UTEP Miners 2018 Football Preview
Opening Statement: UTEP was the worst team in FBS football last fall, and was probably worse than half of all FCS teams as well. Sean Kugler resigned as head coach at mid-season, and Mike Price came out of retirement to see the program through the end of the season, but things did not get much better. What UTEP did after that was quite confusing, as they bypassed several strong FCS candidates to hire Kansas State OC Dana Dimel, who possesses a career 30-39 record as a head coach. It may have been the most baffling hire in the FBS ranks, considering Dimel's age, and his track record. In short, don't look for too many miracles in El Paso, outside of some excellent choices in food consumption around town.
Breakdown Offense: The Miners had a 5 way QB battle in spring camp, but it looks as if the job should fall to Iowa Western transfer Kai Locksley. Locksley has the dual threat ability that Dimel values in his offense, but the Miners still threw the football 63 times in the spring game, which you should find worrisome if you are a Miners fan. Ryan Metz is still in the mix as well as we head to fall camp after 5 mostly uninspiring starts last fall.
The Miners will go out of a 2 back set most of the time, and will add a FB, which is right out of the Kansas State playbook. Quardraiz Wadley is the leader for the RB spot, but rushed for just 277 yards last season, and averaged 4.78 yards per carry. There is virtually no depth here, with sophomore Ronald Awatt the most experienced back returning other than Wadley, and he carried just 5 times for 13 yards as a freshman. Forest McKee is the starting FB heading out of spring ball.
Kavika Johnson and Terry Juniel are penciled in to start at WR this fall. They combined for just 37 receptions last fall for 387 yards and 2 scores. Neither is much of what one wants to see in terms of stretching the field of play. Erik Brown is the 3rd receiver, and caught just 12 passes last fall. Warren Redix and Walter Dawn will try to add some kind of depth here, as will Eddie Sinegal.
David Lucero steps in as the starter at TE this fall after catching 17 passes last season. He averaged just 7.59 yards per catch. Josh Weeks backs him up, but there were only 2 listed TEs in spring camp.
Will Hernandez is gone on the line, and that leaves a mountain sized hole. The line gets just 2 starters back in Ruben Guerra (LT), and Derron Gatewood (C). Bobby Delfaro (LG), Greg Long (RG), and Jerrod Brooks (RT) are penciled in for now. Long was an All-CUSA pick as a freshman at Tackle who has lost time to injury, and will now move inside.
Breakdown Defense: The Miners get 2 starters back on the line in Denzel Chukwukelu (DT) and Trace Mascorro (DE). They combined for just 6 TFLs last fall, so the Miners need to find some force up front to improve a pass defense that ranked 119th nationally. CJ Reese projects as the new starter at DE. Sani Buckingham could come into play at DE, while Josh Ortega is still in the mix at DT. Dedrick Simpson could provide some depth at DE.
The Miners are starting over again at LB, as all 3 spots are open heading into camp. Jayson VanHook, Sione Tupou, and Dylan Parsee are penciled in for now. With the top 3 tacklers and LBs gone, the Miners must replace 237 tackles from that group. Jamar Smith is in the mix in the middle, while depth outside is not readily available.
The secondary should be the best unit on the team this fall, and ranked a respectable 48th against the pass last fall. This unit returns 4 starters in CBs Nik Needham and Kalon Beverly, and Safeties Kahani Smith and Michael Lewis. Needham and Beverly both finished with 8 PBUs last fall, while Lewis and Smith combined for 6 more. Needham and Smith are also the leading returning tacklers, as Needham finished with 59 tackles, and Smith tied with Lewis at 46 tackles each. Justin Rogers, a junior, steps into the open Safety spot in the 3-3-5 set, and moves over from CB.
Breakdown Special Teams: The kicking game last season, like everything else, was a complete disaster. Brady Viles is back, but hit just 1/4 attempts last season, while connecting on 11/12 PATs. Jason Filley is also availableand hit 2/3 FG attempts, and was perfect on 7 PAT tries.
Filley will likely handle Punting duties, as Alan Luna is gone after averaging 44.09 yards per punt last season.
Juriel is a solid option on KR duty after averaging 25.38 yards per return last fall, while he averaged just 3.92 yards per return on punts.
Final Analysis: Ugh. The Miners are still a mess, and I don't love the hire of Dimel, as it felt like a place holder for someone they will only have to go after in a few years. He has been a highly successful coordinator, but a terrible head coach, so the hire itself leaves much to be desired for me. The roster is full of players who could mostly not make it anywhere else, and the program is a dumpster fire right now, much like a chunk of the entire athletic department. It's hard to see, at this point, where much improvement will come from, and at the end of the day, it all starts with winning at least one game this fall, which would be a marked increase from last season. Get ready, folks, it's going to be another long, down year on the border.
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