Here's a look at Saturday's lineups and key matchups — and a prediction from Star reporter Justin Spears.
UTEP (1-2) at Arizona (1-1)
When: Saturday
Where: Arizona Stadium
Kickoff: 8 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
UTEP Miners
Record: 1-2, 0-1 Conference USA
WHEN UTEP IS ON OFFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR 4 Kelly Akharaiyi 6-1 194 R-Jr.
TE 87 Zach Fryar 6-1 240 R-Sr.
TE 0 Jeremiah Ballard 6-3 205 R-So.
LT 54 Steven Hubbard 6-3 314 R-Sr.
LG 66 Justin Mayers 6-3 309 R-Jr.
C 75 Andrew Meyer 6-3 302 R-Sr.
RG 79 Elijah Klein 6-4 319 R-Sr.
RT 68 Zuri Henry 6-6 293 R-Sr.
WR 1 Tyrin Smith 5-7 170 Sr.
QB 2 Gavin Hardison 6-3 215 R-Sr.
RB 3 Deion Hankins 6-0 226 R-Jr.
WHEN UTEP IS ON DEFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE 23 Praise Amaewhule 6-3 250 R-Sr.
DT 54 Keenan Stewart 6-1 294 R-Sr.
DT 50 Tevita Tafuna 6-1 277 R-Sr.
DE 0 Maurice Westmoreland 6-2 235 Jr.
LB 10 Tyrice Knight 6-2 235 R-Sr.
LB 5 James Neal 6-0 223 R-Jr.
CB 1 AJ Odums 5-11 175 Jr.
CB 8 Torey Richardson 6-0 183 R-Jr.
S 12 Trejon Hugue 6-0 181 Sr.
S 22 Josiah Allen 5-10 179 Jr.
2023 schedule
August
26 | at Jacksonville State | L, 17-14
September
2 | INCARNATE WORD | W, 28-14
9 | at Northwestern | L, 38-7
16 | at Arizona | 8 p.m.
23 | UNLV | 6 p.m.
29 | LOUISIANA TECH | 6 p.m.
October
11 | at FIU | 6 p.m.
18 | NEW MEXICO STATE | 6 p.m.
25 | at Sam Houston | 5 p.m.
November
4 | WESTERN KENTUCKY | 6 p.m.
18 | at Mid. Tennessee | 12 p.m.
25 | LIBERTY | 1:30 p.m.
Home games in RED
2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Hardison;44-67-4;494;4;36
McNamara;2-5-1;23;0;15
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Hankins;46;255;1;5.5;85
Burgess Jr.;29;177;1;6.1;59
Franklin;21;94;1;4.5;31.3
Hardison;21;38;0;1.8;12.7
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
Akharaiyi;10;161;1;16.1;53.7
Smith;14;127;1;9.1;42.3
Ballard;7;110;0;15.7;36.7
Fryar;4;36;1;9.0;12.0
Clarke;2;24;1;12.0;8.0
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Knight;43;1.5;0;0;0
Neal;22;1;0;0;1
Broussard;17;0;0;0;0
Hugue;12;0;0;0;0
Stewart;11;0;0;0;0
Westmoreland;10;1;0;0;0
Arizona Wildcats
Record: 1-1, 0-0 Pac-12
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
XWR 4 Tetairoa McMillan 6-5 210 So.
FWR 2 Jacob Cowing 5-11 175 Sr.
LT 77 Jordan Morgan 6-5 325 Sr.
LG 72 Wendell Moe 6-2 340 R-Fr.
C 75 Josh Baker 6-3 305 Jr.
RG 79 Raymond Pulido 6-6 335 Fr.
RT 71 Jonah Savaiinaea 6-5 330 So.
TE 84 Tanner McLachlan 6-5 245 R-Sr.
ZWR 5 Montana Lemonious-Craig 6-2 200 Jr.
QB 7 Jayden de Laura 6-0 205 Jr.
RB 6 Michael Wiley 6-0 215 Sr.
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
KAT 90 Isaiah Ward 6-5 225 R-Fr.
DT 92 Tyler Manoa 6-5 315 Sr.
NT 45 Bill Norton 6-6 325 Sr.
DE 11 Taylor Upshaw 6-5 270 Grad.
WLB 59 Jacob Manu 5-11 225 So.
MLB 10 Justin Flowe 6-2 225 R-So.
STAR 2 Treydan Stukes 6-2 195 Jr.
CB 7 Ephesians Prysock 6-4 190 So.
CB 23 Tacario Davis 6-4 195 So.
BS 4 Isaiah Taylor 5-11 200 R-So.
FS 9 Gunner Maldonado 6-0 195 Jr.
2023 schedule
September
2 | N. ARIZONA | W, 38-3
9 | at Mississippi State | L, 31-24 (OT)
16 | UTEP | W, 31-10
23 | at Stanford | 4 p.m.
30 | WASHINGTON | 7 p.m.
