Robert Soleyjacks lays out Houston quarterback Case Keenum during the 2009 matchup. UTEP upset the Cougars 58-41 in the Sun Bowl. (Image: Jeff Taylor)
EL PASO, Texas – I didn’t come into Saturday’s game with terribly high expectations. Okay, maybe a little, but my predictions weren’t an unexpected want from a UTEP team that was supposed to easily take care of business.
So maybe thinking the score was going to be 45-14 was a little high. Maybe thinking the offense was going to simply roll over Arkansas-Pine Bluff was a little much to ask. I didn’t think asking the defense to hold the opponent below 14 points wasn’t though.
And then there was the Golden Lion’s first drive.
I remember thinking to myself that I was an idiot for thinking the guys were vastly improved, that they were going to make big stops with new defensive coordinator Andre Patterson, and that we would see literally a miracle happen before my eyes.
I shook my head in disbelieve as the Golden Lions marched down 80 yards with no problem. All I could think was: ‘Here we go again. The UTEP defense can’t hold it’s own.’
To tell you the truth, I know I wasn’t the only one who was thinking this because all 30,000 fans in attendance became very quiet. I think I even heard a collective sigh of disappointment as fans sat back down in their seats after the opening touchdown.
The entire first half of defensive play by the Miners wasn’t all that great. Having seen the team practice for weeks now; I was anticipating some big stops and big hits given how excited and fired up the defense was.
But for just under five minutes, things were excruciating. Josh Boudreaux looked like he was having a field day, dinking and dumping the ball before connecting on a 34-yard pass for a touchdown in Arkansas-Pine Bluff’s first offensive possession.
Then something happened.
I’m going to chalk it up to a good old-fashioned butt chewing. On the next possession we saw the Miners close off gaps, get good coverage in the flats and the deep pass was pretty non-existent.
Just like a number of scrimmages, the defense got into a rhythm and things started clicking. When the team came out in the second half, the players looked a step faster and were hitting harder. Even more impressively, they were hitting Golden Lions and bringing them down on most of the first hits. We haven’t seen that here in a long time.
As I watched and took notes the thing I was most impressed with was that Patterson, as he stated throughout spring and fall practices, was making sure his defense bent but didn’t break.
The Miners did just that.
There are a lot of positives to take away from Saturday’s game, and this clearly has to be one of them. UTEP’s defense started slow but got things going, and shut down Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Break down the game and the Miners pitched a shutout in the second half. Good stuff for a team going back to a 4-3 defense after a terrible run with the 3-3-5.
But here’s what worries me.
Houston sure isn’t Arkansas-Pine Bluff and there’s no doubt the Cougars aren’t going to care how long it takes the Miner defense to warm up. Case Keenum is going to come out firing on all cylinders, as will the rest of the team. They are looking for revenge after last year’s embarrassing loss here in El Paso and there’s no question they are going to try to stick it to UTEP early.
So what does this mean for Patterson and his defensive squad? Quite simply, the defense can’t wait for an opening 80-yard drive to wake up. Houston will probably try and throw the ball deep very quickly to test the Miner secondary because that’s what they are good at – shoving the ball down your throat with quick and efficient passing.
Heck, Houston went 45-yards in 34 seconds on their opening drive against Texas State. You don’t think they are going to try and do the same against the Miners?
You have to be kidding me if you think otherwise.
The good thing for the Miners is that Travaun Nixon will be back after serving a one-game suspension this past weekend for a violation of team rules. I know I’ve been waiting to see him play after a great spring and fall camp. He’s a hard hitter that Houston receivers will remember after getting laid out by him. He has big-play potential and will have to be ready to go immediately.
So what will the Miner defense need to do this weekend to steal a win against Houston?
It’s simple. Stop them cold on their first possession with hard hits. Make them worry about the bells ringing in their ears every time they hear a charging Miner. Remind Keenum what defeat tastes like. Play like there is no tomorrow.
Play like a Miner.
It’s been done before, now do it again.
Chris Avila may be reached at show@minerillustrated.com.
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Very good post and I agree that the Miners have to start hitting early and hard.
I echo ‘some’ of your sentiments, however as I posted on The Rush, I believe we need some perspective:
First, are there things that need to worked on and shored up? Absolutely! But there are a few things to take into consideration.
