UTEP prepping for SMU

[OR-See-Nee]

UTEP football team focuses on final games
By Bret Bloomquist / El Paso Times

EL PASO -- To a man, the UTEP football team still believes. At this point, that's what they have.

"We're going back to El Paso, we're going to stay together as a family, work harder in practice and get ready for SMU," Steve Riddick said after the 45-38 overtime to Tulane loss that left everyone distraught.

Mike Price's theme of the past week is finding motivation from within and that's about all that's left of this rapidly diminishing season. Sure, the math says the Miners can still reach a bowl, but that math is getting tortured at this point and UTEP knows all it needs to focus on is getting better.

At any rate, all optimism seemed fleeting after Tulane set season bests in yards gained and points scored against a Miners team that couldn't get off the field on third down.

"It's disappointing," Clarence Ward said. "We gave up plays we shouldn't have given up."

That's been the story this season. The offense has played well at times and so has the defense and special teams, but it's rarely been together. On Saturday, the offense was good most of the day, the special teams was up-and-down on an afternoon that included a fourth-and-10 conversion on a fake punt but allowed an 88-yard kick return just as UTEP appeared to be on a path to rout Tulane, and the defense never got a foothold.

With the game on the line, the Green Wave went 86 yards in 1:12 without a timeout, then 25 in the overtime without seeing a third down.

After showing some progress in the first half of the season, the defense has steadily gone backward. The offense has slowly gotten better, but has yet to hit full stride.

"We didn't take advantage of opportunities in front of us," quarterback Trevor Vittatoe said. "That led to us losing. We had little things here and there and we missed opportunities. We've got to keep our heads up. We can still have a positive season if we win the next three."

The little things were obvious the last two times UTEP had the ball. On the last possession of regulation, a second-and-8 turned into a no-hope third-and-12 after a fumbled snap. On the overtime drive, a procedure penalty turned second-and-goal from the 3-yard line into second-and-goal from the 8.

"I don't know what that penalty was," Price said after UTEP didn't have anyone obviously move.

The final penalty numbers -- seven for 71 yards -- weren't awful and might have been overcome if it was six for 66, but the last one was a killer.

"We've just got to make plays and play a little bit smarter," Price said.

"We've got to do some different preparation and get us to improve," Vittatoe said.

The thing is, preparation has never seemed a problem. UTEP practices well and had its best spring in several years and played perhaps its two best games of recent years against Houston and Tulsa, but can't execute against the UABs and Memphises and Tulanes.

Now they have to rebound against SMU, Rice and Marshall.

"Well, we've got three games left and we're still going to play them for all I know," Price said. "Nobody has canceled on us."

Three games to salvage something out of a vanishing season.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/sports/ci_13745082

[35straight]

This is good. The last two games, both teams have been telling the media how they are gearing up and prepping for SMU. We are no longer an afterthougt. Go Stangs.

[George S. Patton]

Conversely, I think everybody still looks at us and still has the mindset, "Oh, we can beat SMU because we're better than them.'' Then they manage to always to play their absolute best against us.

The only way we're going to change that mentality is by beating these people and gaining the mental edge. I still don't think we have that yet.

[PerunaPunch]

The little things were obvious the last two times UTEP had the ball. On the last possession of regulation, a second-and-8 turned into a no-hope third-and-12 after a fumbled snap. On the overtime drive, a procedure penalty turned second-and-goal from the 3-yard line into second-and-goal from the 8.

I think that's probably going to be the key for the Mustangs this week. We can do the kind of stuff and still squeak by against a team like Rice, but probably not against a more talented team like UTEP (unless the do the same thing, of course).