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What Can Be Learned From A 56-7 Loss

Everyone, knew there was no chance of UTEP winning the game. Even Head Coach Kugler seemed resigned to it. But, he said they would “compete”. Not trying to be a smartass, but I could have put a team of sixth graders on the field that would have tried. Part of the trouble with Kugler’s offense is that it has no explosiveness. It isn’t designed to be explosive. It is meant to be boring. No surprises, just run the damned ball up the middle. Three or four yards a run. Run the clock out. It is why I quit going to games. It is boring, has just about no possible way to come back from a deficit, and not good enough at it to win. Winning is always good, even when you can take a nap during the game and wake up to a winning score, but Kugler’s offense is finally the boring, watching paint dry offense that the wave starting and loving soccer fans have waited for. You don’t have to actually watch the plays as they are all alike. You can concentrate on waiting and watching for the wave to get to you so that you can stand up and sit down again. Some fun, a UTEP football game. Pay no attention to the score, either.

Well, that’s how I felt before the OU game. I wanted to see if there was anything different in this game. Since insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results, I was looking to see if it would be crazy to hope for better things from the football team. There was a slight hope that I might see Kugler attempt to stretch the field. Maybe he did. A little. But, they were playing OU. And they were quickly down by points piling up on them, and rushing the football with the power football Kugler game was hitting a brick wall. One thing I learned is that our biggest asset, what Kugler has focused on, our offensive line was not able to handle the OU defensive line. If anyone is surprised by this, well…they probably don’t know Bo, or much of anything else about football. Maybe, just maybe, the one thing I did see is the line was able to give Metz a little time. Perhaps it is better for me to say that Metz wasn’t running for his life every time he dropped back to pass. Against OU. The thing is, against C-USA teams, Kugler may just revert to his running the ball every play. Expect different and you may be in the market for a new straightjacket.

But, the key to UTEP football success is the defense. Can it stop anyone. Well, 56 points is a definite “Maybe”. Anyone want to bet on how many other teams have 50+ points dropped on them by OU this season? Anyone want to bet that none of the other teams OU plays this season have to worry about that? So, we have to ask ourselves about the defense and improvement or lack thereof with the understanding that looking at the points given up is a bad way to start. We have to ask questions about pressure and not how many sacks the defense got. We have to look at how many passes were short passes that became long touchdowns. We have to look at things like were we embarrassed the same way as we always are when we play any decent team. We have to look at how many runs for three yards that turned into sixty yard touchdown runs.

Here’s a glimpse at what it is like to be a UTEP football fan. Although the score was 56 to 7 this was a pretty good game. Let that sink in for a minute. That is UTEP football. Complete domination, BUT NOT COMPLETE HUMILIATION! Ninety percent of the people out there would find a 49 point loss to be pretty humiliating, but a UTEP fan has seen so many of those that we don’t look at scores anymore. We look at we weren’t made to be the Washington Capitals. The team didn’t look like they made the trip in a clown car. We just got beat. Badly, sure. But, it was OU AND the team didn’t just look embarrassing. That’s how we roll at UTEP. We see positives in 49 point drubbings.

That’s what I learned from Saturday’s loss. It wasn’t a knee slapper. The OU fans left the stadium smiling, but they weren’t yucking it up. And that, my friends, is improvement. It is hard to say just how much improvement not being a joke is. It is hard to put numbers on it. It is more like it means that there is a candle’s light somewhere out in the darkness of the wilderness. It is distant and doesn’t illuminate a path or anything like that. No, it is a pinprick of light somewhere out there in the darkness, glimmering. It is a glimmer of hope for us to look to. Or it could be a firefly. We may know which after getting a chance to try on another team on our level of horribleness, the Rice Owls next time. Should be a real cat fight! Lots of noise, sounds of fury, paws flying, and no harm done. Like watching a couple of sixth grade girls fighting. Paraphrasing Kugler, our girl will be kickin’, scratchin, and hair pullin’ as hard as that girl from Rice. I am betting on our girl. She ends up on top when the teacher comes to separate them and time runs out. Miners 31 to the Owl’s 28 when time runs out.

