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WTF!!! Who scheduled OU on the first game!

minerproud

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Apr 22, 2014
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I don't understand how we can schedule a power 5 school in the beginning of the season. I know some of you would like to play big schools but we are not there yet as a program and to start our season playing P5 schools is not a smart thing to do for our program. We should be playing a division 2 school so we can prepare and gain confidence. We are nowhere close to competing with the big boys and all it does is get our players hurt and demoralizes our players. This is my opinion and I hope that our next AD schedules div 2 school to start the season.
 
With CSK we would probably lose to them too. But wait we would win time of possession and stay healthy. So that's really a impressive victory.
 
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Definitely a money game. If say we brought in Nicholls St, we would have to pay them and hope people come pay to watch it. So if you pay them, we're already 300k in the hole.
 
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My question is do we really learn anything about the UTEP from playing either a FCS or road ranked P5 team? I would like to start the season with a MW or Sun Belt team. Someone like Texas St, Wyoming, or San Jose St.
 
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Didn't we owe them a game since they came here a few years ago?

Yeah and I believe that it was a two-for-one deal, which means that we may not have even recieved a normal "money game" type of paycheck for yesterday. What I do know for certain is that we still have to go back to Oklahoma again in 2022.
I agree with those saying that we should try to pick our non-conference/money games a little smarter and for crying out loud, let's not schedule any more "home and home's" with teams from the eastern time zone(Buffalo and Army), that just does not work out well for us.
 
Ok seriously! you are all thinking about money games instead of our program! You rather get our ass kicked for 4 qtrs and being humiliated in front of the whole world to see,.instead of thinking on how we are going to grow our @!^%$& program. We should be already competing with the OU's and other P5 programs. I know for a fact that the rich people that live in this town have been willing to step up to plate and pump enough money to get us were we need to be. I love coach kugler but we should have been a power house by now. When you say that we are underman and over recruited, what the hell have we being doing for the last 14years. Then you tell your player's that you are going to loose the game even before they step into the arena, something seriously does not sound right about that. I hoping that one day I wake up and hear that we defeated a P5 program and contending for a big bowl game. That is how you make money instead of taking money games.
 
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We owed them the game. It was part of the 2 for 1 deal when Price was here and as stated above, we owe them one more. There is always buyouts but UTEP isn't playing that card. They did it once when Mike Price got here to make a more favorable (home) schedule. Most mid majors don't do it because it's a gamble.

But as of right now, it's one for one (Tech, Army & Arizona) or "show me the money" (Tennessee). Butts in the seats have dropped quite a bit so for the three to five expect more to come.
 
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Ok seriously! you are all thinking about money games instead of our program! You rather get our ass kicked for 4 qtrs and being humiliated in front of the whole world to see,.instead of thinking on how we are going to grow our @!^%$& program. We should be already competing with the OU's and other P5 programs. I know for a fact that the rich people that live in this town have been willing to step up to plate and pump enough money to get us were we need to be. I love coach kugler but we should have been a power house by now. When you say that we are underman and over recruited, what the hell have we being doing for the last 14years. Then you tell your player's that you are going to loose the game even before they step into the arena, something seriously does not sound right about that. I hoping that one day I wake up and hear that we defeated a P5 program and contending for a big bowl game. That is how you make money instead of taking money games.

And what, this money is being turned down? If that's the case, where is it? Why hasn't it been pumped in?

And UTEP fb a "powerhouse"? It's great to have lofty goals, but that statement alone leans towards a misguided understanding of the college fb world. Just sayin',
 
How about we continue big money games (home and away), but try not to schedule it as a season opener until the program gets more on a roll. Lets avoid Div 2 teams because that won't tell us much either. To get on a roll we need more money, better X&O coaches, better recruiting and better fan support. I like the idea of more home/away with schools in similar conferences of similar caliber, or a step above UTEP. That can build confidence and a taste of winning for the players. If the progrem ever becomes successful on a regular basis and gets a bigger fan base/support, then we try to win games with OU instead of just using it as a money maker while getting demoralized. The next AD will have a lot of pressure on his or her shoulders from the fan base and the boosters. The window for any glimpse of successful UTEP football is closing fast.
 
