Joe on utepia | The place for commentary for UTEP athletics

Three subjects

Three subjects:

1) Football: Look for Coach Mike Price to announce some coaching changes on defense. Perhaps the 3-3-5 goes, too?

UTEP (4-8) scored plenty of points to have had a winning season. But when people are happy because Marshall was held to just 21 Saturday ... that says it all. It's an age-old coverup excuse to say UTEP plays in an offensive-minded league. The same was said in the Wild Wacky WAC for all those years.

Real football is 28 for a good offense and holding the opponent to less than 21 on defense.

2) Basketball: UTEP's talent is superior to that of rival New Mexico State. Look for Arnette Moultrie to dominate Tuesday in Las Cruces. Continued speed, with smarts, will win this one. And remember the Aggies don't have their two starting forwards this time. One thing to watch out for in this rivalry matchup. Foul trouble because of the high emotions.

NMSU will have its loud and into-it students at the game. It's not semester break yet. But crowds in the NMSU Pan American Center AND in the UTEP Don are not nearly as intimidating as in past years.

Perhaps, with all the Miners' talent, this is the year the fans return to UTEP basketball with the real big crowds.

UTEP wins Tuesday to go 5-0, then is idle until hosting those same Aggies Sunday, Dec. 13. That's the 6-0 I predicted.

3. OK, I didn't hit the Miner football record on the dot. They finished 4-8 and I said 5-7. Now, how about all you posters refreshing our memories on how YOU said it would end. Fess up, all you "I think they can win seven or eight."

Will be out of Utepia this weekend

I'll be outside Utepia this weekend. Will return to this blog on Monday. Feel free to use this post for comments on all subjects Utepia.

Joe

Keitha winningest coach

For a time, I'm betting, Keitha Adams wasn't preening at the fact she's NOW the winningest coach in UTEP women's basketball history (125-115 now). Sandra Rushing had 124.

Losing at Florida Gulf Coast in the opener? For a team with a whole lot of star talent? And losing to Arkansas Little Rock two games later? I know they were not home games, but that's not supposed to happen. I know UTEP is saying how great these programs are. Still, how in the heck is Keitha going to get a big-time job after this season NOW?

Prediction: At 2-2 today, look for the Miners to win 20 plus and have one of Adams' best seasons here. Beating Toledo showed there's squeak in the team tennies, after all.

Friday UTEP hosts the Third-Annual UTEP Thanksgiving Classic at The Don. There ought to be two more wins in this: Beat Weber State Friday and beat the winner of Youngstown State and whoever the heck ULM is on Saturday. I'm guessing that would be the University of Louisiana at Monroe? Truly, at UTEP there are three big sports now: Adams' program joins football and men's basketball.

Miners' life monitor ----^----------

No team or human being can lose like this, almost every week. So don't believe UTEP gave up a double-digit lead midway into the fourth quarter and lost 30-29 at real, real lowly Rice Saturday. Rice had been 1-9.

Well, OK, believe it because you've seen UTEP lose like this all football season.

A chance to win in the closing minutes? Yes. Then,Whoooosh! The Miners' record is now 3-8 because of this week-after-week stuff.

Wait a sec. Don't believe it. We take you back to the game in Houston. It cannot be after all. Because, down by the 1 point, UTEP's Donald Buckram is running for a touchdown! Whoooosh. He fumbled away a likely go-ahead (winning?) TD when the ball rolled into the end zone for a touchback. This just doesn't happen.

So don't believe it? Apparently UTEP wanted to prove it true to everybody, so it did it yet again. After Rice punted, UTEP was moving well for at least a (winning?) field goal try this time ... but Buckram fumbled again. And Rice idled until the clock ran out.

Afterward, Coach Mike Price was sounding calm and collected, saying the team will try hard to win its final game of the season next Saturday vs. Marshall in the (Bates Motel) Sun Bowl. Was he calm and collected or shellshocked? Was it a tape recording of an early season loss because, in real time, Price had dropped over in the lockerroom? This man has been a really good coach for more than a quarter of a century. Why this anvil on his head every week? But don't look for Price to get fired now that he's had four losing seasons in a row like just about all of his ancestors in Utepia. But everybody likes speculation, so here's a possibility, although not a probability: Since Price has four years left on his contract (a million bucks), and UTEP's not paying that off - or even half that - what if the Prices keep the head job in the family? Could Mike's son Eric come back from the pros and take over? Maybe put a little life into recruiting? Maybe Mike would stay on the sidelines in some capacity? He's still a top offensive mind and he's still popular in the community.

Meanwhile, UTEP didn't lose to real, real lowly Rice 30-29 after holding a double-digit lead midway into the last quarter. Nope. Couldn't have happened yet again.

Barbee as a coach

Reiterating my earlier blog saying Miner fans should not get excited when UTEP's basketball team opens with a 6-0 record.

You posters have indicated you're ready ... well, to get excited. Look at it this way: The question mark of the team the past two seasons has not been talent, but how Coach Tony Barbee handles that talent.

This 2-0 team won't need a lot of coaching to beat: Arkansas State, North Carolina A&T and I'm saying New Mexico State twice. That equals 6-0 to start the season.

But soon after that the Miners have away games against Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas Tech. Then there's BYU in The Don followed by the Conference USA season.

Will the Miners play as a team against other good "teams?" NOTE: Something is still in the gray area as far as long-time UTEP PA announcer Uncle Ray Adauto being replaced — supposedly because Conference USA thought he was too much of a cheerleader.

Surely UTEP could have made sure Uncle Ray's "MINNNNNER BALLLL" routine was calmed a bit.

Uncle Ray got a raw deal from UTEP, and it's being blamed on C-USA.

