2018 UTEP Football Schedule Set
- Thread starter JCorona
- Start date
9-1-18 Northen Arizona
9-8-18 @UNLV
9-15-18 @ Tennessee
9-22-18 nmsu
9-29-18 @ UTSA
10-6-18 North Texas
10-13-18 BYE
10-20-18 @ La Tech
10-27-18 UAB
11-3-18 @RICE
11-10-18 MTSU
11-17-18 @ WKU
11-24-18 Southern Mississippi
Same as last year nothing from our football or UTEP athletic social media accounts.
Most of CUSA schools have already released the official schedules about an hour ago.
https://twitter.com/ricefootball/status/955891728703283201
https://twitter.com/utepfb/status/955951065995857925
Most of CUSA schools have already released the official schedules about an hour ago.
https://twitter.com/ricefootball/status/955891728703283201
https://twitter.com/utepfb/status/955951065995857925
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Starting off against an FCS school may be a boost to the program and the new staff should they pull off a win. UNLV was an average team last season so who knows? Now the game against the Vols...
Locksley at QB and a healthy Wadley at RB with this schedule I'd say an improvement to 3-9 or 4-8 with the following year maybe a bowl season.
Agreed, but we have to win early and then you never know. I wouldn't be suprised if we win zero or 8 games.
I know for sure we can take that "Bye" team at home. I'm willing to put money on it!
Anything above 4 wins would be a major accomplishment in my book. Can this team learn/execute a new offense/defense? Offensively I think we have potential since we upgraded the QB position and WR. Can the defense put up any resistance? That will be the key.
Dimel thinks the talent on the roster is good. I know they are very happy with defensive side of the ball. They've used jucos to fix the two glaring needs qb and wr on offense. Suprisingly little attrition with the coaching change I take that as a good sign. Im cautiously optimistic. It will be interesting to see how spring practice unfolds. We will have a much better gauge of this team then.
Let’s face it, we won’t know what we have till the season starts. How many times have we heard from the press/coaches how good the team looked in Spring/Fall practices?
I hope the D line makes even bigger improvements. They came on strong the last half of last year and Trace Mascorro should cause some havoc in the backfield. The young man was just a true freshman but yet played like a senior.
I think Dimel and Canales will bring in a ton of energy. Nothing can be more electric than two older men hell bent on redemption leading the charge.
But then again, the Bailey and Price years are too fresh in my memory so I am cautiously optimistic as well. They both had the servicemen fresh out of boot camp with a fist full of dollars heading to the red light district energy as well and they both came crashing down.
Oh hell yes. It very doable. Kug left good players. He just couldn't put it together. Like I said, Dimel and Canales are creating a good vibe and buzz and kudo's to them; this town needs something to rally around. There hasn't been this much buzz since the Chihuahua's opened up.
Hello, I'm a reporter with KFOX14/CBS4. Working on a story today about UTEP's football schedule. Do you think any of ya'll think you might have a few minutes to talk to us on-camera about your thoughts on it? What you guys think? Thanks!
LOL well, well, here is a Miner Digs first.... the hottest of UTEP takes are created here, you came to the right place, welcome Gloria, there's beer in the fridge.
I'll be at the game in Vegas! Hope to see you guys there! I want to predict how many wins, but... I think we will get a better understanding after spring ball... A hunch. 6-7 wins.
I am excited with what Dimmel and staff are doing in this off season, especially under such short notice. But I am tempering my optimism, not because I don’t think they’re good coaches, rather that this team did go 0-12 and they lost their two best players due to graduation (Hernandez and Jones.)
A lot of blame needs to be laid at the feet of Kugler and company but at the same time given that there is not much attrition within the program are we correct in believing that there is a lot of talent on the roster? 6 months ago we were saying that this team was made up of too many El Pasoans and too many kids who had no other D-1 offers.
I will say that the new regime has done a great job in recruiting immediate help at QB and WR. But there are still a lot of questions that need to be solved this off season before this program can reach bowl eligibility let alone run the table at home/win 8 plus games: How quickly can this defense learn a new system? Can the DL generate a pass rush? Who will be the LBs? Can Wadley stay healthy? Who handles kicking/punting? Who is going to be the 2nd/3rd WR? Can OL improve? Those are just a couple of things off the top of my head. Can they be fixed in 8 months? I am excited to find out.
A lot of blame needs to be laid at the feet of Kugler and company but at the same time given that there is not much attrition within the program are we correct in believing that there is a lot of talent on the roster? 6 months ago we were saying that this team was made up of too many El Pasoans and too many kids who had no other D-1 offers.
