Well, I'm Going To Disagree

[kyyote]

The score was in favor of the Owls but I still believe the much better team was the Miners.  The first touchdown FAU got was a very nice play and executed well.  It was one of only two or three decent runs they made in the entire game.  But with two seconds left in the half, a UTEP defender just stopped covering his man and so the guy caught a touchdown pass in disbelief.  A mistake that cost us seven points in a game where points were supposed to come at a cost.  One mistake changed what should have been a lead to a deficit in a half in which we had dominated.  It seemed to me that FAU had decided to stuff the run and force Hardison to beat them with the pass.  I know that he threw interceptions.  But, half of them are on the receivers.  And half of his incompletions are on the receivers.  I was small, slow, and skinny, but by God if my hands touched a football passed to me, it was caught.  No excuses.  If it was close enough to touch my hands it was close enough that I should have caught MY ball!  It was also my job to make sure my quarterback's passes weren't intercepted. 

Cowing is a football player, but the other receivers have got to do better. 

Hardison    23   46   327   2   2   49   2  rating  115.4

FAU
Perry,N'Kosi   13   26   149   1   0   45   1


Notice the 327yards and 115 rating In Spite of the two interceptions.

TOTAL OFFENSE                UTEP    FAU Yards   437   279 Plays   78   63 Avg. / Play   5.6   4.4

Poss. Time   35:56   22:09

The Miners lost, but for a few mistakes, the result might very well have been different.  I saw a defense play lights out except for a couple of mistakes and an offense that was able to switch from a run oriented offense to a passing offense able to get 327 passing.  A caught pass here and there would have made a huge difference.  I didn't like the loss, but I loved how good the Miners showed that they could be.

[Minermojo]

First off, I didn't get to watch the game but I was glued to the radio. I didn't see how badly the receivers missed their passes so I'm going off what Ky posted. I admit, I turned off the radio in anger and frustration after Hardison's second interception and afterward I asked Siri what the score was and lo and behold the Miners managed to get 15 more points in the third quarter. That tells me that this team doesn't give up so fast like one of its fans (me).

The deciding points was when someone lost his assignment and they got an easy TD. I was fit to be tied. I couldn't believe that with 10 seconds to go for the half that they could have scored a TD. That was the beginning of my frustration, the second interception was the last straw for me.

Now, I realize that the Miners are a "good" team not a "very good" team yet. They need to catch the passes (that's why they're called receivers if they can't catch a pass they should be called something else). Garrett seems like his needs to not be afraid because sometime it seems to me when catching a pass that he's hearing steps and when he's out there by himself on punts that he's scared of dropping the ball, i.e., fumbling) or being swallowed up by the defenders. We need someone else to replace him just like we replaced Canales who sucked big time.

Hardison needs to temper his passes and not try to throw bullets at close range. He missed a lot of opportunities when he would overthrow the receivers. He needs to calm down or tuck it in and gain a few yards instead of trying to pinpoint some passes. That's where and when we get intercepted.

We should have won and after being down by 18 points I figured we didn't have a chance but finding out that the Miners scored 15 points in a quarter and held Faux to zero tells me that they might have at least a little chance of upsetting the birds. It's gonna be a good game and whomever can go to the Sun Bowl should. We need a home field advantage if nothing else. I'll be screaming at my tv screen that's for sure, maybe they'll be able to hear me at the stadium.

[SisyphusMiner]

I agree with both of you.  We showed fight and a proper attitude towards adversity that I don't think I have ever seen in a UTEP football team.

If Hardison had a QBR of 115 then I am definitely judging him too harshly.

The blown assignment at the end of the first half definitely affected the remainder of the game.

One interception was absolutely on Garrett who had a catchable pass in his hands.  On the other hand, Mojo is right.  Not every pass needs to be a bullet.  Hardison has only one throw and that is as hard as he possibly can.  Agree that too many passes are dropped.  I kind of feel like Flores and Smith are better than Garrett.

Our special teams has gone from an F last year to a D this year.  They are still a net negative.  Surely there's somebody on this team with speed to return a punt.

[kyyote]

I?m afraid whom ever it might be he can?t catch Sis, I think the other interception was the receiver kept running straight down the sideline and Hardison had thrown an out that the defender saw while the receiver was still looking straight ahead and hauling butt.

[SisyphusMiner]

That may be.  What about Cowing though?  Man, what i wouldn't give for a Johnnie Lee Higgins.

We need to find a total stud FG kicker.  If the team and coaches had confidence out to 40-ish yards, it would free up the offense a little when we get into that range.  A good receiving TE would be wonderful too.

