UTEP pulls own weight

This time it was UTEP, not El Paso loyalists, that kept the Miners' football program heading up.

By not selling out Saturday's home game against Oklahoma, fans showed they were not hep on this team. Can't sell out a home opener? Against Oklahoma, yet? What would a Arkansas Pine Bluff draw?

But the Miners showed this was not to be the bloodbath anticipated, made a little money, but not what should have gone into the coffers. Talk about a drought around here. It's not just a lack of rain, it's a lot of money needed to keep the UTEP program financially healthy after more than half a decade of non-winning seasons.

History would normally show El Paso that such a good effort against one of the elite teams would merit their hopping back on the bandwagon. After all, surprise, UTEP played neck and neck with powerful Oklahoma until late in the game.

Uh-oh. This week UTEP travels to another big-name opponent, Ole Miss. That's not Oklahoma, but that's a better opponent than any UTEP will face in Conference USA.

I'm surmising the fans will remain with UTEP, only if the Miners put on another better-than-expected show. So says history.

Too bad this week didn't have a regular-type opponent. Probably the Sun Bowl would be packed, if that was the case.

Now UTEP will have to play well again in order to get the 40,000 it needs for home games the rest of the season, and that includes New Mexico State a week from Saturday.

Comments

[MinerFan]

800,000 people in El Paso. No pro teams or other college teams to compete with UTEP. No other major events to take the fans away last Saturday night. And we can't get 40,000 fans in the stands to see a top-5 team play against an inspired Miner squad.

40K butts in the stands puts the Miners behind, percentage-wise, just about all of the CUSA schools, as well as UNM in Albuquerque and NMSU in Las Cruces. UNM was the worst team in the country the last 3 years and they do better. NMSU sits in a city that has a population of 110,000, and they do better.

If the Miners lose on Saturday and go 0-2 to start the season, look out for the third game home attendance. We could be seeing another sub-40K night in the Sunbowl.

[Andy Springer]

UTEP played a great game and had every opportunity to win. My only concern was I felt Nick Lamison was very danderous with the football. He reminded me of a young Tony Romo that had not learned to throw the ball away and go to the next play. Jeffery is the real deal, too bad he was out the 4th quarter. Our offense went to the bench with him. I have reserved hope that we can beat Ole Miss, if we play a game like we did against Oklahoma on defense. If our offense plays up to parr we have a chance. GO MINERS WIN A BIG ONE.

[CLEOFITZWITZ]

There is no good excuse for the poor crowd but there were other events going on around town. Twenty thousand attended the SCMF. A few more thousand went to Fiesta de las Flores and the St. Anthony's bazaar. That being said, this was Oklahoma in the season opener and without their traveling faithful, this game would have attracted less than last year's game against Stoney Brook. This is representative of a big problem at UTEP and in particular, Coach Mike Price. He can only cheer lead so much. The city's enthusiasm for him and the football program is long gone. It's a shame but that's where we are and it puts huge pressure on Stull to make a great hire when we replace him.

I don't believe this is only a UTEP problem. There is a negativity running through this city that is bringing everything down. It's a self-loathing that is evident with the downtown stadium protests. It will be what defeats the November bond election and it was out for display in a nationally televised game against one of the greatest programs in college football history. It's a negativity that says "we can't do it" and you can hear the talk on the streets, in restaurants and all around you in the Sun Bowl.

But like Joe said, the Miners did their part.

[mba admission]

It's not just a deficiency it's a lot of cash required to keep the UTEP system economically healthy.