- Give credit to APB for coming out and putting their best foot forward. They played hard, executed well and did everything they could to win and left nothing on the table at the end of the night, yet they were still held to 10 total points.
- We had no idea what they would be showing on offense. As was stated earlier in the week, it was very difficult to find any information on what their new offensive coordinator would be scheming. It was apparent on their opening drive. Obviously, they knew what we wold be doing on defense as it was widely broadcast in all things UTEP leading up to the game.
- Yes, we failed to put an enormous amount of pressure on their QB. I believe some of this was by design as we didn’t want to tip all of our defensive sets and schemes going into Houston the following week. Are there some glaring improvments that need to be made? Sure, but there was also a 100% improvment between the first half and the second half on both sides of the ball. Some of this can be attributed to first game misques, but in the end, the game was more one-sided than the score indicates. I believe Houston will receive the pointy end of the Miner Pickaxe in all things offense, defense and special teams this week. I’d venture to say we will see a completely diffenent Miner team this week.
- Finally, we had a much weaker defense and special teams when Houston visited us last year, yet we were able to pull out a convincing win. I’m not ready to chalk up a loss for Miner Nation v Houston just yet, in fact I wouldn’t be suprised if we control the tempo of this game from start to finish and walk away with another convincing win. I’m not predicting a win, just voicing I wouldn’t be suprised if.
What the miners need to do is never, ever put the safeties in man coverage…They have to stay in deep zone coverage throughout the whole game. I watched the SMU vs Texas Tech game yesterday, and I noticed that Texas Tech kept their safeties EXTREMELY deep in coverage, it basically took away Kyle Padron’s ability to do what he does best, throwing deep. I guess the TECH coaches watched the SMU vs NEVADA bowl game last year and noticed that Kyle Padron constantly threw to deep routes and shredded the Nevada secondary. The only problem with TECH covering so deep was the fact that SMU was able to run the ball well. I think the deep pass coverage is a MUCH better trade off than not covering the run.
For the offense, UTEP just has to “run, run, run”. Control the clock, stripping away the offenses ability to score fast. Houston’s defense still sucks badly, as evidenced by Texas State scoring 28 points. A D-2 school should never be able to score that many points on a D-1 school, heck, Texas State scored more on Houston than Arkansas-Pine-Bluff scored on UTEP (did you guys not stop to think about that ?). Houston doesn’t have the personnel to run a 3-4 defense, sorry but they don’t. Their nose tackle, Matangi Tonga, was a highly celebrated recruit, but he won’t have much impact against UTEP’s Big lineman.
Keenum is good, but he is not god, he’s still just a guy. I honestly think UTEP can win.
For all the naysayer out there, the Miners did not have the troubles that Ole Miss, Kansas, Florida, and OU had Saturday. UTEP won!!! Florida and OU really struggled to eek out wins against lesser opponents than what UTEP played. I really shouldn’t be complaining, but in my humble opinion, these were the real glaring problems coming out of this game – deer in the headlights defense on the opening drive, fumble with Center to QB exchange, getting stopped on the one yard line (big), and (huge mistake) an interception on the one yard line. This can’t happen against UH. Thankfully, UAPB did not capitalize on the TV interception. Not too many errs, but enough to frustrate me. It was a different defensive team in the second half – shutting down UAPB’s offense. I admit I wanted a high scoring Miner offensive performance and a shut out by the defense. But, that will come against the NMSU Aggies on September 18. Realistically, all teams struggle on opening games.
I have all the confidence in the world that MP and the coaching staff will come up with a game plan that will stifle and baffle Case Keenum and the Cougars like the Miners did last year. I believe what the Miners have going for them this year is Andre Patterson and the new found confidence the Miner Defense now has. The suspended players and some of the injured should be back this week, which should make a humongous difference for this Miner team. Also, UTEP now has more depth than they have had in some time. The Cougars may have the best offense in C-USA, but their defense will not stop TV, Buckram, and the rest of the Miner offense. The Miner OL is too huge for the Cougar 3 man front, which will create multiple problems for the back 8. Texas State is not UTEP. I hope the Miners come ready to play some smash mouth football from the opening play. The UH game will be a nail biter, but the Miners will squeak out a win. GO MINERS!!!!