FACTS & STATS: Site: UB Stadium (29,013) -- Buffalo, New York. Television: Local. Home Record: UTEP 0-0, Buffalo 0-0. Away Record: UTEP 0-0, Buffalo 0-0. Neutral Record: UTEP 0-0, Buffalo 0-0. Conference Record: UTEP 0-0, Buffalo 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The 2008 college football season kicks off on Thursday night as the Miners of Texas-El Paso pay a visit to Buffalo to challenge the Bulls in non-conference play at UB Stadium. Last year, the Miners again struggled in the second half of the season, just as they had in 2006 when they dropped five of their final six outings. In 2007, UTEP took a step in the wrong direction by closing out the campaign with six consecutive losses. It all began with a 45-42 overtime setback to East Carolina in Conference USA action at the Sun Bowl and spiraled out of control from there. Of the team's four victories (4-8), three came by a combined seven points and the fourth was a 52-12 thrashing of Texas Southern. Last season the Bulls, who are under the direction of Turner Gill, just missed being bowl eligible with a 5-7 overall record, yet the head man still picked up MAC Coach of the Year honors nonetheless. The squad had a rough time against competition outside of the Mid-American Conference, losing to Rutgers, Penn State, Baylor and Syracuse. Take away those setbacks and the team was rather successful with five wins in eight attempts against the rest of the MAC, resulting in a share of the 2007 MAC East Division regular season title in fact. Considering Buffalo was a mere 1-7 in league play each of the two previous seasons and had more total wins in a single campaign since 1996 when the team played the likes of Edinboro, Cornell, New Haven and UMass on a regular basis, 2007 was truly a remarkable season. This bout represents the first-ever meeting between these two schools on the football field.

Last season the Miners found it difficult to come up with consistent efforts from one week to the next. The team had some strong rushing efforts along the way, with a high of 308 yards on 52 attempts versus SMU, but then the squad closed out the season with a miserable 28 yards on the ground versus UCF. This year the team tries to turn things around and that begins with a strong offensive line that head coach Mike Price believes is the best he's had at UTEP since he stepped on campus. Guys like Robby Felix, and All-America candidate, will be clearing lanes for names like Terrell Jackson, Donald Buckram and Vernon Frazier, although none of them should really scare the Bulls all that much. As part of a team that tied a school record with five games of at least 40 points, quarterback Trevor Vittatoe is expected to move even beyond the strong numbers he put up as a freshman when he threw for 3,101 yards and 25 touchdowns. Giving Vittatoe a primary target down the field is Jeff Moturi who tied a school record by posting at least one touchdown catch in 10 straight games a season ago.

UTEP may have had some big offensive games last year, but unfortunately most of those were overshadowed by lackluster defensive efforts, the kind that made the Miners 11th in Conference USA and 117th in the nation in total defense with more than 504 ypg allowed. The pass defense was most vulnerable, permitting 301.8 ypg to rank 117th in the country as well. As a result, the team surrendered a whopping 37.1 ppg, bringing them in at 113th in the nation. With a mere 16 sacks a season ago, it was clear that the Miners needed a new approach in order to get after opposing quarterbacks. Perhaps a new defensive scheme will get senior linebacker Adam Vincent even more opportunities to break into the backfield, but after him the unit needs to be worked on in order to increase productivity. The loss of Braxton Amy to an ACL injury certainly doesn't help matters, although it does open the door a bit wider for sophomore Anthony Morrow to see more time after being named to the COnference USA All-Freshman Team.

Similar to the Miners, Buffalo also had trouble maintaining a stable rushing attack in 2007, going from 251 and 250 yards in back-to-back games versus Ohio and Toledo to three straight outings against Penn State, Baylor and Ball State in which the group failed to reach beyond 87 yards on the ground in any one game. While it doesn't exactly fall under the heading of offense, the kickoff return team for the Bulls failed to give the offense much room to operate either, ranking second-to-last in the MAC and 112th in the nation with an average of less than 19 yards per return. Churning out more than 1,000 yards on his way to All-MAC Second Team recognition a year ago, James Starks is ready to do it all over again for the Bulls. When it comes to putting the ball in the air, that job falls to Drew Willy who set a number of single season school records a season ago. Willy, who is a candidate for the annual Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, enters this season with a string of 235 straight pass attempts without an interception, which is a credit to his decision making skills under pressure.

Although the pass defense for the Bulls was in the middle of the pack from a national standpoint, allowing 230.9 ypg through the air, the unit was far off the pace set by the rest of the MAC as it rated 12th out of 13 teams in the league in that department. As much as they need to improve in the secondary to cut down on such dramatic numbers, the Bulls have to be pleased with the fact that they are returning three of the four starters on the front line for the season. Although he finished the 2007 campaign at linebacker, Chris Callahan has proven he can settle in at defensive end as well, which can make him a tough matchup depending on where he lines up on the field. Taking a huge hit in the middle of the field, Buffalo has to replace a pair of all-conference linebackers in Kareem Byrom and Larry Hutchinson. David Hubbard and Adekunle Akingba are senior who have experience at the position, even with the latter having started last season at safety. Making sure to cut down on the mistakes made in front of him, safety Davonte Shannon already has some big billing to live up to after becoming Buffalos first All-MAC First Team pick a season ago as a true freshman.

After gaining so much confidence last year, more than the program had seen in more than a decade, the Bulls are ready to defend their home turf. It might be a bit rough around the edges in the beginning, but expect Buffalo to start off the season on the right foot.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Buffalo 24, Texas-El Paso 16