Joe on utepia

Price and Washington State

Word from a newspaper friend in Washington: "It's possible, but not likely," Washington State would ask Mike Price to return as head coach.

Since Washington State is having a bad year, and the coach (a pal of Price's) is getting up in years, there's a lot of talk about a change in Pullman these days. If Price returns, the head coach gets bumped down to def. coordinator? That's the scuttlebutt.

Recall, Price left Washington State for Alabama ... and on to UTEP. We all know the story.

As I've posted, I don't think Mike has turned the program unless "turned" means not letting it hit back down on the rocks as coaches did in the past. He won't be a candidate for any big-time job that may open this winter. And to my blogging good friend, Barry: No way at Texas A&M.

I'll cut with the "he likes it here" and all that. Of course he likes it here. El Paso is great. Everybody likes him, too. Kiss, kiss.

Reasons the Washington State writer at the Seattle Times said Price is not likely to be pulled back to Pullman:

He has money from his Sports Illustrated settlement (amount not made public, but it's likely a lot of cash).

He's in his 60s now and Wash. St. people might want a younger coach to handle the building-back-up needed to be done (note Wash. St. never had the natural resources to be a yearly power in the Pac-10, anyway.

Some boosters were not happy he left in the first place (big deal! People weren't happy here when Gillippie left, but he'd be welcome back)

Others did like Priced a lot, and he does have a lot of friends there.

As it looks now, with two hard losses in a row, and looking at a 6-6 season, Price is not a hot number right now on other schools' short lists.

Might as well throw something else in on the other side of the argument: Doesn't Price get a kickback on ticket sales as one of his perks? And ticket sales are low this year (higher prices).

UTEP basketball begins

Ready for basketball season? Get a head start with this sneak preview of what the year could be like for the UTEP men's basketball team.

To listen to the UTEP basketball preseason podcast, click here.

The podcast features Fred Albers, sports editor at KTSM, Chan. 9; Bill Knight, the UTEP basketball beat writer for the El Paso Times; and Joe Muench, UTEP athletics blogger for elpasotimes.com.

Series with New Mexico

UTEP and New Mexico will play each other in football only five times between now and a new contract-ending game in 2016. So said a report out of Albuquerque Tuesday.

That's not enough. These two schools have been long-time rivals. And rivals should play every year.

Citing "scheduling conflicts" is a copout for both schools. Do as does USC, which automatically puts Notre Dame on the schedule each year, even though USC has a Pac-10 schedule to complete. UTEP-New Mexico and UTEP-New Mexico State are the big fan-favorite games every season — if they even play. Fans here don't really care about many of the teams in UTEP's Confence USA.

A report out of Albuquerque listed the five games.

In Albuquerque: 2010, 2014 and 2016.

In El Paso: 2012 and 2015.

Note there will be no games the next two seasons. Note New Mexico doesn't play here until five years from now.

Until recently, UTEP and New Mexico played virtually every year, beginning in 1919. New Mexico leads the series 42-30-3 — that's 75 times. That sure beats UTEP vs. East Carolina, or even UTEP vs. other Texas schools such as Rice and SMU.

If you don't play a rival every year, it's not a rival game anymore.

Questions answered

Mid-season thoughts:

Whatever the season will bring, it's clear UTEP has a quarterback for the next three seasons in Vittatoe.

But if the jury came back today on the defense ... "hang 'em, hang 'em high," would be the verdict. Since Defensive Coordinator Tim Hundley missed time last pre-season with an ailment, the defense hasn't been in the form he had it the two previous years. Coincidence?

This year should also show that Coach Mike Price need not bring in so many transfers, especially those who quit at other schools. The offense is doing quite well without the "most talented receiver ever to wear a Miner uniform," the troubled Fred Rouse. Maybe fellow Florida State transfer, senior Lorne Sam, can really get it going the rest of the year. But he has not proved to be a program-maker, either.

And, no, to blogger Barry: Price won't be a finalist for the Texas A&M job. He probably wouldn't want it. The Aggies are far, far away from rejoining the ranks of the Big 12 elites.

