Dana Dimel looks ahead to showdown against Rice this weekend

EL PASO, Texas - After nearly two weeks without a game, the UTEP Miners finally have a game to look forward to.

UTEP (3-4) will take the field in Houston when they pay a visit to Rice (1-2).

It will mark the 5th straight road game for the Miners who haven't been able to play a game at home since September 19.

UTEP was supposed to square off against UAB last weekend, but the game was cancelled following an outbreak of Covid-19 cases on UAB's team.

Even though the absence of a game wasn't the ideal situation, the Miners were able to take of advantage of the unplanned week off.

"The extra week off is always very vital for us as far as getting more repetition for preparing for an opponent, but the negative part of it is that we need to play games, so we can have a chance to get a little bit of the ring rust off," UTEP head coach Dana Dimel said. "Obviously we're really concerned about that and we need to go into this game really locked in and focused and have great practices all week."

While the Miners have been able to play 7 games this season, Rice has only managed to play 3 games.

The advantage should go to the Miners since they've played more games, but the recent cancellations and postponements to their schedule has affected the team's performance.

UTEP has played only 4 games in the last 9 weeks.

"The advantage that we did have of playing more games has been lightened quite a bit because we hadn't played a lot of games in the recent weeks," Dimel said. "They've (Rice) probably played more games in the recent weeks then we've had, but we still feel like we've gained a lot from all these practices, all the work we've been doing throughout the season so we feel like we've improved as a football team because of all the practices we've had."

The Miners will also be looking to snap a 3 game losing streak and also secure their first win of the season in conference play.

But before UTEP takes the field against the Owls, they'll first have to navigate through the Thanksgiving holiday and avoid the temptation of getting together in large gatherings.

"We have to be safe all the time and it goes with being around your family too," Dimel said. "I know it seems very odd, but it's just a part of what we're doing right now. I think we're going to stay locked in to our preparation and practice on Thursday. The guys will then have their Thanksgiving meals, but a lot of them are going to be doing it in team settings with the masks on and practicing social distancing."

UTEP's game against the Rice Owls kicks-off Saturday at 11 a.m. MNT.