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I don't understand how we can schedule a power 5 school in the beginning of the season. I know some of you would like to play big schools but we are not there yet as a program and to start our season playing P5 schools is not a smart thing to do for our program. We should be playing a division 2 school so we can prepare and gain confidence. We are nowhere close to competing with the big boys and all it does is get our players hurt and demoralizes our players. This is my opinion and I hope that our next AD schedules div 2 school to start the season.

Next year's schedule is a good example of what you are saying. 1st game is at home vs FCS member Northern Arizona. 2nd game is on the road vs UNLV who lost to Howard last night. 3rd game is a money game at Tennessee and then a home game vs NMSU. If the Miners are decent (big if) they could start 3-1. I like that type of schedule since it gives the Miners a good shot at starting well and getting the fan base excited.
 
Ok in my opinion I am kind of torn.... I think scheduling a ton of money games over say a 5yr period could really help utep.... I actually think it could help recruiting as you could sell the idea that hey look who is on our schedule.... then you get the money on top of that... but then I look at a different sport me El Paso's mindset of only supporting winning teams and then ask myself should we do what Gillespie did at a&m and schedule creampuff teams get winsbget fans excited? Sort of the idea Baylor football used too.... in my opinion if it were me I have always said if you want to be the best you got to beat the best... the players would learn a lot more from a Oklahoma than an fcs team... if I was a miner and saw how strong and physical Oklahoma was that would make me work even harder... just me but what do you all think?
 
I respect your comments purplefire but you got to understand that has not done a damn thing to help our program. We need to get to the heart of the problem and ask yourself, what has scheduling money games done to help our FB program. We are still not competitive to compete with the big boys or even teams in our conference. If you want a program that will be able to compete with top FB teams and win conference championship's, you need to dream big.... If you see something that is broken, you need find a way to fix it. I like the comments of axingfools and that is exactly how we are going to build our program. Again, i'm not bashing kugler but how did Bob Stull hire a coach that does not have any Division 1 head coaching experience to run our program, when there were a bunch of good candidates to run our program. I think eventually kug will turn the ship someday but how long will that take.
Why make excuses!!! "If it walks like a Duck and talks like a Duck then it is a Duck."
 
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And UTEP fb a "powerhouse"? It's great to have lofty goals, but that statement alone leans towards a misguided understanding of the college fb world. Just sayin',

It's hard to take some posters on here seriously when things like that are posted on here. I think it's safe to say that UTEP will never be a college football powerhouse. My definition of being a powerhouse is being ranked in the Top 25 every year, winning conference championship, etc.

Let's first try to win more than a few games every year and try to make AND win a bowl game.
 
G5 vs P5 ranked teams in week one lost by scores of 55, 49, 52, 53, 49, 34. G5 teams that made a bowl game last season lost by scores of 35, 21, and the Access Bowl Representative from 2016 had the best showing losing by only 18.

The best UTEP could have really hoped for is to lose by two or three less touchdowns.
 
UTEP vs P5 During Price Era

2004
Lost by 31 @ Arizona St. ASU finished 9-3
Lost by 5 vs Colorado. (Bowl game)CU finished 8-5

2005
None

2006
Lost by 3 vs (24) Texas Tech. TT finished 8-5

2007
Lost by 14 @ Texas Tech. TT finished 9-4 ranked (22)

2008
Lost by 29 vs (9) Texas. Texas finished 12-1 ranked (3)

2009
Lost by 27 vs (24) Kansas. Kansas finished 5-7
Lost by 57 @ (2) Texas. Texas finished 13-1 ranked (2) played for the National Championship.

2010
Lost by 37 @ (14) Arkansas. Arkansas finished 10-3 ranked (12)

2011
Lost by 28 @ (17) USF. USF finished 5-7

2012
Lost by 17 vs (4) Oklahoma. OU finished 10-3 ranked (15)
Lost by 18 @ Ole Miss. Ole Miss finished 7-6
Lost by 11 @ (24) Wisconsin. Wisconsin finished 8-6

We had some opportunities to beat P5's. I think we should have beat Colorado in 04, TT in 06, Kansas in 09 and pulled of the shocker in 12 vs Wisconsin. Had we beat half of those teams Price would probably be the front runner to be the next AD.
 