I think we have receivers they just are young and coach is still getting confidence in them.  Flores ran a bad route on one that almost ended up a pick 6, but he has some skills.  Tyrin Smith is developing as well.  Garrett seems to have a lot of ups and downs.

[kyyote]

Plus I have to say this, FAU was good. We were beating the hell out of them but when they were given an opening they were lightning quick to take advantage of it.
Sis, I think Cowing is too valuable to the offense to risk it.

[SisyphusMiner]

Looking ahead, the top 3 teams in the west have not played each other yet.
We are at home against UTSA and on the road at UAB.  Both winnable, but do you give us better than 50% chance in either?

UTSA at us and home against UAB.
UAB at home vs us and road at UTSA.  And at Marshall.  I would give them losses in both road games.

We need to win out to win the west title.   UTSA isn't losing to So Miss and No Tx, and I would expect them to win the home game vs UAB.

[SisyphusMiner]

Another random thought.  I am confident that every P5 league has teams we could beat badly, including at least 5 from the Big 10.  That's serious progress.

[kyyote]

Sis, the defense has been beyond belief, but we have questioned the competition.  When we beat Southern Miss, I started to believe that the team had caught something.  But, LA Tech has not only beat us like a drum physically, and mentally, their coach is damned good too.  And the defense dominated them.  But, and I have come to believe it is a critical part of the formula the defense is allowed to play that way and sustain it because the offense keeps them fresh.  FAU proved to me, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that UTEP's defense is better than legit.  It is what the evidence shows that it is.  Damned good!  The offense answered the other question I had and it was could they pass if forced to.  They can.  They would much rather run it up your ass and will continue to try, but they can pass, too.  If your defense is weak against the run, your team is going to have a long day against the Miners.  If you try to stop that, we can throw the ball.  Fifty percent?

Our offense is a no margin for error offense when it is at it's best.  Our defense is a shut down defense that is human.  San Antonio is flying high and they are obviously good.  But, the haven't seen the rock walls of El Paso and they haven't played the defense of UTEP.  I no longer have any qualms about saying that with a straight face.  For reals.  Ask FAU how easy it was to run against UTEP.  Or pass!  I have no doubt that UTEP can beat SA.  Mistakes.  And can they be taken advantage of.  It isn't our style to take advantage of mistakes in ways other teams might.  We just take away the other teams time on offense.  It is like shortening their life.

As for UAB, I would have put them in the category of SM and LA Tech, bullies used to beating UTEP like a rented mule.  Not this year.  I don't know what the score will be, but I feel pretty good about UAB not having seen these Miners and these Miners are as serious as a heart attack.  One game at a time.  If the Miners knock off the runners, they will go into Birmingham sky high.  Blazers won't know what hit them.  We'll see.

I love your random thought.  I read it quickly and thought, well....but then I thought about it and you are right about the Miners being able to beat some, and the progress is night has become day. 

One more thing that I can't let go without saying.  How about the the other rock wall the offensive linemen build around Hardison.  Forty six attempts and he was sacked once.  He put up 327 yards passing.  And the line also allowed the running game to average three and a half yards per carry.  The big guys have been doing blue collar work, week in and week out, but stealing the life of other teams doesn't get the glory.  Wins do.  And they know.  The players know. 

[SisyphusMiner]

The O line has been amazing in pass protection.  They have been less amazing at opening running lanes.  But still a huge improvement.  The D is unbelievable.

P5 teams we could easily beat at a minimum:

ACC: BC, Duke
B12 : Kansas
B10: Nebraksa, Northwestern.  Indiana.  probably Illinois and Rutgers
P12: Arizona.  Probably Colorado
SEC:  Vanderbilt

[Chanson]

The majority of the game I saw QB & WR woews. I'm really not sold on our QB. He may have an arm, but his ability to connect & read pass coverage is questionable. I'm curious to see if it can be fixed.

[Minermojo]

I was looking at some stats that Ky put out and I see that the Runs are not too good at the run. That shows that they are one dimensional. Pressure the QB and stay close to the receivers, (heck, you don't even have to be stuck to them because the QB will be running for his life on most passes and won't have the luxury of remaining in the pocket and taking his time.) But, definitely the Defensive line will be tested against their offensive line. I just hope we don't have any setbacks like leaving a lonely receiver all alone at the goal line like we did with Faux.

I feel an upset coming for the Ootsas.

