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EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – In 65 days the UTEP football season will get underway as the Miners host North Texas at the Sun Bowl on August 27th. UTEP Athletics is building up the hype for this year’s football team after the historic season the program had in 2021-2022. The plan is to sell out the Sun Bowl for their first game and it looks like they are getting close. According to UTEP Athletics, they have sold 30,635 tickets for the season opener and only 34% of tickets remain. The Sun Bowl holds a capacity of 45,971 fans. “Coming off a winning season like last year they [coaching staff] put a lot more on us, push us a lot harder, the grind has been tougher,” said Prince. “We’ve had a lot of early mornings and long days so it’s been pretty good compared to different summers.” The Miners open up their 2022 football season on Aug. 27 against North Texas, which will be the first time UTEP opens with a conference game since 1994, at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas. For more on the Miners’ “Sun Bowl Sellout” game click here. read more: https://www.ktsm.com/sports/college-sports/utep/utep-football-pushing-the-limits-in-summer-workouts/

Best Value: UTEP +3000 The hard work of head coach Dana Dimel has finally started to pay off. UTEP was a team total under for bettors every preseason, but that has changed since the 2020 pandemic season. Hungry to not only exceed a low win total but to make the postseason, UTEP won seven games and lost by just one score to Fresno State in the New Mexico Bowl last season. The hard work is far from over for Dimel, as Conference USA transitions three teams to the Sun Belt. Jacob Cowing exits as the deep threat on the Miners offense, but quarterback Gavin Hardison has the range to hit any skill position player on the field. While explosiveness and Havoc Allowed are key on offense, the Miners return 63% of a defense that finished top-20 nationally in Success Rate. UTEP’s raw conference win total sits at 3.8, well short of projections for the top teams in Conference USA. Where the Miners have a break is scheduling, as UAB and Western Kentucky are not on a division-less schedule. However, conference bottom feeders in Rice, Florida International and Louisiana Tech are on the schedule, giving UTEP an outside chance of playing in the conference championship game. LINK: https://www.actionnetwork.com/ncaaf/college-football-betting-odds-picks-best-worst-conference-futures-value-opening-lines

One of the goals of the 915 Campaign is to sell out UTEP’s first football game of the season versus North Texas on Aug. 27. Capacity in the Sun Bowl is 45,971, and over 50 percent of the tickets have already been issued for the game. UTEP hasn’t sold out a game in the Sun Bowl since 2008. “One of the big things that we’re trying to do is to sell out the Sun Bowl. We open up against the University of North Texas coming up here on August 27th,” said Senter. “We’re going to have a Sun Bowl sell out so we just started saying, “Hey, it’s the Sun Bowl sellout game” and we’re over halfway there and we want all of El Paso and El Pasoans to come out and support the Miners and do something that we haven’t done in a long time and just kind of push the reset button on UTEP Athletics and football in particular.” Fans can purchase $9.15 tickets to the August 27 football game at each of the Miners’ Caravan stops. read more: https://www.ktsm.com/sports/college-sports/utep/utep-miner-caravan-kicks-off-five-stop-el-paso-summer-tour/amp/

Dana Dimel and the UTEP football program have been on a multi-year rebuild that is now at a really interesting place entering year four. The former Kansas State offensive coordinator has been extremely cautious when throwing out any guarantees for his team in the past, and since he was hired back in 2018 to help turn the squad into a winner, he's maintained a five-year plan. However, the talent across the roster has started to fill out a little faster than expected and the Miners proved in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season that they can be competitive. Year four brings a lot to the table for the Miners. Dimel is in the fourth season of his five-year contract. The team returns 11 starters on offense and about nine defensively. The schedule favors the Miners early on. They have made lots of coaching shifts over the offseason. JUCO recruits are still signing to the program. And their opener against NM State (Aug. 28) is less than 60 days away. “I think we’re right on queue where I thought we would be," Dimel told 600 ESPN El Paso. "You’re not going into a place thinking that you’re going to change it in a year. You try to build a big picture concept and we feel we’re right on track to do that. We feel like we were really close last year, but that was last year. We need to continue to get better, continue to tweak our roster; and take guys that came onto the scene from last year and push them to a whole other level." Read More: It's Time to Talk UTEP Football: 2021 Season Preview | https://krod.com/its-time-to-talk-utep-football-2021-season-preview/?utm_source=tsmclip&utm_medium=referral

