The Revenge of 1985

The year was 1985, January actually. BYU had just been recognized as the 1984 Associated Press National Champions in football. With a strong team finishing the year and many returning for the next season, many believed BYU could win it all two years in a row. In the fall, along came the University of Texas El Paso, a team that would finish the 1985 season with one win. That win was against BYU, shattering all hopes at repeating as National Champions. BYU would lose that single game in 1985.

Fast forward to the year 2010. The BYU football team struggled early to put a quality game together. Following a firing and suspension, Cougar head coach, Bronco Mendenhall went on a journey to "find the soul of this team." He found that soul and what looked to be a dismal season ended with an invitation to play their 1985 dream breaker foe, UTEP, in the New Mexico Bowl on December 18.

While BYU has been improving, UTEP has been floundering this year. Following that trend, the Cougars should easily send UTEP packing. In all likelihood, BYU could finally come away with a shutout victory and tons of momentum heading into 2011.

Of all the teams from the old Western Athletic Conference, none were more prone to give up points to BYU than UTEP. BYU regularly put up 40 on the Miners while surpassing 60 twice. For those that love offense this will be a great game and should bring back memories of the old WAC shootouts.