East Carolina will play at Texas-El Paso tonight in a Conference USA game matching teams that are running out of chances to become bowl eligible.
The Pirates are 4-5 overall and 3-2 in C-USA. The Miners are 4-5 and 1-4.
And both teams need to win two of their last three games to become bowl eligible, which would be the sixth straight year for East Carolina and the fourth time in eight years for UTEP.
East Carolina also has a chance to post a winning C-USA record for the sixth straight year. ECU is tied with Marshall in the East Division standings behind Southern Miss (4-1), which used four touchdowns on defense and special teams to defeat ECU last weekend.
That loss will make it difficult for the Pirates to return to the C-USA championship game, especially considering two of the final three games are on the road.
In addition, ECU most likely will have to win this one without starting tailback Reggie Bullock and top receiver Lance Lewis.
Bullock is expected to miss his third straight game with a thigh injury, and Lewis could miss his second straight with a foot injury.
"We're going to bounce back and finish strong," coach Ruffin McNeill of ECU said. "That's one of the things we've talked about all year. We want to finish strong as a team, finish strong within our division and become bowl eligible.
"We don't have control of our destiny, but we know we can finish strong. All of our attention is on UTEP. That's the bottom line. We're not focused on anybody or anything else."
The Miners also are coming off a disappointing loss, 41-37 at Rice, a two-win team that piled up 671 total yards.
"I just want to be with these kids when they win in November," coach Mike Price of UTEP said. "I want to be there with them and see the smiles and see their dreams come true."
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