What Happened Last Time Between The Texas Longhorns and UTEP Miners?

As the Lone Star State's premier college football team, the Texas Longhorns have played other teams in the state more times than one can count. However, being in the SEC now limits their ability to play in-state opponents.

While the Longhorns thankfully reignited their rivalry with Texas A&M, their series with Texas Tech, Baylor, TCU and others are unfortunately now on hold due to them no longer being in the Big 12. In order to get their fill of in-state opponents, the Longhorns now have to turn to non-conference matchups. While there's no big ones lined up yet, they have started series with a couple of the smaller teams.

One of those teams is the UTEP Miners, whom Texas will welcome to Darrell K Royal Saturday afternoon. However, this is far from the first matchup between the two programs.

Texas Longhorns Crushed UTEP in 2020 Season Opener

Sep 12, 2020; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Sam Ehlinger (11) drops back to pass against the Texas El Paso Miners in the second half at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images | Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Back in 2020, many conferences limited their teams to only playing teams in the same league due to the pandemic, but the Big 12 allowed its teams to play one non-conference game each. Sure enough, the Longhorns' one non-conference game (not including the Alamo Bowl against Colorado) came against the Miners in the season opener on Sept. 12, 2020.

Unsurprisingly, Texas had its way with UTEP in a 59-3 beatdown at DKR. The Longhorns gained 689 yards of total offense to the Miners' mere 223, and by the time the Miners scored their only points of the day via a field goal late in the second quarter, the game was already over.

Sam Ehlinger had himself a day for the Longhorns, completing 25 of 33 passes for 426 yards and five touchdowns to five different receivers. Backup quarterback Casey Thompson also saw success in relief, completing four of seven passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Joshua Moore led the team with six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown.

The Longhorns rushed for an impressive 208 yards and averaged 6.3 yards per attempt, but they took more of a running-back-by-committee approach with no player rushing for 50 yards. Roschon Johnson scored a touchdown, however.

The series between the two schools first began back in the 1930s, back when UTEP was known as College of Mines and Metallurgy of the University of Texas. They finally resumed their series in 2008 after not playing for 75 years, and they've been playing somewhat regularly ever since.

The Longhorns are currently set to host the Miners at DKR in 2027, 2029 and 2031, so this won't be the last matchup between them in the near future.