[kyyote]

Mojo, your instincts are the best.  The Miners football team knows it let one get away that they should have had.  Do you have any idea of how much they are going to want to get one back and a decisive win at the Sun Bowl in front of the largest crowd these guys have ever seen at  would maybe have them fired up.  You think?  Also, Coach Dimel said that we just didn't put up enough points to win.  That is kind of a duh statement, but I think it may hold some insight into opening up the offense just a tad and placing a little more emphasis on looking to put up a few more points than the 25 they are averaging. That might show up in the red zone as more tries to gain first downs and less settling for field goals.  Just a thought.  Thee Miners have opened as 9 point dogs and are now 12.5 point underdogs. 

[kyyote]

I was looking at some stats that Ky put out and I see that the Runs are not too good at the run. That shows that they are one dimensional. Pressure the QB and stay close to the receivers, (heck, you don't even have to be stuck to them because the QB will be running for his life on most passes and won't have the luxury of remaining in the pocket and taking his time.) But, definitely the Defensive line will be tested against their offensive line. I just hope we don't have any setbacks like leaving a lonely receiver all alone at the goal line like we did with Faux.

I feel an upset coming for the Ootsas.

Uhmmm.....

RUSHING DEFENSE

1   Wisconsin   8   229   397   1.73   5   49.6 2   Georgia   8   245   605   2.47   2   75.6 3   UTSA   8   255   635   2.49   3   79.4 4   Alabama   8   250   697   2.79   7   87.1 5   Mississippi St.   8   212   715   3.37   4   89.4 6   San Diego St.   8   255   736   2.89   4   92.0 7   Army West Point   7   178   648   3.64   13   92.6 8   Minnesota   8   221   743   3.36   7   92.9 9   Oklahoma St.   8   264   759   2.88   8   94.9 10   Houston   8   276   769   2.79   8   96.1 11   UTEP   8   261   779   2.98   10   97.4

Nope, doesn't look like we are going to do much running, either of us.

How about passing efficiency defense?

1   Cincinnati   8   238   121   14   1242   4   88.46 2   Georgia   8   237   134   10   1208   3   95.09 3   Iowa   8   277   155   16   1584   8   101.97 4   Washington   8   224   133   8   1175   4   102.19 5   Marshall   8   249   131   9   1370   8   102.20 6   Penn St.   8   275   156   9   1551   5   103.56 7   San Diego St.   8   307   163   9   1703   11   105.65 8   Purdue   8   209   109   10   1392   5   106.42 9   Liberty   9   254   135   8   1498   9   108.08 10   Wisconsin   8   223   122   5   1320   7   110.30 11   Fla. Atlantic   8   258   134   10   1642   10   110.44 12   Toledo   8   232   126   5   1446   7   112.31 13   Arkansas   8   202   113   7   1340   5   112.90 14   UTEP   8   239   126   7   1580   8   113.44 81   UTSA   8   263   155   8   2033   15   136.61

Ahha...

Hardison, The Gunslinger From El Paso, is going to pistol whip those San Antone boys and sick the posse on 'em. 

Well, maybe...

scoring defense

17   UTSA   8   19   15   0   0   7   0   150.00   18.75 18   Minnesota   8   19   16   0   0   7   0   151.00   18.88 -   Washington   8   16   16   0   0   13   0   151.00   18.88 20   Louisiana   8   20   16   0   0   6   0   154.00   19.25 -   Ohio St.   8   20   19   0   0   5   0   154.00   19.25 22   Baylor   8   18   17   0   0   10   0   155.00   19.38 23   Iowa St.   8   20   19   0   0   6   0   157.00   19.62 24   Auburn   8   18   17   0   0   11   0   158.00   19.75 -   Houston   8   20   18   1   0   6   0   158.00   19.75 -   Marshall   8   21   20   0   0   4   0   158.00   19.75 27   Nebraska   9   22   21   0   1   8   2   183.00   20.33 28   UAB   8   23   19   0   0   2   0   163.00   20.38 -   UTEP   8   20   19   0   0   8   0   163.00   20.38

[Minermojo]

Yeah, you're right. I might have missed on the passing part. I think that's where I got confused, (shut up, I heard that).

It seems their passing defense is worst than ours.

Sooooo, if they have a hard time running as we will then our main objective is the pass. Now, if our "receivers" don't hear footsteps and don't catch the ball then we're sunk. Y'all have to remember that we were 11 point dogs to Faux and yet we could have beaten them if not for the foul ups.

We have somethings in our favor.
1. Our defenses will be evenly matched.
2. Our passing defense is better than theirs so we hold the advantage there.
3. The Miners will be Ps'ed for letting one get away.
4. The crowd hopefully will make a big difference as it did that year against Rice (a long time ago).

I'm predicting an upset and the Runs will go home missing a few tail feathers.