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Texas Is A Society of People

Well, duh! Right? Let me explain. Texas is a bunch of people who form a society. Not all are. Many societies are societies of the governed. Is Texas not governed, you might ask, and the answer is yes, of course. But the government is not what Texas society is built on. It is built on people. Societies of the governed look to the government for help. Texans look to people for help, because they know that their people will be there for them. Not the government. And all Texans know this and are comforted knowing that Texans will have their backs, if needed. They don’t just feel comforted by it. They take pride in knowing it, and that they are of the same mind as their fellow Texans. You see, Texas really is special. Ask any Texan. Yes, they will let you know it, too. It is part of keeping it special. You see, Texas is a state of mind and not just a state of land and people.

It goes back to the beginning. The Mexicans in Texas got little from Mexico as the land was so far off on the frontier, and the non-Mexican settlers had left their own countries behind. Government wasn’t around much. They learned to help each other. That is what stuck. They weren’t Mexican governed people and they weren’t the governed of the countries they had left behind. They were Texans. That spirit, pride, way of thinking, culture, all of it took hold and not only grew, it was lovingly nurtured. Texans start with the idea that you have to take care of yourself and then you may have to help someone else if they have a hard time taking care of themselves, with the understanding that the person being helped only wants to get back to taking care of themselves. They’re Texans, both. It is so simple, really. What you see in this flooding in Texas is the same simplicity. No one sees anything other than another Texan. Those being helped are very thankful to have Texans opening their arms to help with no expectations other than a “Thank you.” They are helped but they don’t have to surrender their dignity. They are Texans, after all. They have already lived the Texan way and have been good Texans. They know. They will get right back up and be ready to step up the next time a Texan needs help.

Now, if someone wants to hand a Texan in need a $100 bill he isn’t too proud to accept your help. He may not be able to pay you back for awhile. But know that he will pay it back to someone when he can. Unless you are the government. Texans have an aversion to taking money from the government because it usually has the taint of stinking strings. They pretty much think that government is welcome to help but try to stay out of the way of the work that needs to be done.

The Texans will return, quickly roll up their sleeves and get to work. It won’t take long. I know, I know, you hear about how it will take years to fully recover. Those are bean counters talking. The people of Texas aren’t the kind of people who lollygag or stand around looking at the work that needs to be done. They get after it. Plus, there is that Texan thing. They aren’t going anywhere because there is no place on Earth they would rather be. Texas is special, and it is Texans who make it that way.

Defensive Line

I remember when we were using a three five defense, the linemen were supposed to tie up the opposing offensive linemen so the linebackers could make plays. I say that to make it clear that stats about tackles, like all statistics can be misleading. But, when looking at rankings for sacks it doesn’t matter who wasn’t making the tackles UTEP was horrible. Maybe horrible is too easy on them. We also know that there are lots of factors that go into getting those sacks. So, I figured I would just bring you some information. Here is the team stats for the defense last season;