I will say that the new regime has done a great job in recruiting immediate help at QB and WR. But there are still a lot of questions that need to be solved this off season before this program can reach bowl eligibility let alone run the table at home/win 8 plus games: How quickly can this defense learn a new system? Can the DL generate a pass rush? Who will be the LBs? Can Wadley stay healthy? Who handles kicking/punting? Who is going to be the 2nd/3rd WR? Can OL improve? Those are just a couple of things off the top of my head. Can they be fixed in 8 months? I am excited to find out.
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Season tickets go on sale on February 15. Season tickets that are purchased before April 30 are $55.
Price had a heck of a turnaround that first year. They went from 2 wins to 8 and a top 25 ranking. The wheels fell off big time those last couple of years. But you have to admit those first two years were amazing.
It's cool that Canales gets to call plays at his old digs his first year at UTEP.
100,000+ in Tenneessee's stadium.
100,000+ in Tenneessee's stadium.
It's gonna take time we all know that, but yes they've hit the ground running that's for sure. That's why I said 3 or 4 wins realistically is a decent attainable improvement.
Just to expand on my post from yesterday:
UTEP’s top two returning rushers (Fields/Wadley) combined for 639 yards (53.25 ypg) and 3 TD last year. Wadley played only 4 games last year due to injury but he had a 4.8 yard per rush and 69 ypg which is very encouraging, but we need him to stay healthy. Based on those numbers alone I hope Dimmel’s son will come to UTEP, you could make a case for him to be the 2nd back given the overall lack of production last year.
UTEP’s top 5 returning receivers combined for 811 yards (67.58 per game) and 3 touchdowns last year. Juniel is the top retuner and he had 224 yards for a 18.67 ypg and 0 TDs ranked 2nd on the team last year. Whether that was schematic or a lack of talent I don’t know, but someone needs to step up big time. Just for some perspective: in 2004 Jonas Crafts had 217 yards receiving and 3 TDs, and he was the teams 6th leading receiver. In Nord’s last year (2 wins) Aaron Givens had 233 yards and 1 TD and was the 6th leading receiver on the team as well. In 2004 Jonnie Lee Higgins put up 700 yards and 10 TDs by himself, as a sophomore.
Defensively we lost 3 of our top 4 tacklers (Jones, Loviolotte, Cockrell, Jackson) and our top returning tackler is a CB (Needham). Our top 3 returning tacklers are DBs (Nedham, Smith and Beverly) and our top returning tackler from the front 7 is Hughes who ranked 10th on the team with 40 tackles. Obviously we are thin in terms of production and experience.
All of our returning defenders combined for 3.0 sacks last year as well. Needham, Griffin, Simpson each had 1.0 sack each last year.
I believe in Dimmel and what they are doing. I believe we will see improvement this year, but how much of this will be because of schematic adjustments and players improving year to year?
I expect Dimmel and company to take a hard look at this team in spring practice. And maybe they push some of these kids out to make room for late qualifiers. No one’s job should be safe.
UTEP’s top two returning rushers (Fields/Wadley) combined for 639 yards (53.25 ypg) and 3 TD last year. Wadley played only 4 games last year due to injury but he had a 4.8 yard per rush and 69 ypg which is very encouraging, but we need him to stay healthy. Based on those numbers alone I hope Dimmel’s son will come to UTEP, you could make a case for him to be the 2nd back given the overall lack of production last year.
UTEP’s top 5 returning receivers combined for 811 yards (67.58 per game) and 3 touchdowns last year. Juniel is the top retuner and he had 224 yards for a 18.67 ypg and 0 TDs ranked 2nd on the team last year. Whether that was schematic or a lack of talent I don’t know, but someone needs to step up big time. Just for some perspective: in 2004 Jonas Crafts had 217 yards receiving and 3 TDs, and he was the teams 6th leading receiver. In Nord’s last year (2 wins) Aaron Givens had 233 yards and 1 TD and was the 6th leading receiver on the team as well. In 2004 Jonnie Lee Higgins put up 700 yards and 10 TDs by himself, as a sophomore.
Defensively we lost 3 of our top 4 tacklers (Jones, Loviolotte, Cockrell, Jackson) and our top returning tackler is a CB (Needham). Our top 3 returning tacklers are DBs (Nedham, Smith and Beverly) and our top returning tackler from the front 7 is Hughes who ranked 10th on the team with 40 tackles. Obviously we are thin in terms of production and experience.
All of our returning defenders combined for 3.0 sacks last year as well. Needham, Griffin, Simpson each had 1.0 sack each last year.
I believe in Dimmel and what they are doing. I believe we will see improvement this year, but how much of this will be because of schematic adjustments and players improving year to year?
I expect Dimmel and company to take a hard look at this team in spring practice. And maybe they push some of these kids out to make room for late qualifiers. No one’s job should be safe.