G5 vs P5 ranked teams in week one lost by scores of 55, 49, 52, 53, 49, 34. G5 teams that made a bowl game last season lost by scores of 35, 21, and the Access Bowl Representative from 2016 had the best showing losing by only 18.

The best UTEP could have really hoped for is to lose by two or three less touchdowns.

I have been a Kug supporter as I have believed that if we keep doing the right things off the field that it will eventually translate onto the field, but my biggest worry is how many times we looked absolutely lost in pass coverage. The TE rarely had somebody within 5 yards of him when he caught the ball, that is not an athlete issue, that is a secondary & LB unit blowing coverage and not understanding what they are doing. As Fox showed on replay, there were guys open even on some of our stops, the QB just didn't see them and throw it to them. That should not be happening in the second year of a defense, with returning starters, which also includes two complete years of spring ball as well. That is what creates my biggest reason for skepticism regarding improvement. Also, there were numerous times against the rush, where we did not have a replacement player in position to make a tackle, appearing that our structure/scheme will not be effective unless one of our guys beats a block. We also only averaged 3.5 yards per pass attempt(per the EP Times) which is frankly embarrassing. I am willing to completely throw away reading anything into that game because it was against OU, but we must make a dramatic change against Rice. I am still hopeful, but right now I am more worried. The Rice game should tell us what we need to know about our team.
 
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The pass rush was often nonexistent. Give those guys 5+ seconds to throw and a receiver will almost always be wide open.
 
I think "Money Games" are "penny-wise", but "dollar-dumb". Sure the paycheck is dumb, but those games are a quick way to ruin a season.

1. You start the season in a hole.
2. Injuries often happen in a game like this.
3. You learn nothing from these games because a team like Oklahoma is nothing like the C-USA teams we need to best.

Can you imagine the revenue UTEP could generate if instead they had 3 straight seasons with a winning record? However, I think "Money-Games" make winning records a me at impsobolity for UTEP.
 
I think "Money Games" are "penny-wise", but "dollar-dumb". Sure the paycheck is dumb, but those games are a quick way to ruin a season.

1. You start the season in a hole.
2. Injuries often happen in a game like this.
3. You learn nothing from these games because a team like Oklahoma is nothing like the C-USA teams we need to best.

Can you imagine the revenue UTEP could generate if instead they had 3 straight seasons with a winning record? However, I think "Money-Games" make winning records a me at impsobolity for UTEP.

This was not a money game. We have no money games this season. This game was a return trip for the game in 2012.
 
I think "Money Games" are "penny-wise", but "dollar-dumb". Sure the paycheck is dumb, but those games are a quick way to ruin a season.

1. You start the season in a hole.
2. Injuries often happen in a game like this.
3. You learn nothing from these games because a team like Oklahoma is nothing like the C-USA teams we need to best.

Can you imagine the revenue UTEP could generate if instead they had 3 straight seasons with a winning record? However, I think "Money-Games" make winning records a me at impsobolity for UTEP.
M
It's funny because people that say that are the first to usually complain about playing teams like fau
 
M
It's funny because people that say that are the first to usually complain about playing teams like fau

I don't. My "Perfect Non-conference Schedule" is UNM, NMSU, Mountain West Team, Lower Tier P5 Team or Sun Belt Team. Give us a chance to go 4-0, grow during OOC, so we can compete against the C-USA.
 
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I understand, as a general rule, I am against playing teams like Oklahoma, Texas, etc. It ruins seasons.

The 2000 team played both OU and TAMU, was the season ruined? We should play 1 P5 team a year. However, that team needs to be Duke, Wake, Rutgers, Kansas, etc. Until we beat one of them, the program will always suck.
 
I hope the new AD is not a safe hirer... Or its going to be more of the same. They need to beat Rice, but this program needs a lot of work. Hopefully the new AD gets that on the right path.
Amen to that brotha!!!! UTEP needs Brian Wickstrom to burn the house down and rebuild this sorry excuse for an athletic department.
 
The problem isn't the schedule it's the damn coaching staff. They can't recruit, they can't coach, we have regressed under Kuglar players. Let's just tell the truth, it's Kuglar not the damn schedule.
 
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