Week 6: UTEP at Southern Miss

Southern Miss had a week off to recover from its unexpected home loss to Marshall, while UTEP recovered from an 0-3 start in impressive fashion. The Miners, who had dropped games to Buffalo (42-17), ninth-ranked Texas (42-13) and New Mexico State (34-33), overpowered defending league champion Central Florida, 58-13.

UTEP's lopsided victory — the second largest in a conference game in Miner history — included a near NCAA record-breaking kick by Lou Groza Award candidate Jose Martinz. Martinez established a school and C-USA mark with a 64-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by at least two yards.

But the offensive explosion was triggered by the return of quarterback Trevor Vittatoe. He was back after missing most of the previous week's game with a sprained ankle and passed for 263 yards and three touchdowns. UTEP also got help from its defense, which returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown, the second returned fumble for a score in as many weeks.

Southern Miss dropped a rare home game in C-USA play in the loss to Marshall. The Golden Eagles were 32-10 at home in league games before the Thundering Herd stunned them. It also marked the second time in 13 years Southern Miss has dropped a conference opener. To get back on track in first-year coach Larry Fedora's spread offense, running back Damion Fletcher may need to be more involved.

Notes:

Southern Miss quarterback Austin Davis threw for a career-high 308 yards against Marshall and has four 200-yard passing games this season, the most by a Golden Eagle freshman in school history. He passed Heath Graham, who had three 200-yard games in 1994.

UTEP recovered four fumbles and intercepted two passes in its win over Central Florida. The Miners also blocked a punt. Junior cornerback Cornelius Brown had both interceptions and blocked the punt.

Although Southern Miss running back Damion Fletcher has been held to fewer than 100 yards in each of his last three games, he ranks second in C-USA with a 105-yard average. He's also averaging a league-best 6.3 yards-per-carry among backs with at least 30 rushing attempts.

Behind the strong led of kicker Jose Martinez, UTEP leads C-USA in kickoff coverage. UTEP has a league bestg 13 touchdowns and is averaging a net of 48.2 yards per kickoff. Southern Miss is second at 46 yards.
 
Key player (Miners) — Trevor Vittatoe, QB

Vittatoe's return allowed the UTEP offense to regain its swagger. The Miners had lost Vittatoe to an ankle injury two weeks ago in a loss to New Mexico State, but he returned against Central Florida and completed 18-of-32 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns. It will require a similar effort on the road to go 2-0 in C-USA.

Key player (Golden Eagles) — Damion Fletcher, RB

Fletcher rushed for 222 yards in the team's opener, but hasn't surpassed 100 yards since. He'll need to be a 100-yard back for the Golden Eagles's spread offense to be truly effective. A solid run game also will keep a quick-strike UTEP offense (30.2 points per game) off the field.

Southern Miss by 6