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UTEP Spring Football Game Free on CUSA-TV Friday 7 pm

Be our luck it'll result in several key players getting season ending injuries. Thus, Dimel will have yet another Dismal season.
 
i would think that this spring game will show case our high octane offense ... watch out for our 30 yards plus pass plays for TDs. I would think we get around 10..
Should be an interesting little game
 
RB Joseph from Andress showed some nice moves and nice north-south running.

1st string O line looked good but Miner fans have been thru this since Kugler days. Hardison had time to survey field.

Dove tailing into Hardison he showed off his arm as he was allowed to call his own plays. Strong arm, good poise in the pocket but still too much mustard; however, UTEP just has failed to recruit big n tall wr to compliment his arm.

Wadley is back! Played steam roller FB that Miner fans know.

Hankins was out.

UTEP 1st team D has long, long arms, all of them. They can bat the ball down. However, see continued struggles to make stops behind the lines because 2nd string able to make decent gains on them. Good pressure on 2nd string and scrubs but pressure failed to make stops.... behind the line. This goes back years to pre Dimel days.

Biggest surprise? Nice crowd tonight to watch UTEP spring ball. Hopefully progressive vaccinations in El Paso can result in more ticket sales next year.
 
At the game tonight. Was pretty disappointed in that the PA wasn't great and they didn't really try to do anything fun with it. Nik Needham tweeted he was there and was upset they didn't recognize alumni at the game.

Anyway:

1. Hardison is 5 million miles ahead of the other QBs and many times better than last season because of his poise.

2. RB position is Deep. Hankins was a no go as was Willie Eldridge and Ronald Awatt. Awatt suited up but didn't se action. But Wadley is Back in a big way. And the kid from Andress is the real deal. Still like Rey Flores.

3. The QBs hit the TE's. Yes, its true, TEs actually involved. They dropped alot, but they were a big part of things.

4. Tyrin Smith is really really fast. He is a small dude, wears #1. Had a big drop or two. But when if we get Cowing and Smith on the field at the same time as JG, then UTEP has very good weapons.

5. Biggest difference I saw in the Defense is we never dropped into a 3 man front like we would at times last year. Looks like we will play 1 Defense and its not going to be multiple. Lots of Cover 1.

6. Lots of the studs sat out.

7. The expectation is a Bowl Game. Unless Hardison is injured, this roster is the best we've seen in years. The only thing that can blow this is coaching.
 
I saw Needham’s tweet and it seems like AJ Hotchkins chimed in as well.



If that’s one area where UTEP has failed worse than on the field of play it’s been their ability to connect with alumni both former players and students. Aside from the 1966 players and Nolan Richardson, very few players get recognized. Plus, I would think you’d go out of your way to make a current NFL player like Needham feel appreciated and loved because maybe he can kick some money the school’s way down the road.
 
These are things that are FREE to an athletic department. Welcoming fans, recognizing alumini, getting the crowd hyped, bragging about new facilities. Would have been a great night for an open house to the new amenities. I don't even think the Public Address announcer started announcing names until mid 2nd Quarter and then many of the jersey numbers were incorrect.

Could have done on the field interviews with players and coaches during timeouts. Could have introduced player profiles on the scoreboard.

I know that Senter is busy trying to hire a basketball coach and is out of town or whatever.......but a very lazy effort in putting on a game tonight. Another missed opportunity.
 
Thought it was a wrong number by the Announcer, but it was indeed Dennis Barnes playing Wide Receiver. Smith, Barnes, Cowing.....Miners have legit speed at the position.

Its sooo hard to be optomistic about UTEP Football. You just know they're going to dissapoint you. And I know that "Nowins" is going to quote me on this in January 2022, but I am calling it now, UTEP Football will win a Bowl Game this December.
 
Thought it was a wrong number by the Announcer, but it was indeed Dennis Barnes playing Wide Receiver. Smith, Barnes, Cowing.....Miners have legit speed at the position.

Its sooo hard to be optomistic about UTEP Football. You just know they're going to dissapoint you. And I know that "Nowins" is going to quote me on this in January 2022, but I am calling it now, UTEP Football will win a Bowl Game this December.
Hope your crystal ball is true!!!
 
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Thought it was a wrong number by the Announcer, but it was indeed Dennis Barnes playing Wide Receiver. Smith, Barnes, Cowing.....Miners have legit speed at the position.

Its sooo hard to be optomistic about UTEP Football. You just know they're going to dissapoint you. And I know that "Nowins" is going to quote me on this in January 2022, but I am calling it now, UTEP Football will win a Bowl Game this December.
Really? They seemed to miss a bunch of routes and dropped balls galore. They may be improved, but win a bowl game? Can we start with getting to one, first? I like Barnes and Smith. Hopefully the injured qb is decent, since after Hardison... They look bad.
 
