I Think This Is Worthy of Discussion-UTEP Passing Offense

[kyyote]

Passing Offense

Rank  Team    Gms    Pass Att        Pass Comp  Int     Yrds    Yds/Att      Yds/Comp    Pass TDS           Pass YPG 59   UTEP    4   98               56         6       956   9.76           17.07       6                       239.0

UTEP's Gavin Hardison has become the Passer of the Pass, the Sun Bowl Slinger, The Missile Firing Miner, Howitzer Hardison or something!  This 59th ranking is for the entire passing offense, but if you look at yards per completion UTEP is SIXTH in the country;

6   UTEP    4   56   98   956   17.07

But Hardison himself is NUMBER FOUR

4   Gavin Hardison   UTEP   So.   QB   4   55   92   947   17.22

So, what the Hell has happened or perhaps more importantly, why has this happened?  Trust the process?  New OC?  Rocket arm quarterback just lands in their lap and an adjustment is made?  We had an All American QB who was not allowed to throw passes, but now we are the Air Force of El Paso?

[orange-oink]

I hate to be a debbie downer but I?m not impressed.  While UTEPs passing offense is ranked 59th nationally,  most of UTEPs competition to date has been against lesser quality opponents.  Expect that ranking to drop significantly with conference play.  What has me concerned is UTEPs consistent inability to put points on the scoreboard.  Who cares about 600 yards of passing or rushing offense if you cant friggin score!  UTEP is ranked 99th nationally in scoring with the easiest schedule in the country!  The goal of an offense is to put points on the scoreboard and UTEP is lousy at putting the ball in the end zone.  I swear Kugler is UTEPS offensive coordinator because I don?t see a big improvement in offensive output.  Also of concern is UTEPS very poor completion percentage,  it is 99th nationally at 57%.  Almost half of Hardison’s passed are incomplete against terrible competition.  That ranking will also drop now that conference play is upon us.  The bottom line is Dimel’s offense is trash and it will lead to his demise at UTEP.  He has no one to blame but himself.  It’s a shame because the talent has been upgraded but the offensive coaching and scheme remain outdated and prehistoric. 

[SisyphusMiner]

I'm somewhere in the middle between the two of you. 

I think Dimel wants to open the offense up more until he is in the red zone or has a four point lead.  The problem is Hardison has a howitzer and can't complete a 10 yard pass to save his life.  But chunk it 30 yards downfield and let Cowing go get it -- that works.

Now once we're in the red zone or up by four, Dimel goes back to 1958 and goes 3 yards and a cloud of dust.  But I have to acknowledge that may also be because of Hardison's inabilty to complete a short pass to anyone under 10 feet tall.  I don't know.  I hate his play calling, but maybe it is about his personnel.

Now, why are we so skint at the QB position?  That's on Dimel.  He's had enough years to bring someone in.  And as far as I have heard, there's no underclassman waiting to tear up CUSA as soon as he learns the playbook.  I don't understand why we have Aaron Price on board and he's not QB coach.  Our website doesn't show us having one.  Maybe he could teach Hardison some control

I don't think CUSA defenses are all that -- on balance.  UTSA and UAB will shut us down.  As for the rest, Dimel will shut us down more than they will.  I predict at least one game this year we have a lead of less than a TD, Dimel shuts it down, other team scores and wins.  It will probably cost us a bowl game.

[kyyote]

I put up the numbers to open them up to discussion.  I admit that I was kind of shocked when I saw them so plainly presented.  I am not judging the numbers more than to say I think they are surprising in that they are so different from what we have been  used to. But I was surprised more to find out that Aaron Price was back with the coaching staff.  That explains a lot.  It explains why the special teams are excellent.  I would bet dollars to donuts that it also explains much of the change in offense.   Aaron was OC here and he is intense as Hell.  I am sure his influence has been felt.

[Chanson]

That offense did nothing against Boise St. I will say this, I like the way Dimel drives the run to set up the pass. We get great chunk yards on passes. Harrison still needs to work on interceptions, but I like the set up. I just don't know how it's going to do against Conference opposition. Still on the fence like Sisy. I need to see more.

[kyyote]

Just to further the discussion, let?s eliminate  Boise for being a level better and Bethune Cookman on the other  end. That leaves nmsu and unm .  Now consider the two and how they would do in conference as a measure of how the Miners might do in conference. Ask yourself who wins versus odu , them or the aggies?  Lobos?  I guess my point is that those two teams aren?t crazy to think of as cusa type teams. Maybe not the top but maybe not the bottom either. Btw, I think I would pick both nmsuand unm to beat odu.

[kyyote]

Well, I decided to go see about UTEP in the red zone.  Here's what I found;

RZATTPS  Rtds  Ptds  FGS  rzscores 23     BYU   4   15   4   8   2   14   .933 -          UTEP   4   15   4   3   7   14   .933 25       Auburn   4   14   6   3   4   13   .929

The bad news is like some have said, UTEP is forced to kick too many field goals, and are leaving too many points unscored.  The good news is that even with that the Miners are ranked 24th in the country in red zone offense.  Some will say that the field goals will bite us in the ass sooner or later.  But if they are turned into touchdowns the plus side would be huge.

By the by, here's red zone defenses;

26   BYU   4   14   5   1   4   10   .714 -   Colorado   4   14   8   1   1   10   .714 28   UTEP   4   18   6   2   5   13   .722 29   Coastal Carolina   4   11   6   0   2   8   .727

I know.  I know.  The competition.  Remember that Boise stat is figured into these numbers and UTEP is still ranked where it is.  I don't see ODU being some giant leap in competition.  It will be very interesting to see if the numbers get blown up or are indicative of where the team really may be.

[SisyphusMiner]

This is a surprise to me.  Food for thought indeed

[SisyphusMiner]

One thing I realized is that UTEP Defense has held three of its opponents to scoreless halves.  NMSU and UNM both scoreless in the 2nd half. BCU scoreless in the first half.

Against similar level or lesser opponents our D is pretty darn good especially in the 2nd half.  The 2nd half against BCU doesn't count because we had our whole bench in for most of the 2nd half.