game observations

[SisyphusMiner]

This was one of the ugliest, worst games of football I've ever had the misfortune to watch.  NMSU is horrible and we aren't much better.

Dimel badly outcoached again, especially in the 2nd half as always
Dimel is awful at game management.
Hardison did not play well.  at all.
We don't have a #1 receiver. Tyrin Smith has bad hands
Hankins not good.
Punt return game is nonexistent.  We can't even slow down the opponents.  Can we just fire the coordinator now and hire someone from the beer line at the stadium?


The good:
Defensive line showed a few signs of life.
Dimel seems to have finally realized Hankins is not good.
There are 5-6 teams remaining that might be almost as bad as us.  If we go 50/50 against those teams we might get 4 wins.

[Chanson]

I agree. UTEP should never have allowed the Aggies get back into it. What the Hell was that 2nd half? Yes, their QB was very effective with his mobility, but that just exposed our defenses containment. Ugh

[kyyote]

I'm glad that no one outside of El Paso/Las Cruces saw that.  It was like watching dog yak mixed with a cat's hairball served to a baby.  You wanted to scream out for them to stop!  I am going to alter the famous quote, "We didn't lose.  We just ran out of time." to "We didn't win.  They just ran out of time." or maybe "They both lost.  The clock just took pity on the rest of us." 

That game was a glaring reality check.  NMSU was rated 130 out of 131 and probably just assured themselves of taking over the top spot of worst and we are one good play better than them.  Maybe.

NMSU had 62 yards of offense at the half.  We had 239 yards at the half.  NMSU 221 and UTEP 60 yards in the second half.  Just silly numbers.  Silly and bad.

[MinerInWisconsin]

Just a small attempt at mitigating UTEP's putrid 2nd half performance and I have no idea if NMSU was banged up coming into the game or not.

UTEP was missing 2 starters on the o-line, including the center who is very important to the functioning of the offense. Linebacker and d-line were also banged up coming into the game.

That said we stunk up the Sun Bowl in the 2nd half. Period.

[orange-oink]

Haven?t you detected an obvious second half pattern the last two years with Dimel?s offenses?  Two years ago Dimel?s team was outscored 76-0 in the third quarter!!  That is a profound and very telling statistic.   I don?t know what it was last year but the pattern is repeating itself again this season.  No second half or in-game offensive adjustments whatsoever.  Dmel is a fourth rate offensive coach with his incompetence on full display last night.   NMSU, the worst BCS team with a proven coach made ALL the halftime adjustments to steal the game away.  All NMSU did defensively was take away the run on the rpo option and force UTEP to pass the ball,  same as UNT!  What was dimel?s adjustment ?  NOTHING!  UTEP has the talent on both sides of the ball to have beat the aggies 45-10 but THE COACHING IS ATROCIOUS!  There are El Paso high school coaches who can implement a more effective offense.  Senter should force Dimel to surrender control of the offense or expect to see 1-2 wins this season. 

[kyyote]

I had watched some of the Kansas State Mizzou game and to watch the offense work was really amazing. 

I have to think that someone somehow has to be able to figure out that is exactly what other teams are going to do and have an answer already figured out for it.  Which leads me to believe that they have no answer for that adjustment.  From what I can see watching K St and UTEP trying to run the same offense is that K St quarterback actually runs the ball through holes following his back, leading the way.  I think we are too afraid of losing Hardison that we self-eliminate that option. 

I forced myself to watch the line play while we were on offense.  A number of things jumped out.  The Aggies were changing up their looks.  There were three man d-lines and there were times when they were crowding eight men up almost on the line.  There were times when we were just stuffed time after time and there were times when we were blowing the defensive line away like nothing.  I would be wondering why we just couldn't seem to get that basic push and then there would be a play where we just crushed them at the line.  Just when it seemed like the line was starting to crush the aggie d we went to the second half and it all just flipped! 

[MinerInWisconsin]

In the 2nd half when UTEP wanted to chew up the remaining clock Hardison would throw on 1st down, stopping the clock with the incompletion. That happened to often and once into double coverage. Incomprehensible.

[MinerInWisconsin]

The Miners actually had some good 2nd halves last season. 2 in particular were strong 2nd haves that brought the Miners from behind for the wins vs NM and Rice. If UTEP ever puts 2 halves together like the 1st half last night, they could win a few more games.

I was pleasantly surprised with the crowd last night. I know 23k is nothing to brag about but I expected worse. In contrast the crowd at UNM vs Boise St on Friday night was 16k.

[kyyote]

I truly don?t mean for this to be mean, that crowd was pretty darned good to watch two of the worst teams in college football. Bragging rights are no matter how bad I am you are worse. End of discussion.

[SisyphusMiner]

Absolutely.  If you have a one win season and that was against NMSU then at least there's that.  We can confidently say we are not the worst team in the NCAA.  There is a conversation to be had about 2nd worst...

[Minermojo]

Like I posted last night I went to bed in the fourth quarter. It was pathetic to hear the game on radio, I can just imagine how much worst it could have been to watch it live. I asked Siri for the score this morning and I was surprised as I actually thought the Miners were going to give the game away. For them to make three more points with that good kicker which we need was icing on the cake. I'm glad that they won because that's a premier game for me even if their season sucks. I don't want to EVER lose to the Ugglies...in any sport.

But, everyone is right, Dismal sucks and should be fired. Hire a high school coach from a winning program in poduck Texas but get rid of Dismal, enough with hiring your friends. The hs coach would only have to coach and let someone else do the recruiting with his blessing of course because if he can coach a winning program he would know talent and how to utilize it. Dismal can't chew gum and walk at the same time. To hire a coach without a proven record and expect him to all of a sudden play winning ball is out of this world STUPID. 'nuff said.

[kyyote]

I just watched the Cowboys put up a total of 94 or 96 yards of offense in a half.

[MinerInWisconsin]

I had watched some of the Kansas State Mizzou game and to watch the offense work was really amazing. 

I have to think that someone somehow has to be able to figure out that is exactly what other teams are going to do and have an answer already figured out for it.  Which leads me to believe that they have no answer for that adjustment.  From what I can see watching K St and UTEP trying to run the same offense is that K St quarterback actually runs the ball through holes following his back, leading the way.  I think we are too afraid of losing Hardison that we self-eliminate that option. 

I forced myself to watch the line play while we were on offense.  A number of things jumped out.  The Aggies were changing up their looks.  There were three man d-lines and there were times when they were crowding eight men up almost on the line.  There were times when we were just stuffed time after time and there were times when we were blowing the defensive line away like nothing.  I would be wondering why we just couldn't seem to get that basic push and then there would be a play where we just crushed them at the line.  Just when it seemed like the line was starting to crush the aggie d we went to the second half and it all just flipped!

As for running Hardison, when Hurley was recruited Dimel said we can run the qb more now that there is more depth. But we don't.  Dimel also said prior to this season that Hurley was looking good. Hardison can't hurt anyone with his legs but Hurley and Brownholtz can. Brownholtz has had a lot of turnovers but Hurley hasn't seen the field yet. This offense needs a qb with a motor.

[MinerInWisconsin]

I truly don?t mean for this to be mean, that crowd was pretty darned good to watch two of the worst teams in college football. Bragging rights are no matter how bad I am you are worse. End of discussion.

So my being pleasantly surprised with the crowd was incorrect or in bad taste or something?

[kyyote]

No I meant I didn?t want to sound mean about the two teams. Especially since I had been harsh. Not at all. It is a testament to the faith of the fans of the two teams.  I agree that it was good to see.  I am saying that it is amazing that even when the two teams are bad, the fans still came out for them.
Oddly enough, seeing Dallas not be able to break a hundred yards of offense in the first half made me realize I was probably being too hard on the Miners.
Then seeing that we are still a favorite to go to UNM and win I am willing to bet that if we beat the Lobos the Sun Bowl might be full for Boise