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I personally vote for Bigwood to do the talking. Put the beer down Big. Brush your hair and maybe pop a couple tic tac if need be. Make sure there is no crust around the eyes. Make us proud.
Nah, I can't reveal my identity, gotta stay undercover on Digs
Article was already posted: http://kfoxtv.com/news/local/utep-fans-hopeful-for-new-football-season-schedule-released
Thanks 2step. You described me just as my mom used to. Now my wife, when I'm in the dog house, might have a little different description.
Maybe I'm being too simplistic about it, but I don't see any player who isn't returning (eligibility or transfer ) as a major loss since having them this past season didn't produce any wins anyway
You might change your mind when the schemes change or players are healthy. UTEP has some good players..
I know that the offensive scheme was awful, we all saw what was coming from a mile away. I just have a hard time convincing myself that scheme alone made that team go 0-12. And not even 0-12, they were really only competitive in a handful of games, and they had a realistic shot at winning one, if not for awful kicking. Who are some guys you look at to have a big year? And why?
Ok, Jack feels that losing any player from last years team wouldn't hurt, but I disagree. I know we have to get better players, but I also think we have plently of good players that can step up when the schemes change or when healthy. Granted I'm no football expert but I'll give it a try. Maybe some of these guys could be starters or backups, but these are who I would not want to lose:
On offense under Dimel and Canales I'm assuming we will see a lot more of run/pass option, run option, play action, quick hits up field as well as the power run. Any decent QB/RB/WR/TE will benefit from the mixture when the defense can't focus on 1 scheme or 1 player. I think Locksley will open up our offense and have a big year at QB. If that happens then look out for Wadley coming out of the backfield. He has got a lot of Buckram in him. Powell has proven he can run well too.
Redix is our best possession receiver. There are a lot of potential questions at receiver, but a guy that can really break out is Sinegal (if he gets his act together in class). If the coaches can somehow utilize Walter Dawn Jr., then he can hurt some teams too. Juniel hasn't lived up to the hype but maybe a breakout year is coming with new opportunities.
Long, Gatewood and Brooks I would want to keep on the OL. Weeks at TE.
Defense should be changing to a 4/3 which may help our pass rushers/DL. Elsner was a stud before the back injury. He could break out if he has returned to form. We would all keep Sullivan and Mascorro. Richardson was our "best DL" and missed all of last year. Van Hook breaks out at LB because of speed/size. I keep Hughes and Smith at LB too. Beverly, Lewis and Needham are no brainers in the defensive backfield due to experience. Needham could be our next pro. I keep Rogers too.
I can't speak on all the young guys but I like them moving Tialavea back to DL.
On offense under Dimel and Canales I'm assuming we will see a lot more of run/pass option, run option, play action, quick hits up field as well as the power run. Any decent QB/RB/WR/TE will benefit from the mixture when the defense can't focus on 1 scheme or 1 player. I think Locksley will open up our offense and have a big year at QB. If that happens then look out for Wadley coming out of the backfield. He has got a lot of Buckram in him. Powell has proven he can run well too.
Redix is our best possession receiver. There are a lot of potential questions at receiver, but a guy that can really break out is Sinegal (if he gets his act together in class). If the coaches can somehow utilize Walter Dawn Jr., then he can hurt some teams too. Juniel hasn't lived up to the hype but maybe a breakout year is coming with new opportunities.
Long, Gatewood and Brooks I would want to keep on the OL. Weeks at TE.
Defense should be changing to a 4/3 which may help our pass rushers/DL. Elsner was a stud before the back injury. He could break out if he has returned to form. We would all keep Sullivan and Mascorro. Richardson was our "best DL" and missed all of last year. Van Hook breaks out at LB because of speed/size. I keep Hughes and Smith at LB too. Beverly, Lewis and Needham are no brainers in the defensive backfield due to experience. Needham could be our next pro. I keep Rogers too.
I can't speak on all the young guys but I like them moving Tialavea back to DL.
I agree that there is potential, but as of right now we are stuck looking at what could be. I think Sullivan may have the most potential out of all the D-Linemen on size alone. WRs and LBs bother me just because there is a lack of size at both positions. Kugler brought in a bunch of small kids to play these positions. We have no returning WR over 6’1” and we have a lot of LBs that are either 5’10” or 5’11”. That lack of size is going to hurt The Miners like last year because what WR is going to “go up and get it” at that height? I get that size isn’t everything and maybe I am making too much of an issue out of these things... but I don’t know if heart and scheme can make up for the fact that a LB that is under 6 feet tall will be called upon to cover a 6’3” or 6’4” TE in space, or take take on a 6’5”, 300 plus OL running at him.
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