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Really? They seemed to miss a bunch of routes and dropped balls galore. They may be improved, but win a bowl game? Can we start with getting to one, first? I like Barnes and Smith. Hopefully the injured qb is decent, since after Harrison... They look bad.

I think this because I know Justin Garrett played just a few snaps, Hankins was out, Eldridge out, Awatt out, Cowing out.

Knowing that they have a potential receiving core of Garrett, Cowing, Smith, and now Barnes, and an improved Hardison, that's actually a really good Division 1 Group. Then you add the weapon that is Hankins who will have a healthy Wadley rotating, and thats a dangerous tandem.

You have to like what is out there on the field as far as personnel. My worry is that they are still UTEP and will find a way to botch it.
 
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I think this because I know Justin Garrett played just a few snaps, Hankins was out, Eldridge out, Awatt out, Cowing out.

Knowing that they have a potential receiving core of Garrett, Cowing, Smith, and now Barnes, and an improved Hardison, that's actually a really good Division 1 Group. Then you add the weapon that is Hankins who will have a healthy Wadley rotating, and thats a dangerous tandem.

You have to like what is out there on the field as far as personnel. My worry is that they are still UTEP and will find a way to botch it.
I saw where I think it was you that said Hardison was most poised. How was his accuracy? Also heard he didn’t have much pressure in his face. How was his long ball? If he is indeed our starter, seems to me we go as he goes.
 
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I saw where I think it was you that said Hardison was most poised. How was his accuracy? Also heard he didn’t have much pressure in his face. How was his long ball? If he is indeed our starter, seems to me we go as he goes.
There was "live" tackling but according to announcers Dimel had no qb tackling and no punts. Special teams change momentum, but he follows Snyder way of doing things.

Backup's were horrid. Biwnholtz has lb mentality but still forces passes. Bravo has legs but made cringe thru the night. But UTEP is a mouse in a NYC back alley full of polecat's if Hardison goes down.

We have one good capable TE. Backfield looks solid, even fullbacks
 
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I’m not going to do a big write-up on it; I wasn’t overly impressed and thought it was basically just the same ol’ same ol’ under Dimel: which means that the talent level continues to slowly improve, the running game has a chance, but the passing game did not look like it will be productive enough.

All of our QB’s held the ball way too long, because there weren’t guys open...against our 2nd team DB’s. I personally expected more improvement from Hardison. Deep routes with Hardison still look like last year where he waits so long the throw it, that the safety has enough time to react. He still needs to throw the deep pass a second quicker to be more effective. Last night Hardison had more passes hit db’s hands(and should have been interceptions), than TD’s. Most of Hardision’s passes along the sideline were not catchable and landed out of bounds. There was a decent wind, but still Hardison only finished with 130 yards passing against our 2’s. The WR group does look better as Smith and Barnes are both nice additions, but again our passing scheme just struggles to be highly effective. They have about 4-5 months to get better.

Wadley is not completely back to his pre-injury self, but he does look good and him replacing Fields carries alone should be enough for some improvement. From a visual and size standpoint, Dimel has also built one of the better looking O-lines that we have here in some time.

The D-line is still struggling to find production at the DE spot opposite of Praise, which is a lost opportunity because the other 3/4 spots on the d-line can be solid. Our second string D-line wore down and got tired way too quickly. We also base out of a true 4-2-5 most of the time and our 2 LB’s have a chance to be decent as well.

This might be our best combination of O-line and D-line on the same team in the past 15 years. The team should be better based on slightly better talent alone, but I will remain in wait-and-see mode to determine if Dimel’s offense can take a big enough step forward to be successful.
 
I think this because I know Justin Garrett played just a few snaps, Hankins was out, Eldridge out, Awatt out, Cowing out.

Knowing that they have a potential receiving core of Garrett, Cowing, Smith, and now Barnes, and an improved Hardison, that's actually a really good Division 1 Group. Then you add the weapon that is Hankins who will have a healthy Wadley rotating, and thats a dangerous tandem.

You have to like what is out there on the field as far as personnel. My worry is that they are still UTEP and will find a way to botch it.
True, a lot of the play makers were out. Just noticed my phone switched it to Harrison lol
 
These are things that are FREE to an athletic department. Welcoming fans, recognizing alumini, getting the crowd hyped, bragging about new facilities. Would have been a great night for an open house to the new amenities. I don't even think the Public Address announcer started announcing names until mid 2nd Quarter and then many of the jersey numbers were incorrect.

Could have done on the field interviews with players and coaches during timeouts. Could have introduced player profiles on the scoreboard.

I know that Senter is busy trying to hire a basketball coach and is out of town or whatever.......but a very lazy effort in putting on a game tonight. Another missed opportunity.

He was there. He was the host of the Renovation Celebration where they did the ribbon cutting and had people check out the new GECU Terrace and luxury boxes. Lots of media at the event
 
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