I'm so glad that things are going well for the University of Texas at El Paso. It's beginning to get back on track after the coronavirus attack. I’ve covered UTEP sports since I was a rookie sports writer at the El Paso Herald-Post and I’ve continued covering the Miners to this day. I’ve covered football, basketball, track and field, all other sports – and even baseball when Andy Cohen volunteered to coach the team. So, yes, I have a special part of my heart for the Miners – and it’s been a heck of a lot of fun covering them. THIS FROM JEFF DARBY, head of the sports information department at UTEP: “Joe Golding, who led Abilene Christian to the NCAA Tournament in two of the past three seasons and an upset win over third-seeded Texas in this year’s March Madness, was appointed the 20th head coach in UTEP men’s basketball history on (April 13). read more: http://www.elpasoinc.com/lifestyle/utep-sports-getting-along-on-solid-ground-after-pandemic/article_7372e47a-af50-11eb-85cb-8b792d04ba9a.html

Heard this story on from Craig Miller on the Ticket. A interesting article from www.goodbullhunting.com 's Robert Behrens Ranking EVERY college football stadium in Texas. This Aggie put Apogee in the Top Ten, but we are 5 back of UTEP's Sunbowl and One ahead of Texas State Bobcats Stadium. https://www.goodbullhunting.com/2020/7/23/21334459/ranking-every-college-football-stadium-in-texas-list#

It was just barely enough. Winless UTEP, playing like a team desperate to snap the nation's longest losing streak, hung with the Mean Green all night. Twice North Texas built a 10-point lead in the second half, and twice the Miners pulled within a field goal. It took a quarterback sack by North Texas' E.J. Ejiya and Bryce English in the final two minutes, then surviving a Miners' near miss on fourth down, before the Mean Green finally sent the Miners to their 18th-straight loss, 27-24. "I want to give coach (Dana) Dimel and UTEP a lot of credit," North Texas coach Seth Littrell said. "They played extremely hard. "But we have to play a lot cleaner," he added. "We couldn't get into rhythm or sync offensively in the first half. We didn't play to our standards whatsoever. Just way too many mistakes." North Texas is 5-1, its best start since 1988. The Mean Green got off to their slowest start of the season, failing to score on their opening two possessions as UTEP generated early pressure on Fine. The Miners, meanwhile, with Ryan Metz starting at quarterback for injured Kai Locksley, put together a pair of sustained drives and jumped out to a 3-0 lead. An interception by North Texas' Tyreke Davis, however, turned away the second threat. North Texas mounted its first scoring drive late in the first quarter on the strength of a 38-yard pass from Fine to Bussey, followed by an 18-yard TD pass to Darden, who broke a tackle at the 7-yard line and tight-roped down the sideline for a touchdown. But the North Texas offense could not find consistency. Big plays were followed by critical mistakes, including dropped passes by multiple receivers and an inconsistent running game. UTEP, meanwhile enjoyed success through the air, especially on yards after catch, including turning a short toss into a 29-yard touchdown early in the second quarter to give the Miners a 10-7 lead. However, North Texas made three plays late in the half to stem UTEP's momentum. First, wide receiver Cudjoe Young fought his way through a defender for a 23-yard reception on third and 10. Five plays later, Cole Hedlund made a 52-yard field goal, the longest of his career and tied for the ninth longest in school history, to tie the game at 10-10. Then defensive back Nate Brooks stopped a UTEP threat just before halftime with his fourth interception of the season at the goal line. "We had some come-to-Jesus talks," Littrell said of the Mean Green halftime locker room. "We had too many drops. That's when we lose focus a little bit." The Mean Green found its offense in the third quarter, getting another field goal from Hedlund and an 11-yard touchdown on a shovel pass from Fine to Bussey for a 20-10 lead, as Fine completed 14 of 15 passes in the second half. But UTEP refused to fold. It responded early in the fourth quarter with a 90-yard scoring drive, the longest march North Texas has allowed this year, to edge within 20-17 with 10:43 to play. North Texas answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive, burning up half of the period's remaining clock and opening a 27-17 lead on a Nic Smith 20-yard touchdown run. And UTEP struck back immediately with a 67-yard