October
7 | at USC | TBD
14 | at Washington State | TBD
28 | OREGON STATE | TBD
November
4 | UCLA | TBD
11 | at Colorado | TBD
18 | UTAH | TBD
25 | at ASU | TBD
Home games in RED
2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
de Laura;50-70-5;627;5;55
Fifita;2-2-0;7;0;5
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
de Laura;11;91;2;8.3;45.5
Wiley;21;85;0;4;42.5
Williams;7;37;0;5.3;18.5
Luke;6;33;0;5.5;16.5
Coleman;5;30;0;6.0;15.0
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
McMillan;11;226;2;20.6;113.0
Wiley;14;117;0;8.4;58.5
Coleman;6;81;1;13.5;40.5
Cowing;10;69;2;6.9;34.5
Lemonious-Craig;5;68;0;13.6;34
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Manu;21;1.5;0;0;0
Flowe;14;.5;0;0;0
Johnson;14;0;0;0;1
Irby;12;0;0;0;1
Taylor;9;0;0;0;0
Arizona wide receiver Jacob Cowing (2) outruns USC defensive back Max Williams (4) in the fourth quarter of their Pac-12 football game at Arizona Stadium on Oct. 29, 2022.
Head to Head
10 Tyrice Knight vs. 2 Jacob Cowing
Knight was recently named Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week for his 14-tackle performance in the Miners' 38-7 loss to Northwestern; 11 of his tackles were solo stops. Knight leads the nation in tackles (43) and solo tackles (28), though UTEP has played three games (while most of the nation has played two so far). Knight hails from Lakeland, Florida, the hometown of Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis. Knight was an All-Conference USA Second Team selection as a redshirt junior last season.
Prior to Cowing becoming the top pass-catcher in the Pac-12 a year ago, he was among the most highly-touted wide receivers in the transfer portal for his production in El Paso. In three seasons at UTEP, Cowing logged 2,595 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. The Maricopa native then transferred to the UA to be closer to his son, Chase Cowing, and in 2022 had the third-most receptions (85) by a Wildcat in a season behind Bobby Wade and Dennis Northcutt. In two games this season, Cowing has 10 catches for 69 yards and two touchdowns.
Linebacker Justin Flowe, left, gets the formation straight as the defense lines up to face the offense in a drill before the Arizona Wildcats’ preseason scrimmage at Arizona Stadium on Aug. 12, 2023.
3 Deion Hankins vs. 10 Justin Flowe
Hankins leads Conference USA with 255 rushing yards on 46 carries. The El Paso native is a three-year starter for the Miners and has 2,047 yards and 19 touchdowns since the 2019 season. Hankins, an All-Conference USA Second Team selection last season, set a career-high with 174 yards on 24 carries against Incarnate Word two weeks ago, but was limited to seven carries for 27 yards at Northwestern.
Following Flowe's 12-tackle performance at Mississippi State, coupled with Daniel Heimuli's missed tackle in overtime that led to the go-ahead touchdown in Starkville, expect Flowe to make his first start at Arizona on Saturday. Flowe, who was critical in weathering Mississippi State's rushing attack in the second half, could have another double-digit-tackle performance against UTEP.
The matchup
When UTEP has the ball …
The Miners are a 12-personnel team, so they use two tight ends, who are also considered wide receivers and fullbacks in UTEP's system under sixth-year head coach Dana Dimel (himself a former Arizona assistant coach working with tight ends and running backs for three seasons during the Mike Stoops era). Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch said UTEP "runs power extremely well, similar or somewhat similar to North Dakota State of a year ago." UTEP is fifth in Conference USA in passing yards (517), but has thrown the most interceptions (5).
When Arizona has the ball …
De Laura leads the Wildcats in rushing yards this season. That'll likely change after Saturday. Arizona's running backs, led by do-everything senior Michael Wiley and second-year back Jonah Coleman, are two of Arizona's top four receptions leaders; Wiley leads with 14. The rushing yards amassed between Wiley, Coleman, DJ Williams and Rayshon Luke on Saturday will give the Wildcats confidence going into Pac-12 play next week. With right guard Raymond Pulido likely returning after recovering from his bicycle accident, Arizona's offensive line will be at full strength.
Prediction: Arizona 49, UTEP 14
Arizona knows it should've won that game at Mississippi State last week. Playing on the road, the Wildcats had four more turnovers than the home team and still sent the game into overtime. Between the 11 penalties in the season-opening win over Northern Arizona and the five turnovers last week in Starkville, the Wildcats have two games under their belts where they may have worked out some kinks. Considering how loaded the Pac-12 is this season, it's going to be tough to find wins for Arizona. The Wildcats pick up their second win of the season and enter Pac-12 play with a 2-1 record for the second straight season. This could be an important game for backups looking to make an impression going into the conference schedule.
VIDEO: Arizona Football Press Conference — coach Jedd Fisch, Thursday, Sept. 14, 2023 (Arizona Athletics/Youtube)
