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Football season review

picks up

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Aug 24, 2012
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Yes, I know the season is not over yet but the regular season is. Hopefully we can get a win during the bowl game to take some momentum into next year.

Here are things I liked, didn't like, and things that I am still undecided about from the year.

Positives:
  1. Cowing - NFL prospect, nuff said
  2. Tyrin Smith - Going to be a good second option at WR next year
  3. Praise - another NFL prospect
  4. DL - best unit on the team
  5. OL - while not great, they were good more than they were bad in my opinion
  6. Awatt - good season for him
  7. Winning more games than we lost. Yes, I know we only beat bad teams but we would have lost a lot of those games the last six years
  8. Having a 30k person crowd despite the result of that game. The Sun Bowl is a beautiful place with people in it
  9. TWC uniforms. We should have used them more
  10. Overall defense - best overall defensive unit in decades probably but I think most of the credit should go to the DL
  11. Youth - this team is young! Hopefully we can be even better next year
  12. Average attendance increased - hopefully some of the new fans stick around
  13. Starting 6-1 - despite the competition, we can only play the teams on our schedule
Negatives:
  1. (not so) Special teams - no need to elaborate
  2. Predictable play calling - although it improved during the last two games
  3. Big plays at the end of half/game
  4. Dumb penalties, lack of discipline
  5. 2 PM start times. Yes, I know it has been happening for years but that doesn't mean I have to like it
  6. Hankins playing time. He played well today against a good team and should have had more opportunities during the rest of the year
  7. No wins against winning teams
  8. Ending 1-4
Undecided
  1. Hardison - I think the coaches may have put him in bad situations most of the season. He handed the ball off on 1st and 2nd down and probably played against difficult coverage on 3rd downs all year. These past 2 games he seemed to have played better when not throwing on obvious passing downs.
  2. Dimel - yes he has increased the talent level, had a winning season, and got us bowl eligible but he also hired Price, has a team that commits bad turnovers, bad time management, careless timeout usage, and his play calling has been suspect. I mentioned this earlier in the season and still believe it, he has a higher floor than our last coach but also might have a low ceiling... I guess we will find out next year.
  3. Secondary good at times and bad at times. Sometimes very bad during crucial moments but they were still part of the best defense we have had in decades

I may add more as I think about this. In the meantime, I would like to know what all of you think. Where do you agree and disagree? I know some of you will put Dimel in the positives and others will put him in the negatives. I tried to be as fair as I could be. I will really be looking forward to seeing what people think about Hardison too.

Overall this was absolutely a successful season in my eyes! This team exceeded my expectations by 3-4 wins. Congrats to the players, coaches, and fans that have stuck with this team through some dark times. I am looking forward to the bowl game and next year.
 
Dimel and Hardison are what they are. I’m sure Dimel will be back. Hope he brings in a better passer.
 
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My biggest complaint is that we continue to be a team that gets worse as the season goes on.

Last year started 3-1 and finished 3-5. Only one of those teams had a winning record. No reason why we couldn't go at least 2-2 down the stretch.

This year started 6-1 and finished 7-5. Only two of those teams will have a winning regular season. Once again why can't we finish at least 2-3 down the stretch.

Imo we've seen Dimel’s ceiling. It's 7 maybe 8 wins which is better than 2-10 but are we ever going to seriously contend for a conference title?
 
A lot of good with some bad. It's to be expected. Last year was the building blocks to a winning season, this year was the growing pains along a winning season and if things progress next year will be the pay off! I don't think Dimel should get an extension, but definitely another year to see this thing through. Win a bowl and the mistakes of this season that at one time looked like a possible 8-9, but ended 1-4 will be forgotten! Good Job Players and Coaching Staff.... Except for Price you suck! Lol
 
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Start of the year - Dimel needs to win 5 or hes fired.

1/4 of the year - Dimel needs to win 6 or hes fired

1/2 of year - Dimel needs to win 7 or hes fired.

3/4 of the year - Dimel shouldn't be fired but no extension.

End of the year- Dimel needs to win a bowl game or hes gone.
That’s fair. However, if you start 6-1, is your expectation to finish up 1-4??? It’s not like we played Alabama, Wake Forest, Boise St, UTSA, and UAB those 5 games either.
 
Start of the year - Dimel needs to win 5 or hes fired.

1/4 of the year - Dimel needs to win 6 or hes fired

1/2 of year - Dimel needs to win 7 or hes fired.

3/4 of the year - Dimel shouldn't be fired but no extension.

End of the year- Dimel needs to win a bowl game or hes gone.
I've felt this was a 6-6/7-5 type of year due to the schedule. Goal achieved. We learned something this year. We have a roster capable of doing much more but I don't think we have a coach that can get them there.

If we're comfortable crawling to 7 wins cuz it's better than 1-11 then fine. The bar has been set so low that that's exactly why we're comfortable with a .500 record or 1 win above it.

If we want to announce ourselves to the country as a football school then this is the time to go after Fuente and change the culture at UTEP.
 
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