touchdown pass. The Miners then stopped the Mean Green's next possession, setting the stage for one final comeback attempt. That final rally, however, was foiled by Ejiya and English, who sacked the Miners' QB for a 10-yard loss to set up fourth and 17. The fourth-down play narrowly failed when a pass over the middle slipped off the receiver's finger tips. "A W is a W," Littrell said. "We're going to enjoy this win. But we are going to clean up these mistakes." Quick Hits North Texas' 5-1 start is its best since 1988, when it opened 6-1. The 1988 and 2018 starts each include a road win over a Power 5 opponent; at Arkansas in 2018, at Texas Tech in 1988. Junior quarterback Mason Fine (Peggs, Okla.) moved into second place in career passing yards at North Texas, surpassing Heart of Dallas Bowl MVP Derek Thompson (2009-13). Fine has 7,542 yards, and trails only Mitch Maher (1991-94) on the all-time list. Maher had 8.519 yards. If Fine maintains his current pace, he will overtake the top position this season. Fine had the 22nd 200-yard passing game of his career, second most in UNT history. Sophomore defensive back Tyreke Davis (Denton Ryan) had the Mean Green's 11th interception of the season and the first of his career when he undercut a UTEP receiver and made a diving catch to stop a Miner drive at the North Texas 28-yard line. Junior wide receiver Rico Bussey, Jr., (Lawton, Okla.) continued what is becoming the best season by a North Texas wide receiver since Casey Fitzgerald rewrote the UNT record book in 2007 and 2008. With 117 yards on 8 receptions against UTEP, Bussey is on pace to join UNT's list of top-10 single-season receiving seasons in yards, receptions and touchdowns. An 11-yard score in the third quarter was Bussey's eighth receiving TD of the year, which ties for the 10th most in a single season at UNT with Troy Redwine (1993-95). Bussey had the sixth 100-yard receiving game of his career, which ties for sixth most all-time at UNT with Johnny Quinn (2003-06), Redwine and David Yaege (1971-72). Senior wide receiver Cudjoe Young (Chattanooga, Tenn.) had the longest reception of his career, a 23-yard catch to set up UNT's game-tying field goal in the second quarter. Senior kicker Cole Hedlund (Argyle, Texas) hit a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter, the longest of his career and tied for the ninth longest in school history. Sophomore wide receiver Jaelon Darden (Houston) had a career high in receiving yards with 91, on 5 catches. Senior defensive back Nate Brooks (Whitehouse, Texas) recorded his fourth interception of the season, matching his season best in 2016. It was the eighth of his career. Redshirt sophomore running back DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Miss.), who took over the primary rushing duties following the season-ending injury to Loren Easly, had a career-high 70 yards on 19 carries. Sophomore defensive lineman Dion Novil (Abilene, Texas) had the first field goal block of his career, tipping a 53-yard attempt in the third quarter. It was the Mean Green's first field-goal block since Zach Orr blocked a field goal in 2013, also against UTEP. Senior linebacker E.J. Ejiya (Blaine, Minn.) had one tackle for loss Saturday to give him 26.5 for his career, moving ahead of Corbin Montgomery (1996-99) for fifth most in UNT history. UNT's Keegan Brewer, of the famous punt return against Arkansas, was again on punt return duty. Each time Brewer called a fair catch, the Miners had a defender keeping a close eye on Brewer until he actually surrendered the ball to the officials. Although North Texas and UTEP have met in football 27 times (with UNT holding a 16-8-3 advantage), this was just the sixth meeting since 1980. All six have been since the Mean Green joined Conference USA in 2013. This was UNT's first win in El Paso since 1980, and it levels the C-USA series against the Miners at 3-3. Saturday was UTEP's homecoming, and the Miners celebrated their 1988 team. A member of that squad was North Texas defensive coordinator Troy Reffett, who, in addition to playing at UTEP, was on the Miners' coaching staff for 14 seasons. The UTEP-UNT connections run both ways. UTEP offensive coordinator Mike Canales was offensive coordinator, associate head coach, quarterbacks coach and twice an interim head coach at North Texas from 2010 to 2015, and UTEP offensive line coach Mike Simmonds held the same position with the Mean Green from 2011 to 2015. link: https://meangreensports.com/news/2018/10/6/football-mean-green-escape-el-paso.aspx View full article

