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College Football
Preview
Texas El Paso at Arizona
When: 11:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 16, 2023
Where: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura has been intercepted five times in two games, but coach Jedd Fisch says the Wildcats will stay aggressive when they host UTEP on Saturday night in a nonconference game in Tucson, Ariz.

De Laura threw four picks last week in a 31-24 overtime loss at Mississippi State, and he threw one interception -- plus lost a fumble -- in the season-opening 38-3 victory over Northern Arizona. He also was intercepted 13 times last season, the most in the Pac-12.

"Nothing is going to change," Fisch said. "We're going to keep slinging it. We're going to keep running our offense."

Arizona (1-1) is taking some of the bad with a lot of good from de Laura, a junior in his second season of starting at Arizona after being the 2021 Pac-12 Offensive Freshman Player of the Year. He is completing 71.4 percent of his passes (50 of 70) this season for 627 yards and five touchdowns. He also has rushed for a team-high 91 yards and two scores.

A couple of his interceptions last week were on deflected passes.

"I didn't see any of those throws that he made being careless or reckless," Fisch said.

An improving Wildcats defense will be taking aim at UTEP (1-2), which is coming off a 38-7 loss at Northwestern. The Miners' victory came against FCS school Incarnate Word, 28-14, on Sept. 2.

UTEP was tied 7-7 at halftime at Northwestern last week before giving up 31 unanswered points.

"We didn't respond to the adversity at all. Things kind of went downhill real fast," said Miners head coach Dana Dimel, an Arizona assistant coach from 2006-08.

UTEP's Gavin Hardison has completed 44 of 67 passes for 494 yards, with four touchdowns and four interceptions. The Miners have a ground-heavy attack (64 percent running plays), led by Deion Hankins, who has rushed 46 times for 255 yards.

The teams last met in 2017, when Arizona won 63-16 in El Paso, Texas. The former Border Conference and Western Athletic Conference foes have met 52 times, with Arizona leading 39-11-2.

--Field Level Media

Stats and Records
Team Comparison
  W‑L Strk PF PA Home Away Grass Turf Conf
Texas El Paso 1-2 L1 16.3 23.0 1-0 0-2 0-1 1-0 0-1
Arizona 1-1 L1 31.0 17.0 1-0 0-1 1-1 0-0 0-0
Last Meeting
Texas El Paso Arizona
Date Away Home Tot Rus Pas Tot Rus Pas
9/15/17 ARIZ 63 UTEP 16 218 17 201 503 328 175
Player Stats
Previous Matchup
Passing Player COMP % YDS TD INT
Texas El Paso Z. Greenlee 64.7 104 1 1
Arizona B. Dawkins 85.7 155 3 0
Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD
Texas El Paso K. Dove 5 17 3.4 0
Arizona B. Dawkins 14 133 9.5 3
Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD
Texas El Paso T. Juniel 4 82 20.5 0
Arizona T. Johnson 4 45 11.2 0
Touchdowns Player TD
Texas El Paso T. Batson 1
Arizona B. Dawkins 3
Season
Passing Player COMP % YDS TD INT
Texas El Paso G. Hardison 65.7 494 4 4
Arizona J. de Laura 71.4 627 5 5
Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD
Texas El Paso D. Hankins 46 255 5.5 1
Arizona J. de Laura 11 91 8.3 2
Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD
Texas El Paso K. Akharaiyi 10 161 16.1 1
Arizona T. McMillan 11 226 20.5 2
Touchdowns Player TD
Texas El Paso K. Akharaiyi 1
Arizona J. Cowing 2
Quickchart Matchup
Texas El Paso Texas El Paso Off vs  Arizona Arizona Def
Texas El Paso 369.3 yards
Arizona 285.5 yards
Texas El Paso 4.7 yards/rush
Arizona 2.8 yards/rush
Texas El Paso 7.2 yards/attempt
Arizona 7.6 yards/attempt
Arizona Arizona Off vs  Texas El Paso Texas El Paso Def
Arizona 455.5 yards
Texas El Paso 325.3 yards
Arizona 5.5 yards/rush
Texas El Paso 4.2 yards/rush
Arizona 8.7 yards/attempt
Texas El Paso 7.3 yards/attempt