 2 receptions, 77 yards |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 15/25, 195 yards |
| UTEP | Rushing | Joshua Fields | 17 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 8 receptions, 110 yards |

### At Louisiana–Monroe

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Miners | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Warhawks | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UTEP –9.5 | 49.5 |
| Statistics | UTEP | Louisiana–Monroe |
| First downs | 21 | 6 |
| Total yards | 512 | 193 |
| Rushing yards | 210 | 7 |
| Passing yards | 302 | 186 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 39:36 | 20:24 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 13/25, 302 yards |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 22 carries, 118 yards, 3 TDs |
| UTEP | Receiving | Justin Garrett | 7 receptions, 120 yards |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Passing | Colby Suits | 17/27, 184 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Rushing | Josh Johnson | 9 carries, 19 yards |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Receiving | Jevin Frett | 2 receptions, 63 yards |

### At Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 0 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| • Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| LT –14.5 | 55.5 |
| Statistics | UTEP | Louisiana Tech |
| First downs | 14 | 16 |
| Total yards | 266 | 210 |
| Rushing yards | 60 | 91 |
| Passing yards | 206 | 119 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 26:58 | 33:02 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 18/38, 206 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 15 carries, 35 yards |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 7 receptions, 63 yards |
| Louisiana Tech | Passing | Luke Anthony | 11/20, 85 yards |
| Louisiana Tech | Rushing | Justin Henderson | 15 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD |
| Louisiana Tech | Receiving | Adrian Hardy | 4 receptions, 58 yards |

### At Charlotte

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| • 49ers | 7 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 38 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| CHAR –17.5 | 50 |
| Statistics | UTEP | Charlotte |
| First downs | 24 | 17 |
| Total yards | 374 | 329 |
| Rushing yards | 170 | 144 |
| Passing yards | 204 | 185 |
| Turnovers | 2 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 31:02 | 28:58 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 19/35, 204 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 18 carries, 119 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Receiving | Justin Garrett | 9 receptions, 107 yards, 2 TDs |
| Charlotte | Passing | Chris Reynolds | 14/23, 185 yards, 2 TDs |
| Charlotte | Rushing | Aaron McAllister | 8 carries, 68 yards, 2 TDs |
| Charlotte | Receiving | Victor Tucker | 6 receptions, 86 yards, 1 TD |

### At UTSA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| • Roadrunners | 3 | 21 | 14 | 14 | 52 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UTSA –6 | 45.5 |
| Statistics | UTEP | UTSA |
| First downs | 13 | 29 |
| Total yards | 246 | 600 |
| Rushing yards | 77 | 288 |
| Passing yards | 169 | 312 |
| Turnovers | 7 | 4 |
| Time of possession | 27:08 | 32:52 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 14/21, 159 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Rushing | Deion Hankins | 16 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 2 receptions, 58 yards, 1 TD |
| UTSA | Passing | Frank Harris | 22/26, 312 yards, 3 TDs |
| UTSA | Rushing | Brenden Brady | 26 carries, 124 yards |
| UTSA | Receiving | Zakhari Franklin | 6 receptions, 118 yards, 1 TD |

### At North Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 14 | 0 | 22 | 43 |
| • Mean Green | 7 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 45 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UNT –10 | 51 |
| Statistics | UTEP | North Texas |
| First downs | 27 | 24 |
| Total yards | 497 | 491 |
| Rushing yards | 301 | 189 |
| Passing yards | 196 | 302 |
| Turnovers | 1 | 2 |
| Time of possession | 35:45 | 24:15 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Calvin Brownholtz | 10/26, 196 yards, 2 TDs, 4 INTs |
| UTEP | Rushing | Calvin Brownholtz | 15 carries, 114 yards, 2 TDs |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 5 receptions, 118 yards, 2 TDs |
| North Texas | Passing | Austin Aune | 16/29, 302 yards, 5 TDs |
| North Texas | Rushing | Tre Siggers | 15 carries, 94 yards |
| North Texas | Receiving | Jaelon Darden | 8 receptions, 173 yards, 4 TDs |