Ray Harper rumored to be their guy. Read more: http://kfoxtv.com/sports/local-sports/so...tball-team

Coach Canales to join UTEP staff as OC and QB coach. http://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2017/12/10/ut-vols-mike-canales-utep-qb-coach-tennessee-football-jeremy-pruitt-tn-dana-dimel/939006001/

HEAD COACH CANDIDATE?: Though he's only 32, expect the name of Graham Harrell, UNT's offensive coordinator, to come up soon in head-coaching searches, such as the one UTEP will go on soon. "Graham's an unbelievable coach, there's no doubt in my mind he's going to be an unbelievable head coach," Littrell said. "He was born and bred, his entire family, to be a great head coach." read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2017/11/09/north-texas-uteps-shoes-two-years-ago-now-first-place/848399001/

Their struggling offense couldn't score, their team couldn't win, they changed coaches at midseason and there wasn't much indication they could compete at the Conference USA level. That was the state of North Texas football in 2015. They suffered a season-ending loss to UTEP that sent them into a coaching search at 1-11 and hope didn't seem a denizen of that precinct. Fast forward two years and the Miners return to a program turned upside down. The 6-3 Mean Green are first place in C-USA West, prohibitive favorites to win it, a good bet to go into December's league title game at 9-3. Everything that has happened since that loss to UTEP is a blueprint for the Miners, for anyone on the wrong end of the standings, really, as they look to duplicate the miracle in Denton. read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2017/11/09/north-texas-uteps-shoes-two-years-ago-now-first-place/848399001/

UTEP is making a change at tailback, as Quardraiz Wadley injured his clavicle and Joshua Fields, who went into Middle Tennessee as the No. 3 tailback, ended up rushing for 87 yards. "Josh Fields is the guy now," Price said. "I was very pleased with him. He's only a freshman. He has a long career ahead of him." As for what is immediately ahead, that's a North Texas team that leads the Conference USA West, just two years removed from a 1-11 season. More: Three things that went right for UTEP "They made a coaching change. They are off and running the newest offense available," Price said of the Mean Green's rise. "They got out and recruited the Dallas area very hard. They've done a nice job recruiting. They recruited skill people to that passing offense." That's what UTEP faces Saturday in Denton. read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2017/11/06/utep-football-price-this-more-complicated-than-thought/837301001/

Hey all, I've been so busy with work and travel that I haven't done any watch parties this year...posted on FB to see if anyone was interested but everyone else here has been busy as well. I want to do one for UTEP and possibly Rice if we will be back from Thanksgiving for the latter. I have a few alums who come when they're free but lately that's been tough for everyone's schedules. So if any of you will be in AZ and want me to set something up let me know...right now I only have 1 other interested alum and a couple others that I know will come if they can but probably won't be free because of work and family commitments. Otherwise...party of one at my place! Haha

The Mike Price era was reborn Wednesday morning, as the new interim head coach conducted his first practice. Price took over Monday after former UTEP football coach Sean Kugler announced his resignation at the start of this week. He had a meeting with the team Tuesday afternoon and went to work at practice early Wednesday morning. Price is 177-183 all-time as a head coach and came back to the gridiron after being the UTEP head coach from 2004-12. Instead of taking a hands-on approach, as he said he wouldn’t do, Price roamed both sides of the ball during practice and took notes while the teams prepared for Western Kentucky Saturday. “Here’s the situation, we have really good guys who try hard and work hard. The problem is the product isn’t good,” Price said. “Don’t know why that is. If I find out, we can win some games. It’ll take me some time. Hopefully find the key and open it up.” As the practice unfolded, Price did little to mix up the pot and didn’t want to interject what the players and coaches were used to. read more: http://texashsfootball.com/mike-price-story/

key signee leaves note on pillow. https://www.minerrush.com/2017/8/4/16099...his-season

The $18 million lost in 2015-16 by the University of Texas at El Paso's Athletic Department doesn't tell the complete story, Athletic director Bob Stull said. The UTEP Athletic Department spent more than twice as much that season ($32.5 million) than it made ($14.5 million), according data analyzed by the Texas Tribune. But Stull, not surprisingly, has a different take. "If we were losing $18 million we wouldn't be in business," he said. "That's not the way an athletic department works." What the report — which looks at all eight public schools in Texas that play in the Football Bowl Subdivision — accurately reflects is that what UTEP UTEP spends $1.6 million less than North Texas ($34.1 million spent) on athletics and $6 million more than UTSA ($26.4 million), while making $1.5 million more than North Texas ($13 million made) and $2.3 million more than UTSA ($12.2 million). read more: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/sports/college/utep/2017/08/02/utep-athletics-18-million-dollar-loss-only-part-story/455716001/

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

Hey guys! Since I'll actually be in Texas, I've been checking to see who else wants in. Including a Talon who hasn't been back in almost a decade, I'm bringing at least 11 to Homecoming as of now and hope to grow the total. We're just going to chill in the end zone with cheap seats and have fun. If anybody else is down or has friends up for cheap seats, message me. It's only 10 bucks with the group discount, so it's easy to get the "eh, I'm not that into it" crowd to come. Also, there are a couple of options for the UTEP game, and I already have a group of both UTEP and UNT friends that want to sit together. Tickets go on sale November 1st, so we have time to figure out what we want to do. The seats I'm looking at are NOT in the visitor section, since it's a mixed group, but if you wanna hang out with us, let me know and I'll see what kinds of packages are available! And...for UTSA...right now it's just me and my girlfriend, and the only thing I've found is a Groupon for $18 for General Admission, but if anybody wants to go in on a group rate, I'm open to that. We're not up for anything fancy, just wanna chill and hang out and watch the game, so any seats are cool with us.

Home and Home in 2019, 2020