The Mine Shaft | UTEP athletics with Bret Bloomquist

Al Simmons says he's staying put

<a href=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/huskyfootballblog/2017152445_a_hint_at_a_new_defensive_back.html>While a report on a Seattle Times blog</a> strongly suggests UTEP's safety coach Al Simmons is a candidate to be a defensive backs coach at Washington, Simmons said he has had no contact with anyone at the school and that the rumor is unfounded.

UTEP women begin conference

As tournament selection day nears, the RPI (rating percentage index) becomes a major measuring stick used by the NCAA for selecting and seeding the field.
This early in the season, though, it is a strange metric. According to the mirror site rpiratings.com, UTEP is currently 116th, which is third among C-USA schools behind Tulane (42nd) and UAB (96th).
The leader of those rankings? Try Delaware, which is 10-1. Undefeated Baylor, a unanimous No. 1 in both polls, is fifth, three spots behind a three-loss Tennessee team it beat.

As C-USA play tips off, the top of the standings look similar to the pre-season coaches poll with two big exceptions - Rice and UCF. The Owls, picked to finish second behind Memphis, are mid-pack at 6-7, while third-place pick UCF has the second worst record in the league at 6-7.
The only team worse is Houston, which went unbeaten the regular-season conference games last year, graduated four starters and is 1-11.
UTEP shares the best record, 11-2, with the team it was picked to finished tied for fourth with, Tulane. Preseason favorite Memphis is 9-3, as well as sixth-place selection UAB.

Tulane has the conference's best victory, beating then-No. 21 LSU 65-62 in overtime in the season's third game.

UTEP hires alum to coach o-line

From the press release:

"Former UTEP consensus All-American, Brian Natkin, has been named as the offensive line coach, head coach Mike Price announced on Tuesday. Natkin replaces co-offensive coordinator Bob Connelly, who recently departed to Arizona State. "
 
Three thoughts:

1. Given that Mike Price seems likely to retire after the season, and given that a new coach will probably come from outside the program and bring a mostly new staff with him, hiring one of the program's all-time greats who has been successful at the Division II level is a logical and nice move. He will be the second alum on the full-time staff, along with Robert Rodriguez, and if an all-returnee offensive line has a good year, Natkin would seem a strong candidate for a job on a new staff.

2. Bob Connelly didn't leave UTEP out of fears of being on a lame-duck staff. He left because joining the staff of a Pac-12 team is a clear step up.

3. Eric Price is still looking for a job. Could there be another change to come on the UTEP staff that would make room for him?

UTEP women vs. Loyola Marymount

UTEP Miners (9-0 overall, 2-0 on the road)
Starters
1 Kim Smith     5-8 Sr. G       3.8 ppg, 2.9apg
3 Kelli Willingham      5-3 So. G       9.0 ppg, 3.0 apg
33 Melisa Mendes        5-9 Jr. G/F     5.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg
5 Kayla Thornton        6-1 So. F       8.2 ppg, 6.6 rpg
23 Kristine Vitola      6-5 Jr. C       6.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg
Key reserves
20 Gloria Brown         6-2 Sr. C       12.1 ppg, 9.0 rpg
32 Chrishauna Parker    5-10 Fr. G/F    7.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg
11 Briana Green 5-6 Sr. G       4.2 ppg, 0.9 apg

About UTEP: The 9-0 record is the best start in program history and a victory against Loyola Marymount would match the second-longest winning streak in school history at 10, matching the 2006-07 team. The '07-08 tournament team won 23 consecutive games. ... There are now 11 unbeaten teams in the nation. ... UTEP has never won its first three road games of the season and has only won three straight on the road five times. ... Of the nine victories, eight have been by double figures.

Loyola Marymount Lions (3-7 overall, 2-4 at home)
Starters
1 Danielle Pruitt       5-8 Fr. G       3.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg
3 Alex Cowling  5-11 Jr. G/F    21.1 ppg, 9.2 rpg
4 Hazel Ramirez 5-5 So. G       8.6 ppg, 2.1 apg
13 Courtney Collishaw   5-11 Sr. G      2.3 ppg, 3.2 rpg
25 Emily Ben-Jumbo      6-1 Fr. F       4.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg
Reserves
2 Dani LeNoir   5-6 Jr. G       1.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg
11 Melinda Gomez        5-11 So. G      1.4 ppg, 0.8 rpg
20 Ashley Lovett        6-0 Fr. F       4.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg

About LMU: Alex Cowling ranks 12th in the nation in scoring and eighth with five double-doubles. ... The Lions have won three of their last five after an 0-5 start, including a 57-54 victory at New Mexico on Dec. 1. Their other game with a common opponent was a season-opening 71-55 loss at Denver. Those are the only two games they have played away from the Southern California area. ... LMU is a member of the West Coast Conference, which includes first-year member Brigham Young. ... Loyola Marymount is a Catholic school in Los Angeles. Famous alums include basketball players Bo Kimble and the late Hank Gathers of 1990 NCAA postseason fame, Bob Denver who played Gilligan on "Gilligan's Island" and actress Mila Kunis.

Price will be back

UTEP coach Mike Price will return for a ninth season.
The school will host a 1:30 p.m. press conference Thursday to make the announcement and also issued a press release.
The Miners are coming of a 5-7 rebuilding season, moving Price's record to 45-52 in his eight seasons.
One of only two coaches to lead the Miners to three bowl games, Price is the nation’s sixth-winningest active head coach with 174 victories.  With 45 wins at UTEP, Price is one victory away from tying Mike Brumbelow (1950-56) for the second-most in school history.

The Miners return 11 starters, including seven on offense, for the 2012 campaign.

 

Price's future

By Bret Bloomquist
El Paso Times
Mike Price said he was going about the business of coaching UTEP football as usual on Tuesday and that he expected to know "later in the week" whether he would have the chance of leading the team into the 2012 season.
Price, athletic director Bob Stull and UTEP president Dr. Diana Natalicio will meet at some point in the next few days to discuss the future of the program after a rebuilding 2011 ended with a 5-7 record, moving Price's seven-year mark at UTEP ato 45–52 and his career record to 174-174. Price moved up to seventh in all-time victories among active NCAA FBS coaches when Arizona State fired Dennis Erickson earlier this week.
"I want to come back," said Price, who met with players on Monday to discuss their academic progress. "We're going to be pretty good next year. We will meet on (Natalicio's) schedule so until then I can't really say anything."
Stull repeated that, noting that the procedure this year is the same as in years past.
"Until we meet there's nothing to report," he said.
Bret Bloomquist may be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; 546-6359.

Lamaison, Warren nearing full health

Nick Lamaison, returning from an injured groin suffered a week and a half ago against East Carolina, split first-team quarterback reps with Carson Meger for the second consecutive day Tuesday and appears ready to go, though Mike Price said he's still undecided on a starter for Friday's game with UCF.
"Nick looks pretty good," Price said, agreeing with Lamaison's Monday statement that he's 85 percent. "I'm not sure who will start, really I'm not. It depends on what type of offense we go with.
"I'm expecting to play both. ... Nick has come along further and better than I thought he would."
Lamaison said he's ready.
"I've made a lot of progress since I was first hurt," he said. Tuesday "felt good and I expect (Wednesday) to be better. Quick cuts, quick turns are what I'll need to improve on in the next couple of days."
Kicker Dakota Warren also returned to practice Tuesday and looked fine. Price indicated he will take Mike Scott to Orlando in case Warren gets re-injured.
"My ankle hurts more than my groin," Warren said. "My groin is close to 100 percent. I expect to play."

Lamaison ready to go

Nick Lamaison was supposed to be used mostly in a walk-through basis in Monday's practice, but ended up splitting first-team reps with Carson Meger and said he'd be ready for Friday's game with UCF.
"I thought it was good," he said of his injured groin. "I've been working hard, getting treatment. (Trainer) Dawn (Hearne) told me I'd have to work really hard and I have. I'm about 85, 90 percent, it's the beginning of the week and I look forward to increasing that all through the week.
"I'll be ready to play Friday."

Tulsa's motivation?

UTEP coach Mike Price offered Tulsa a bit of advice earlier this week.
Since the 7-3 Golden Hurricanes’  chances of playing in the Conference USA title game and Liberty Bowl won’t be affected by Saturday’s contest with 5-5 UTEP Saturday, the Golden Hurricanes should just play their junior varsity and not worry about getting their new helmets scratched up.
Joking aside, Tulsa coach Bill Blankenship acknowledged finding a sense of urgency is a concern.
“Absolutely,” he said of his team clinching a position in a de facto West Division title game next week against Houston with its victory over Marshall last Saturday. “That’s a double-edged sword and I’m very concerned about it.
“With that victory (against Marshall) it made this game not as big a deal in terms of how the conference plays out.
“For us, it’s important how we play. We’re on a good roll and we don’t want to step back and play poorly. (UTEP) is a team that’s had our number and we know that.”
This is far from a meaningless game, however. If Tulsa wins, it still controls its own destiny to finish the regular season unbeaten in conference which would mean hosting the C-USA title game.
A lost would almost certainly mean that even if they did beat Houston next week, they’d have to travel to Southern Miss for the title game.
Also, no team has gone unbeaten in the league since the conference took its current form with a title game in 2005, which was the year Tulsa joined.
“We want to be the first team to go undefeated in conference play,” quarterback G.J. Kinne said. “That’s been one of our goals and that goes through El Paso.”
Blankenship also acknowledge the importance of home field in a title game.
“We just like the fact that we love to play at Chapman” Field, he said. “This is our place and there,s a lot of difference in coming out of our locker room and getting ready to play than someplace else. That’s why in college football, statistically, the home team always has an edge. It’s a big deal to play at home.”

Closed practice today

As was the case when UTEP successfully hid the fact Carson Meger would start against USF, the Miners are having a closed practice today, which seems odd considering Nick Lamaison and Dakota Warren almost certainly will be held out today regardless of what their status will be going forward.

Let the cloak and dagger of the week begin.