UTEP Miners College Football Pregame Quote, 08/29/2022

Obviously, there was a little different twist to the start of the game with weather, which kind of caught us off guard a little bit. We weren’t expecting the 10 percent chance of rain (to happen), so I’ve got to talk to ‚ÄòDoppler Dave’ about that. We got out, had a short warm-up and got ready. I thought we played pretty well early in the ballgame. I liked how we were playing in the first drive. They won the toss and deferred so we got the ball first. I thought we moved the ball well on that first drive and then came up empty with missing the field goal. Then we got the next drive and went all the way down there and had the chance to get the ball in the end zone and get the 7-0 lead, but we just didn’t execute the last two plays that we ran very well as a unit. The reason I’m hitting that is because I thought it was a big part of the game. Obviously, we had a chance to take the next drive and move down the field and execute on a 4thand one on a really nice pass that was pulled down by Tyrin (Smith) to get a 7-0 lead in the game.

At that point in the game, I felt really comfortablewith how we stood and were playing, but the gist of it was that it could have very easily been 17-0. If it’s 17-0 there, we probably have a very different outcome to the game because what happened is we allowed them to stay within the rhythm of what they were doing. They like to just run the ball, throw RPO’s off the run game and get some naked (looks) and that’s what they did. It’s hard to come from behind against big leads when you have that style of offense, but by not scoring we kept them in the game. Then they got the ball and went down and got a field goal after they matched our touchdown to go up 10-7.They scored late in the half when, but we got the opportunity to get that turnover there at the end. Again, we were in the red zone.

We were a littlebit limited on time, which was a factor there as well and weren’t able to punch the ball in the endzone. I think if we were able to punch the ball in the endzone there, we’re going to get a lead going into halftime and I think it completely changes the game. Our lack of ability to score touchdowns in the redzone was a really critical part of this ballgame. We should be good at that. We spend a lot of time doing that, we have good schemes and the type of people that can execute those schemes, but we have todo better. That would have changed the whole game, it comes down to that. They’re going to do some things. Offenses are going to score some points. We can’t move the ball and get in the redzone and come up empty. We could have had easily 24 or 28 points at the end of the first half and again, it’s a different game.

A big play of the third quarter was when we stopped them and got the 15-yard targeting penalty after the good defense on third and long when they would have punted. We would have gotten the ballback with a one-point difference. Then they go down and score and make it an eight-point game. Then we come back and continue to drive the ball and then have a mishandled snap and a fumble that happened because of that. Then they went down and put it in and now the whole game changes because now we’re facing drop eight and we’re in more of an urgency type of a situation because of the way they control the clock offensively.

They were going to eat up time when they had the ball, so we were having to try to throw the ball quite a bit more. We couldn’t establish the type of consistency or mix in the run or the play-action pass in because obviously the play-action pass wasn’t going to be paid much attention to since they knew we had to try to score quickly. So that was kind of the gist for the rest of the game. We were trying to play catch-up and were moving the ball, but we weren’t scoring. They’ve got a good football team. I knew they were going to be one of the best teams we played in conference all year. I feel like they played a really good football game. They did a great job, and I feel like we left a lot of things out there on the table which leads to us being upset and angry about that. It’s something we have to respond to. It’s game one, none of us like to play a conference game on game one because you like have a warm-up, but I see a lot of potential on this football team. I see a lot of talent. I thought our new guys played solid.

None of the new starters played great, but they played solid and there’s a ton of potential and growth for them so I’m really excited for where they’re going to grow in their roles and how they are doing. I’m pleased that we had a really good practiced today. Like I mentioned earlier, we’ve got a really good football team. We can handle adversity, I promise you. We’re not afraid of that, we can handle that. So, we will respond to this and get better.

The story of this season will be how we improve and get better after an opening-season conference loss. We don’t get a chance to rebound with an easy game as we segue into the next game. It’s not like we have a bounce-back game. You’ve got a game against a preseason top-10 football team (No. 9 Oklahoma) in a fun place to play. That’s what it is for us, an opportunity to go out and enjoy why you play these games, why you want to play these types of opponents. We want to go out and execute well our brand of football. We have quality enough caliber of players to play good in this atmosphere. So now we haveto have really good preparation. They’re a difficult preparation because of the things they do on both sides of the football. They have great schemes, and we’re going to have to rise to the challenge.

It’ll be a great venue to play in at 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon at Oklahoma. It’s a fun place for these guys to go into. We’ve worked on the crowd noise and have put on some things in spring ball and in camp to (help) handle that. I think we’ll be prepared for that, it’s not like we just started preparing for that. They’ve got a lot of talented players. Obviously their quarterback, I’ve followed his career from when he was as at UCF. He was one of the best players in college football. That’s their number one weapon, he’s been with their coordinator before previously at UCF so they have a history together. They’ve got talented wide receivers, a big physical offensive line, a running back that has had really good production.

On defense they have some front guys that have quite a bit of experience. Their secondary and linebackers are the most experienced units. There’s a lot of guys who have played in the secondary that are coming back. It’ll be a difficult test for us, but a fun test. As you know, you never know when your team is going to rise up to the challenge after not playing as well as we know we can in week one. Maybe we put our best game out there on the field on week two.

On being Oklahoma’s season-opening opponent after already having played a game:

The disadvantage is the fact that they are brand new. They are playing their very first game as a group. Obviously (head coach) Brent Venables will have a lot of influence on the defense, so that’s what we’re expecting to prepare for is Clemson’s defense. So, we’re studying Clemson’s tape for that side of the ball. Their offensive coordinator was at Ole Miss, so we’re studying Ole Miss’s offense for that side of the ball. Their special team’s coordinator was at Eastern Michigan, so there’s a lot of film that has to be gathered. We’ve watched a bunch of game tape of Oklahoma (from) last year to evaluate each player that’s coming back. This is a really unusual preparation for us as far as new coordinators are all coming from different schools. We still had to do an evaluation on their players as well.

On North Texas trying to take away UTEP’s run game:

They were playing eight guys to the front and trying to keep us out of the run game. That’s what everybody is going to do against us. The first time their defensive coordinator and I went against each other was 1994, so he understands if he gives us a box to run into, we’re going to run into it. He knows you can’t do that, that you better box up with lots of pressures and force to throw the ball on early downs. We’re good enough to do that, it’s not like we’re good enough not to do that.

On how to improve the running game:

Just get more physical with what we’re doing, more than anything. I think we have an offensive line that is equipped to run the football, I really do. I think we just stay to what we do and work with better pad level and physicality. We’ve got good running backs, we’ve got good fullbacks, good blocking tight ends and a good offensive line. The ingredients are all there. We just need to get it cleaned up and have better execution. I’m not alarmed that we’re not going to be able to run the football this year. I think it was a game that really we should have done a better job of taking advantage at what they were giving us. There will be games that if people allow us to run the ball, then we’ll run it well. Then, if they take it away we’ll hurt them more so in the passing game.

On having a nothing-to-lose attitude:

Anytime you play a top-10 team like this and you’re a group of five team, that’s part of the mentality that you take. No one is expecting you to win the game, but if you can win the game, it would be a really big step for your program. So, you do go into it with a mentality of hey, if you can pull off a victory, it would be really big for us.