It was made official on Wednesday that the Longhorns would host the Texas-El Paso Miners on September 12th to open the season. Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte confirmed in the Forty Acres Insider that was published. Their original matchup was set for September 19th on the original schedule but due to the Big 12 changing to a nine plus one schedule it had to be adjusted.
There were still questions even after the confirmation by Del Conte as to whether or not the game could still be played. Conference USA met on Wednesday evening to discuss their course of action as the fall football season approaches. As other conferences have come out and postponed the season, UTEP’s conference hadn’t yet made a decision. The conference issued the following statement.
The latest statement from our C-USA Board of Directors: pic.twitter.com/MX50Pv3yUj
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) August 13, 2020
Essentially a passive statement to state they were still in discussion about what their final answer will be. On a conference call with media, Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby stated that a Big 12 opponent must adhere to their testing standards. If the Miners are afforded the opportunity to play they will be tested three times before they can play in Austin.
Head coach of the Miners Dana Dimel met with the media on Thursday and stated they were “right on schedule” to play against the Longhorns. UTEP had been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak that caused them to halt camp while they determined how to proceed.
Provided that the game doesn’t get cancelled, the Longhorns will host UTEP for their sixth meeting all-time. Texas has won all five matchups with their last game coming in 2016. Texas won 41-6. The Longhorns should be heavy favorites as the Miners are coming off a 1-11 season in 2019.