Orange is a ubiquitous color in Texas. Go north into the plains, south into the valley, west into the mountains, east into the woods or stay central in the hills and you will find orange in the landscape, be it in nature or on the shirt of one Texas Longhorn fans.

But the burnt orange of Texas has been dulled this college football season as the UT system’s flagship school fought for the Longhorns in a bad year. You will be forgiven for believing that Orange might be harder to come by after Texas lost again on Saturday night. If so, you’d also be surprised if a livelier and more eye-catching shade of orange reappeared on national television less than an hour later.

Last night, the college football world was treated to a highly anticipated UT systems rivalry between the UTSA Roadrunners and UTEP Miners at the Sun Bowl, where orange covered the field and littered the crowd. The two teams were a combined 14-2 for the season, qualified for the bowl, boasted an elite defense, and received national praise for turning both programs through in just a few years.

Much has been said for UTSA about their resume as the country’s top 25 program. Last week, the Roadrunners were ranked 16th in the AP poll and 18th in the Coaches poll, but were completely left out of the College Football Playoff rankings. There was considerable debate among football fans about whether or not UTSA deserved to be ranked.

Whatever skepticism and opposition on the matter remained before UTSA entered the field should be quelled after UTSA’s dominant performance. The Roadrunners scored 8 out of 8 for every possession they had with no turnover or punts. On the same day that 7 surprising wins were recorded by non-ranked teams, the Roadrunners drove to a victory where the result was never questioned.

It started with the very first ride. The Roadrunners came to El Paso with the intensity of a team snubbed by the national press, scoring a goal in just 17 seconds. The Miners had the second best run defense in the conference, but couldn’t stop the entire conference running back Sincere McCormick from scoring a goal on his first touch of the game. In UTSA’s second scrimmage game, McCormick broke the Miners’ defense for a 75-yard touchdown run.

The miners struggled to react for much of the first quarter. UTEP’s first two drives were three-and-off, which gave UTSA plenty of time to build on its lead. UTSA extended their lead with two Hunter Duplessis field goals – one at 51 yards, his longest of the season – and the result was 13-0 with 7 minutes remaining. UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison was 0-4 and the Miners had amassed just 12 yards (5 on a UTSA penalty) to 144 yards from UTSA.

UTEP’s third drive was much more promising. Running back Ronald Awatt broke off a 32-yard run and Hardison linked up with wide receiver Tyrin Smith for a 35-yard touchdown pass with interrupted UTSA coverage. But a missed PAT left the score at 13-6. It was the next UTEP that UTSA would catch up with, and the Roadrunners would cross another 3 points on a 33-yard field goal to end the quarter.

UTSA added two more touchdowns in the second quarter: a one-yard quarterback run by Frank Harris and a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Zakhari Franklin. Meanwhile, the Miners added a 50-yard field goal to finish halfway, but dropped another three points when kicker Gavin Baechle missed a 37-yard attempt. The Roadrunners went into halftime at 30: 9 and it was clear that they had the game firmly under control.

UTEP got off to a strong start to kick off the second half to take the lead from UTSA and hopefully get some momentum back on the miners’ side. They marched down the field behind Awatt and wide receiver Jacob Cowing and reached the UTSA seven-yard line before the UTSA’s defenses tightened, forcing the miners to fourth. An incomplete pass to Cowing prevented the Miners from scoring a goal and killed the momentum UTEP had built on the drive. Another goal-line stand in the UTSA season, the defensive stop demonstrated why UTSA comes first in C-USA for points allowed.

The teams then swapped touchdowns for the remainder of the game. Harris found Franklin for another seven yard score and added a second touchdown rush for three yards. Hardison also linked up with Smith for a second touchdown pass – this one for 42 yards to Smith on an impressive catch-and-run, then finding wide receiver Justin Garrett for seven yards in the end zone.

Tyrin Smith was a big ray of hope for the Miners in that game, catching the ball three times for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns. Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

Fast forward and UTSA took final possession of the ball and knelt to end the game. Final result: UTSA 44, UTEP 23.

The final stats show how dominant UTSA was in that game. The Roadrunners collected a total of 561 yards of offensive – almost evenly dividing the ball (286 yards) and the ball (275 yards) – at 374 yards from UTEP and dominated ball possession time at 33:41 to 26:19 from UTEP. Neither team committed a turnover, which prevented UTEP from taking an advantage to slow UTSA’s offensive. Simply put, the game was a pretty straightforward affair with the better offensive team collecting the points needed to win.

The win marks the very first 9-0 start and the first season with nine wins for UTSA. The last time the Roadrunners were this good was in 2012 when the team went 8-4 but a bowl invitation was denied. It’s safe to say that the Roadrunners won’t be deprived of a bowl this season.

For UTSA, Sincere McCormick’s performance also broke 1,000 yards of rushing for the season, storming the ball 21 times for 169 yards and a touchdown. Zakhari Franklin added another 100 yard play and intercepts the ball for 114 yards and 2 touchdowns.

For UTEP, Jacob Cowing also added another 100 yard play to his season by catching the ball for 112 yards but not scoring a goal. He also suffered an unfortunate forearm injury in the third quarter that lasted for the rest of the game. Hopefully this injury isn’t too serious as Cowing has been UTEP’s top broad-range threat all season.

The CFP poll will be released on Tuesday evening. Everyone will see if UTSA is left out of the top 25 rankings again, but given the outcome of that game, it’s even harder to see how the CFP can justify it.

Next

UTSA, now 9-0, is waiting in earnest to see where they stand in the AP poll and coach poll, and if they get placed in the CFP poll. The team is healthy and plays their best football of the season. An unbeaten record is still in play with only three games remaining.

UTSA will meet the Southern Miss at home on Saturday, November 13th at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN +

UTEP is now 6-3 in the season and can still work on improving its bowl selection with the remaining games on its schedule. UTEP has lost 2 in a row and has yet to win a game or two to make sure they aren’t overlooked. The miners are able to do this behind their defenses.

UTEP hits North Texas on the street at 3:00 p.m. CT on Saturday, November 13th. The game will be broadcast on ESPN +

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR