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Moving on to North Texas…. “We have a North Texas team coming in that done a good job this year and sitting at 5-6. They’re playing for bowl eligibly slot in Conference USA. And it’s our Senior Day and I’m hoping that our seniors really rally around each other, play for each other one last time and keep that team from celebrating on our field. “Talking about North Texas, as I’ve mentioned, they’ve had some good victories this year. In particular, last week, they beat Southern Miss to go 5-6. They’ve had some tough losses to SMU, UTSA, LA Tech and WKU. Where they’ve really improved from last year is defensively They’ve switched to more of an out scheme. They’re really flying around on defense. They’re leading Conference USA in interceptions. Their secondary is playing extremely well. I wouldn’t expect less, Troy Reffett coaches their secondary. W have a lot of history with him. He played and coached here at UTEP. But their safety no. 23 [Kishawn McClain], he’s got three interceptions. Their corner, no. 2, as nine pass breakups and their other corner has four interceptions. So they’re getting the ball at a frequent rate on defense and it’s really helped them, and they’re plus-one in turnovers." “Their linebackers, in particular no. 17 [Cortney Finney] and no. 18 [Joshua Wheeler], are flying all over the field; fast and athletic and probably the most productive defensive lineman is no. 7 [Jareid Combs]. They’ve been getting sacks; 25 sacks on the year, which is fifth in Conference USA. But the thing that stands out is 14 interceptions. “Offensively, they’ve played two quarterbacks. The freshman quarterback, No. 6 [Mason Fine], he won the job coming out of camp and played in every game, but got injured against WKU. I really don’t know the availability of him, he had a shoulder injury. But they play with Alec Morris [no. 5] who’s a transfer grad-student from Alabama and beat Southern Miss last week. We’ll see one of the two and we’ll prepare for both." "Running back, their leading rusher was also injured against WKU and he was close to 1,000 yards and 13 touchdowns. His availability for this game is also in question. But the guy who replaced him last week, Willy Ivery, has also had a solid season and had 111 yards against Southern Miss; they’re very capable at the running back spot." "Another tall and athletic group of receivers; no. 3 Terian Goree] is 6-foot-3, no. 11 Thaddeous Thompson] is 6-foot-2, and no. 1 [Turner Smiley], who’s also their punt returner. They’re a very tall and very fast group and they’re doing nice job for them. The things that probably standout for them offensively, they’ve done decent job in red zone, but they’ve been sacked 41 times, which again, they do put the ball it the air quite a bit; time of possession has not been in their favor. So those are things we need to try to take advantage of to win this game. read more: http://www.minerrush.com/2016/11/21/13709432/monday-lunch-with-kugler

UTEP’s emergence as a contender in the Western Division of Conference USA is flying under the radar. Houston and SMU have received the headlines with head coaching hires this offseason, but the Miners are on the right track after Sean Kugler took over the program in 2013. The long-time offensive line coach has brought an attitude and toughness to a program that is visible on the field. “UTEP is a physical team now. Not that they were pushovers when we played them before Kugler got there, but the whole program has a different vibe. You know it’ll be a fight now with UTEP and he should get a lot of credit for that,” one CUSA defensive coordinator told me. “They’re going to run the ball and see if you can match that physicality. You’re going to leave that game feeling like you were in a fight.” Kugler and his team recorded its first winning season in nine years last season. The offense starts and stops with running back Aaron Jones. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound junior had over 1,200 yards as a sophomore and returns as one of the top candidates for first-team All-Conference honors this season after earning second-team honors a year ago. read more: http://texasfootball.com/highschool-news/view/181245

***He opens the North Texas talk by saying they are a physical team in all phases. ***Credits North Texas' negative turnover margin as the reflection of their record compared to last year. ***North Texas averages 150 rushing yards a game, lead by Reggie Pegram, and Antoinne Jimmerson. ***Talks about wide receiver Carlos Harris, and tight end Marcus Smith as the top weapons in the North Texas passing game. ***North Texas returned every starter along the offensive line from last year, Kugs notes this as their overall strong point. *** "Very physical, very big offensive line, I think they have only one starter that is under 300 pounds" ***On North Texas' defense, Kugler talks about how they have a solid run defense that only allows 3.9 yards per rush. ***North Texas' defense had piled up 28 sacks, and 54 tackles for loss, they also are holding teams to a 38% conversion mark on third downs. ***The Mean Green aren't as big, size wise as they were a year ago along the defensive line, but very athletic and fast up front. *** "This will be the best special teams unit, top to bottom that we have faced all year, and that's including Kansas State". ***North Texas ranks number one in the nation in kickoff coverage, and have two dynamic kick returners. ***Kugler says North Texas went back to their roots of running the football against FAU which lead to their big 31-10 win at home last week. Read more: http://www.minerrush.com/2014/11/11/7190823/monday-lunch-with-kugler

Says some very complimentary things about North Texas. Guy seems like a class act. I think he will do well there given time. http://www.utepathletics.com/allaccess/?media=419996

From the day he was hired to take over the UTEP football program, Sean Kugler promised an ocean of change. For 11 months he has delivered. Wednesday morning Kugler made official the biggest, most surprising change yet: True freshman Mack Leftwich is the Miners' new quarterback. A year removed from leading North Allegheny High to the Pennsylvania state championship and earning that state's player of the year honor, the 5-foot-10 Leftwich will lead 24-point underdog UTEP to Conference USA-leading North Texas Saturday. "It's a pretty big surprise," said Leftwich, who did approach Kugler on Sunday about pulling his redshirt. "Obviously we needed to make a change, it was the kind of situation that came up and I said I'd be willing to do it. "In the pre-game I'll be pumped up, but after I get hit a few times I'll settle into the game, it will be fun. ... This will be awesome, hopefully it can really kick start us. If you had asked me two or three weeks ago, I wouldn't have seen this coming." Kugler indicated at Monday's press conference that UTEP's quarterback situation was up for examination following back-to-back seven-point games in the wake of the injury to Jameill Showers, hardly surprising considering Blaire Sullivan had thrown four interceptions in 26 passing attempts. The assumption at that point was that second-year freshman Garrett Simpson would get his shot, but Kugler turned to the scout team and opted to burn Leftwich's redshirt. Leftwich is the son of first-year offensive line coach Spencer Leftwich. Read more http://www.elpasotimes.com/latestnews/ci_24465381/utep-freshman-mack-leftwich-start-quarterback-against-north

In the immediate aftermath of the 57-7, three-interception loss to Texas A&M, Sean Kugler defended Blaire Sullivan as his starting quarterback. By Monday's press conference, after two days of evaluating film, Kugler admitted he's reconsidering matters for Saturday's game at North Texas. He all but declared an open competition over the next two days between Sullivan and the only other quarterback on the roster he's willing to play, Garrett Simpson. "We're going to look at that avenue this week," Kugler said of a quarterback change in the wake of the loss of Jameill Showers to a separated shoulder. He won't burn the redshirt of the other quarterback, true freshman Mack Leftwich "We'll exhaust all avenues that will give us the best chance to win. Obviously it's an issue. "We'll approach it as two options, we'll do it throughout practice, by midweek we'll have an answer. We're not just going to sit status quo." When asked who will take the first snap at Tuesday's practice, Kugler said, "That remains to be seen." Read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_24454804/el-paso-times

2) Most of the players who were suspended for the spring game aren't coming back. Most notable among those are kicker Steven Valadez, projected starting linebacker Gage Sharp and tailback Xay Williams. UTEP now has zero scholarship kickers or punters on the roster, though he indicated walk-on Enrique Quintana Flores from Bel Air will have an opportunity to return. Flores missed the last half of spring. Read more: http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/mineshaft/2013/04/stoker-will-be-new-dc-some-players-dismissed.html