How to play the new UTSA UTEP-CALIFORNIA game
The new season is upon us, and it’s time to start figuring out what to expect from the top four teams in the Pacific-12 Conference.
We’ve got a handful of games to play, and we can start with the top-ranked team in the conference, which will be looking to improve on last year’s record-setting season.1.
Utah State (19-7, 11-5 Mountain West)2.
Idaho State (17-7-1, 10-4 Mountain West)-A 2-1 victory over Nevada on Saturday night was the best performance in the last three years for the Aggies, who are riding a 12-game winning streak and a 12.1-point advantage in the total to this point.
It was the Aggie team that put on a clinic against the Broncos last weekend in a 31-20 win.
The Broncos are coming off a 26-27 win over the Aggy’s former Big East foe, the Boise State Broncos, and they’re a solid 4-3 in their last five games.
Boise State is the only team with a winning record over the Broncos in that span.
That said, Boise State was the only non-playoff team to defeat Utah State last weekend.
Idaho and the Aggys play the rest of the way at home.
The Aggies will be hoping to rebound after an 0-6 start to the season.
The Aggies finished last season with a .739 winning percentage, but their only loss was a 20-0 defeat to Cal.
That loss was the last time Idaho and UTEP met at home, and the Rams have since won all five games on the road.
The Broncos, meanwhile, lost their first game of the season, and their last game in conference play was a 23-20 overtime loss to Arizona State.
The Bears are coming into the game with a 10-2-1 record and a +10 point advantage.
The Bears are tied for the league lead in scoring defense and the team is allowing just 4.7 points per game.
That’s a huge improvement over last year when they were allowing 10.9 points per contest.
The Rams, meanwhile are in third place in the Pac-12 South.
They’re 7-0 against Utah, 6-1 against Idaho, and 3-1-1 in conference games.
They’ve also won four straight against the Aggs, and last year they lost 29-14 at the home of the Aggians.UTEP has had a few injuries over the past few weeks.
Defensive end Jordan Poyer was out with a broken left leg, and safety Austin Davis was sidelined with a sprained left ankle.
The Rams have been forced to bring in defensive end Jordan Williams from Boise State for the past two weeks and he’s done a good job of filling in on special teams.
He’s had two interceptions and three blocked kicks.UTSA has been playing better in the first half of games this season.
That was the case against Idaho and it was the reason why the Rams were able to pull off a 28-20 victory over the Rams last week.
UTSA has won four of their last six conference games, including three of their four in conference action.UTSU is a tough team to beat.
They have a 4-1 mark against Utah.
The Huskies have had some big wins in conference, including a 29-27 upset of the Bears in the Cotton Bowl last season.UTSC has struggled this season, but this will be their first win against an outside opponent.
The Cougars are 1-4 in the nonconference against teams outside of the Pac 10 Conference.
The only other time they’ve been outside the conference was against the Pac 12 West champions in 2016.UTSM is in second place in both the conference standings and the conference’s overall win total.
That should be no problem, as the Rams are 6-3 all-time against the Huskies and 4-0 in conference.UTT has been a consistent force in conference football.
They went 6-0 last season against the Cougars and beat them in Boise State in the Fiesta Bowl.
The most recent game was a 38-23 win against the Rams in 2017.UTTC is coming off of a 24-14 win over Arizona State in their home opener.
The last time they met was in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2015.UTVT is coming into this game with four wins in their past five games and a 4.0-point lead over Utah.UTV is 3-4 all-in all-conference play and 3.5-point underdogs.
The Red Raiders are 3-2 in conference road games.UT-Tigers is coming to this game on the heels of an impressive 38-14 home victory over Arizona last season that ended with a late-game field goal that gave the Wildcats a 30-27 victory.UTs are in second position in both conference standings.
The Lions are 3.