Defensive Leaders gp-gs ua a tot tfl/yds no-yds int-yds brup qbh rcv-yds ff kick saf
16 Alvin Jones 10-8 44 49 93 6.0-28 2.5-22 . 1 . . . . .
45 Dante Lovilotte 12-12 38 51 89 6.5-18 0.5-7 . 3 4 . 1 . .
36 Nick Usher 12-12 35 42 77 8.0-41 5.5-31 . 2 5 . . 1 .
27 Devin Cockrell 12-12 31 27 58 3.0-8 . . 1 1 1-0 . . .
20 Nik Needham 12-12 28 26 54 2.0-3 . . 11 . . . . .
2S Dashone Smith 12-12 25 28 53 . . 2-7 3 . . . . .
55 Mike Sota 12-9 12 35 47 2.5-4 . . 1 2 . . . .
1 Kalon Beverly 10-8 24 17 41 . . 1-0 6 . . . . .
3 Jayson VanHook 12-9 17 19 36 5.5-18 1.0-2 . . . . . . .
56 Sky Logan 12-4 12 22 34 2.5-6 0.5-2 . 3 . 1-27 . . .
24 Brendan Royal 12-0 14 19 33 1.5-8 . 1-12 3 . . . . .
54 Silas Firstley 12-7 13 20 33 2.5-5 1.0-1 . . 1 . . . .
97 Brian Madunezim 12-6 6 26 32 1.0-10 1.0-10 . . 4 . 1 . .
63 Gino Bresolin 10-10 8 17 25 . . . . 2 . . . .
33 Lawrence Montegut 12-0 12 12 24 1.5-5 0.5-4 . . 2 1-0 . 1 .
23 Justin Rogers 11-4 10 7 17 . . 1-26 7 1 1-0 1 . .
8J Johnny Jones 11-0 4 9 13 . . . . . . . . .
49 Gene Hopkins 10-5 10 3 13 3.0-17 1.0-11 . . . . 1 . .
44 Cooper Foster 12-0 4 7 11 . . . . . . . . .
9 Chris Richardson 12-2 4 17 21 . . . 1 . . . . .

39 Kolbi McGary 10-0 8 1 9 . . 1-2 1 . . . . . 95 Denzel Chukwukelu 7-0 4 4 8 . . . . 2 . . . .
66 Christian Harper 12-0 . 7 7 . . . . . . . . .
12 Adrian Hynson 12-0 1 4 5 . . . . . . . . .
84 Luke Elsner 3-0 3 2 5 . . . . . . . . .
1S Devin Simmons 6-0 2 2 4 . . . . . . . . .
5 Leon Hayes 12-0 2 2 4 . . . . . . . . .
43 Makana Fraser 3-0 1 2 3 . . . . . . . . .
52 Dylan Parsee 10-0 1 2 3 . . . . 1 . . . .
9 Jaquan White 12-0 2 1 3 . . . . . . . . .
34 Stephen Forester 3-0 1 2 3 . . . . . . . . .
6 Brandon Moss 11-0 3 . 3 . . . . . . . . .
85 Hayden Plinke 12-12 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . .
14 Alex Jean Charles 5-0 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . .
7W Curtez Woods 2-0 2 . 2 . . . . . . . . .
98 Foster Dixson 6-0 . 2 2 0.5-4 0.5-4 . . . . . . .
67 Anthony Kyles 8-1 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .
15 Darrin Laufasa 12-12 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .
10 Warren Redix 12-6 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .
18 Jerrell Brown 4-0 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .
47 Jay Mattox 12-0 1 . 1 . . . . . . . . .
29 Aaron Jones 12-12 . 1 1 . . . . . . . . .
83 Tyler Batson 11-0 . . . . . . . . . . 1 .
7 Kavika Johnson 12-1 . . . . . . 1 . . . . .
TM TEAM 8-0 . . . . . . . . 1-0 . . .
Total 12 387 488 875 46-175 14-94 6-47 44 25 5-27 4 3 .
Opponents 12 406 378 784 72-345 22-186 8-165 45 30 8-63 9 2

I know this post is about the d-line, but I may have to put it up in two posts. Nick Usher is gone on. The next d-lineman on the list is Mike Sota and he returns as a Senior. Then, Sky Logan is the next returning lineman on the list. Silas Firstly has moved on as has Madunezum and Bresolin. Chris Richardson is a returning Red Shirt Sophomore as is Gene Hopkins. Chukwukelu (S) is next. Harper was a Senior last year. Now that you have that to chew on, I will give you the info on the d-linemen themselves in Part 2.

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Nepotism

The kind I kind of like. Doing some research I noticed that although Kugler’s son chose to go elsewhere, a couple of former Miners are continuing the tradition of playing for UTEP. Robert Pufahl played with Kugler under Stull and his son Robert Jr. saw some playing time against North Texas last season. Also, Red Shirt Freshman Barron Wortham Jr. will have his chance to play. For those who may not know, his dad played here (90-93) and was drafted by the Houston Oilers.