Use Buckram

Two thoughts: Football Coach Mike Price says if junior Miner Donald Buckram wins the national rushing title, it would be great. Of course it would. He's No. 2 now and within reach if he continues is 200-plus yards a game average of late.

But wins for the 3-7 Miners, with two games to play, are the target, quoth the coach. Let the seniors go out winners, he is saying. Hey, let the seniors win the games, then. They sure haven't won many the last four years.

And perhaps if UTEP used Buckram on one of the last three plays of the game Saturday, and not tried passes to the brick-handed receiving crew, UTEP could have had a win over SMU.

Also: When the UTEP men's basketball team opens with a 6-0 record, don't start predicting things. Yes, 6-0 means a home-and-home sweep of New Mexico State. Those archrival Aggies have two starting forwards ineligible until the second semester.

The 1-0 Miners will surely beat: Arkansas Pine Bluff Wednesday, Arkansas State Saturday and North Carolina A&T Nov. 25. Then its a win at NMSU Dec. 1 and at The Don Dec. 13.

Then UTEP goes on the road to play Ole Miss. Now if the Miners win that one, then it's time to get excited.

Why always UTEP?

Once again UTEP blew a football win. It's seems like it's always UTEP that's the team to make the physical and mental errors in the clutch.

SMU is not a good football team. Tulane, which beat UTEP last week is not a good team, either. Or Rice. But Tulane had it in the clutch last weekend and now SMU had it in the clutch Saturday. And next weekend UTEP plays at Rice, which finally won a C-USA game by defeating Tulane Saturday.

I'm beginning to think UTEP Coach Mike Price had it right when he said on the post-game radio show after SMU's 35-31 win in Dallas Saturday: "We should have a better record than that (3-7)."

I think UTEP has a handful of loser-types who don't have the mental discipline, yet play key positons on offense and defense. I'm not talking about linemen here. AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN, passes were dropped in situations that could have been game-sealers. And guys jumping off sides. Stupid football.

UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe isn't having a very good season, but he did pass for 396 yards against SMU. You'd think he was a team leader by now. Donald Buckram ran for 236 yards. He's have a year most teams could ride to a winning season and a bowl.

If Price decides to come back next season, it's strongly suggested he dump some losers. And instead of continuing as a "players' coach," he needs to add a whole lot more drill sergeant into his modus operandi.

C'mon, already. SMU gave up more than 600 yards and still won. How can a team continue to lose to other bad teams like this?

UTEP basketball schedule

Every UTEP basketball team — ever — would go 4-0 to start this season. But that's not a knock on the season schedule. It's a good one.

The senior-less, but veteran, Miners will easily defeat Texas Southern, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Arkansas State and North Carolina A&T. All are at home. Followers of the Miners can expect to get acquainted with the new guys and re-acquainted with the vets who no longer have Stefon Jackson as the key statistics man. Don't expect to see how this team will play under adverse conditions, such as pressure games, because there will be no adverse conditions in the first four games.

But you can't knock the overall non-conference schedule. It's one of the best of all time: Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and BYU. And then there's the home-and-home with rival New Mexico State. If the Aggies keep their guys on the court, and out of the courts, they might have a decent team this season.

What to look for early in the season: Will Julyan Stone be a real point guard, a player who has the ball in his hands more than 6-foot-0 shootist Randy Culpepper. I think that's important this season. A ball-handling leader.

And most of all, will 6-11 sophomore Arnett Moultrie be the true star this year. Already some are saying he has the skills to leave college early and enter the NBA Draft. He had some "pro-caliber"games last year, but only a few. Consistency is the key for Moultrie to be the next major star in Utepia. He wasn't good all the time last season. That could have been because of Jackson carrying the scoring load and the Miners being content with Culpepper shooting from all over instead of working the ball inside a lot more often.

UTEP basketball gets 3

This is the right way to do it. Sign high-school players your coaches can develop.<p>

UTEP basketball has landed 6-10 John Bohannon of Lancaster High (near Dallas), 6-6 Darrious Curry from Houston, and 6-0 Jamison Sterns of Waxahachie (near Dallas).<p>

This isn't to predict NCAA Tournament berths, but schools who go to post-season year after year do that by building solid programs with freshmen.

Get a team for Buckram

New-born heroes shouldn't be treated like this. Get UTEP running back Donald Buckram a team!

UTEP flat out blew another one, giving up the tying touchdown to Tulane with 1 second to play, then not answering an easy Tulane score in overtime. It was a 45-33 loss. How do you lose when Buckram gets more than 300 yards in rushing and passing offense and scores four touchdowns? He rushed for some 200 yards.

Answer: You lose with an awful defense yet again. UTEP tackled like UTEP. So did Tulane, but a lot of the credit for that was Buckram who just doesn't get tackled. He squirts out of scrums of defenders and has the speed of a lemon squirt. And it's time the UTEP offensive line gets some props for blocking on the line of scrimmage. Buckram has truly shown he's a star runner in Division I. He's now had six 100-yard games this year.

Here's how it all went down (how UTEP went down to 3-6 for the season):

UTEP took a 38-31 lead with five minutes to play, and held Tulane on downs at the 4-minute mark. Then UTEP ran the clock down before punting. All was swell, except the sprit of UTEP past lurked.

On the seventh day after Halloween, at its own 14, with only 1:13 to play, Tulane rampaged 86 yards and scored the tying TD with 1 second to play. Boo! said the spirit of UTEP.

Tulane scored on its first overtime possession. UTEP got to the 1, but a penalty moved the ball back five yards (illegal formation). And as time went tick, tick, tick, ti - Tulane sacked UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe.

Get a team for Buckram. And, yes, it's time to start predicting Coach Mike Price will make some coaching changes on defense after the season.