by By Bret Bloomquist / El Paso Times , El Paso Times

"It's cool; I wish he was here to see it," Solot said. "It's cool to play the team grandpa played for."

Series history

UTEP holds a 3-1 lead, though Tulane's victory two years ago in the Superdome was the teams' only meeting in New Orleans. The 2005 game was played in Rustin, La., in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Miners won 24-21 last year despite 255 rushing yards from Andre Anderson. Tulane did not score in the second half after taking a 21-14 halftime lead.

Connections

In a matchup to watch, UTEP receiver Jeff Moturi will square off against his old high school teammate Charles Harris. Harris, a starting cornerback. The pair attended Irving MacArthur high school.

Coaches Mike Price and Bob Toledo also are old friends from their days in the PAC-10. Toledo was the coach at UCLA from 1996-2002, when Price was at Washington State. Toledo's head coaching debut was at the University of Pacific in 1979, and he lost his first game to UTEP, 31-7, in the Sun Bowl.

Toledo and Pacific beat the Miners the following year, 28-14.

Something has to give

In a classic battle of the resistible force against the movable object, Tulane ranks 119th out of 120 Division I-A teams in scoring offense at 13.4 points per game, while UTEP ranks 110th in scoring defense at 33.9 points allowed. Tulane is 103rd in total offense while UTEP is 116th in total defense.

UTEP's most favorable matchup is in net punting, where they rank 33rd and Tulane ranks 120th.

Milestones

Moturi has a catch in 32 consecutive games and has 2,111 career yards. He needs 50 to tie Bob Wallace for sixth and 123 to tie Ed Puishes for fifth on the UTEP all-time career receiving yards list.

Donald Buckram needs 53 yards to become the eighth UTEP player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He needs 67 yards to tie Robert Elliott for ninth on the single-season list and 199 to tie Howard Jackson for eighth.

Buckram's next touchdown will be his 11th and tie him for fifth in program history. Two touchdowns would tie him for fourth with Paul Smith.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359.

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