Check out the latest elpasotimes.com/KTSM podcast on UTEP football by clicking here.

Mike Price situation

Here's assuaging some fans' fears that UTEP Football Coach Mike Price won't like it here anymore and head back to the big-time.

Nobody will come calling for Price. In my opinion, he's perhaps the best UTEP football coach ever, but it's his fourth year now and he hasn't turned the program around. He has, though, apparently kept it from hitting the old 2-9 doldrums of so many coaches in the recent past.

To get from UTEP to the TV leagues, you've got to pull a Billy Gillispie.

Gillispie's UTEP basketball team got real good real fast. He then made the move to Texas A&M, where getting good real fast landed him at the apex of college basketball, Kentucky.

It's much more difficult to turn football around. You can do it with two or three new players in basketball. In football you need two or three good recruiting seasons — in a row.

Price hasn't done that. And although he's been to the big-time bowls while at Washington State, he's never had more than two winning seasons in a row.

Stop worrying that Price will be lured away.

Football attendance

Stop talking about "disappointing crowds" at UTEP games.

Only 35,000. Only 41,000. Yes, the stadium holds 51,500, and the more ticket money that's collected the more athletics has to spend to build better programs. Can't be good without money. It's a chicken-and-egg thing.

But it's not your DUTY to support events. It's up to UTEP, New Mexico State ... the Dallas Cowboys, to put forth a product you'll pay to see.

People say how "disappointed" they are that a game was not a sellout. People phone into radio shows and say how upset they are that more fans didn't attend a game. C'mon. Mind your own business, or go buy two tickets.

El Paso has good fans. Don't let anyone make you feel bad because you didn't choose to buy a ticket and "support those Miners."

Bottom line: Pay for UTEP, a movie or a concert — if you choose to do so.

Bottom line 2: But remember, attending games is like voting. Don't complain if you're not part of it.

Dump troublemakers

UTEP doesn't need sophomore receiver Fred Rouse, serving a one-game suspension this week for missing a team meeting (what really happened?)

UTEP gave him a second chance at a college career after he got in trouble with the law at Florida State.

Coach Mike Price is becoming known for calling situations "an injury" when maybe there's more to it? Remember Tyler Ebell, the UCLA transfer running back who missed the last few games in 2005 with an "undisclosed injury," but then was all-of-a-sudden fit to play in a post-season all-star game.

Rouse has been "injured" in spring drills. At the beginning of two-a-days in Camp Socorro he was still not in good shape, the team reported. Lately he's been "injured" although he played some.

Dump the receiver who is considered a top-notch talent, but seemingly can't stay out of coaches' doghouses.

Vittatoe astonishing

Who would have thought, and if you are a Miner fan, who would have dreamed?

Probably no one. No, no, no. Don't raise your hand. Nobody thought.

Six games into his freshman season of college football, UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe has had no screwup games. No big rookie meltdowns or knee-wobbling jitters. He's played well all six times.

This usually doesn't happen in college football, where big, corn-fed senior defensive linemen and linebackers hassle freshman quarterbacks fairly easily.

Six games in and Vittatoe has 10 TD passes and only 2 interceptions. He's completing 54 percent of his passes for 1,295 yards and an average of more than 200 yards a game.

He's cool under pressure. He's leading a team that has a 4-2 record.

I always liked Jordan Palmer, last year's senior q'back who set all kinds of passing records. But Palmer didn't start off his career as steady as has Vittatoe and, in fact, had problems reading defenses even in his second year. Some may say even in his senior year. But Palmer was a good one.

Check Vittatoe's birth certificate. He is simply not playing like a freshman.

Talking football

Joe is back! And he's back on our podcast talking about UTEP football. Listen to the latest UTEP football podcast, featuring Joe Muench, Beau Bagley, John Erfort and Pablo Villa, by clicking here.

You can also listen to what UTEP football head coach Mike Price had to say today about the victory over Tulsa by clicking here.