UTEP Miners Football

The Texas Longhorns—in a game that thought to be potentially problematic for the Longhorns—rolled over the overmatched Florida Atlantic Owls in their debut last Saturday against the, 52-10. 

FAU coach, Howard Schnellenberger, referred to this Texas team as soft.  Coach Schnellenbereger soon learned the same lesson that Rudy Carpenter and Arizona State learned last January, don't give this Texas team a reason to come out fired up.

Colt McCoy looked very much like the freshman McCoy Texas fans grew to love.  He was sharp all night, going 24-29 for 222 yards and three touchdowns.  The Texas gunslinger made good reads and never forced the ball down field. 

On the night the legendary Vince Young had his jersey enshrined into Texas lore, McCoy did his best VY impression, running for 103 yards on 12 carries, scoring a touchdown.  In fact, McCoy was the leading rusher for either team.  The coaching staff said during spring practice that McCoy's legs would be utilized more the season and for good reason.

In Will Muschamp's debut as defensive coordinator, the defense played well overall.  Texas's 109th ranked pass defense last season played wasn't half bad, but gave up 226 yards to FAU QB Rusty Smith in the first half.  The young defensive backs missed a few big tackles that resulted in huge gains for the Owls.

Halftime adjustments were made and the Texas defense came out firing on all cylinders, holding FAU to a mere 35 yards of offense.  The linebacker play was very good and the defensive line kept Rusty Smith off balance all night.

Texas had a very successful opening day and now their sights are set on the UTEP Miners.

While Texas comes stampeding in to this game, UTEP is limping in to it—badly.

UTEP was expected to be a high-flying offensive team and a contender in C-USA, but the Miners were soundly beaten last Thursday night by Buffalo, 42-17.

Trevor Vittatoe, coming off a very successful freshman campaign, was assaulted all night, throwing for just 199 yards and one touchdown with three interceptions.

The UTEP defense surrendered 484 yards of offense, 263 of those coming on the ground.  That isn't good news for the Miners considering Texas paved the way for well over 200 yards rushing against FAU.

The only real hope UTEP has is to take it to the air early and often against the Longhorns and pray the young Texas secondary is having a rough week.

Vittatoe will get his yards against a still very inexperienced Texas defense, but this game will not be close, with Texas pulling away towards the end of the first half.

Expect another great day from Colt McCoy as he goes against the worst statistical defense in College football last season.

The Texas running back-by-committee, featuring Vondrell McGee, Chris Ogobonnaya, and perhaps Fozzy Whittaker, will rack up tons of yardage on the ground.

The Texas defense will have a little trouble early, but expect them to settle in and harass Trevor Vittatoe and force some turnovers.

Prediction: Texas 56  UTEP 14

Points of Interest:

• Texas Defensive Tackle, Lamaar Houston, was suspended for this weekend's game due to a DUI arrest in Austin shortly after last weekend's game against FAU.  Aaron Lewis will move from defensive end to defensive tackle.
• Starting Left Guard Charlie Tanner will miss the UTEP game due to a left ankle injury.  Sophmore Micahel Huey will start in his place.  Back up linebacker Keenan Robinson will also miss the game.
• Vince Young was enshrined in to Texas lore last Saturday in front of an ecstatic and adoring crowd.  The retiring of his jersey marks the official end of the VY era at Texas. (tear..tear..)
• The Texas A&M Aggies lost at home last weekend to Arkansas State.  Just thought I'd throw that out there...you all can make your judgments accordingly.
• John Chiles threw his first touchdown pass as a Longhorn against the Owls last weekend.  Congratulations, Mr. Chiles!

The 2008 UTEP Miners break into the collegiate season hoping to build on four years of Mike Price.  There's no doubt Price has helped UTEP make significant strides over the years, namely two bowl appearances and big recruit signings.  UTEP has nowhere to go but up this year after being ranked No. 82 in Rivals.com's preseason rankings.

Although UTEP suffered through a 4-8 season last year, the emergence of Braxton May and Jeff Moutori, along with the breaking in of Trevor Vittatoe and 12 other returning starters, has the Miners better equipped than last year to make a run at .500, and even the C-USA West title.

UTEP will travel to Buffalo in Week One in what will be an offensive showcase.  Week Two features a visit by the Texas Longhorns in which you can be assured UTEP will try its best not to look outmatched or outclassed.  Rivals NMSU will visit the Sun Bowl in what looks like a battle between eerily similar teams, as Vittatoe and Moutori take on Chase Holbrook and Chris Williams.

The following week, the defending C-USA champion UCF Knights visit El Paso.  UTEP will try to put together four solid quarters, building on the decent half they put up last year.  A trip to Southern Miss., followed by a home game versus Tulane and a trip to Tulsa, will round up a streak of games that proved tough for the Miners last year.  They only managed a one-point win versus Tulsa last year and dropped the other three.

The Miners will close up their home slate against the now June Jones-led SMU Mustangs in what could prove to be an offensive fest, followed by road trips to main conference rival Houston Cougars and the regular season finale versus C-USA favorite East Carolina.

UTEP will have to learn on the job this season with the new defense and tough road schedule if they are going to make a run at the C-USA West title and avoid a second straight sub-.500 season.

Last year, sophomore QB Trevor Vittatoe threw for 25 touchdowns and over 3,000 yards versus seven interceptions on 400-plus attempts—a nice stat rundown for a freshman QB.  Marcus Thomas is gone now, and Terrell Jackson will lead the running back by committee approach to replace the 1,000-yard rusher lost in Thomas.

Moutori will take it upon himself to make sure the rest of the receivers will come along well.  The offensive line returns two of the top Miners in Robby Felix and Mike Aguayo, who will vie for league honors.

Braxton Amy and Adam Vincent will have to lead the Miners' revamped 3-3-5 defense in order for them to get past the .500 barrier this season.  The one thing the Miners have not lacked since the arrival of Price is offensive firepower, but new defensive coordinator Osia Lewis will have to improve upon the measly five sacks they managed to accumulate all of last year.

Special teams will not be under the scope as much as the defensive unit, as they're led by Lou Groza finalist Jose Martinez.  With the defense's 117th in the nation ranking last season, there is nowhere to go but up.

Just improving the defense by 15 to 25 spots could help the offense that averaged 33.6 points per game last year get over that hump.

Can you say Bowl?  The Miners hope so.