The three-game road trip starts next month, but through half a season, the UTEP football team already has been all over the map.
They lost at the buzzer in the opener, were humiliated and uncompetitive against a pair of Big 12 powers, dominated their arch-rival, had a storm-the-field moment in an upset of then-No. 12 Houston and gave all that momentum back in a gaffe-filled loss to Memphis.
"We've done it at times," defensive coordinator Osia Lewis said. "We've got to do it consistently."
Lewis refers to a defense that actually is statistically worse than last year, but that goes for the whole team.
The talent is there -- UTEP still is the only team to hang 58 points on Houston and just about overcame all their errors against Buffalo and Memphis.
This team can win all six games remaining on its schedule and may be favored against all but Tulsa. The Miners also could lose all six. They must go 4-2 to have a chance at a bowl, which is the minimum bar of success for a team with so many seniors.
Offensively, the good news is that quarterback Trevor Vittatoe seems to have regained his form. He was good the past two games, but he was undone against Memphis by drops from his receivers. The line also has improved since the debacle against Texas.
"Obviously, we're blocking a little different athlete than we were Texas week, but they've bought into what we're doing and the production is starting to show up," co-offensive coordinator Bob Connely said.
The
key to the second half will be the receivers, who started to show flashes the past two weeks but have to eliminate drops.
Defensively, the Miners certainly look improved, but half of their games are against teams with offenses ranked first (Houston), third (Kansas) and seventh (Texas) nationally, so the numbers don't show. Even against Kansas and Houston, UTEP played well for stretches on defense.
"We could use that as an excuse," Lewis said. "Our job is to stop them. Our job is to get the ball to our offense. We're not going to say, 'Hey, we played Texas, we played Kansas, we played Houston.' That's an excuse."
Linebacker Jeremy Springer echoed that.
"That's an excuse," Springer said. "To be a great defense, you have to play great against great teams. I think we're better (than last year), but we've had a lot of little mistakes."
There are no more great offenses on the schedule, though the Tulsa unit that arrives Wednesday certainly is good.
The defense needs its improvement to become more tangible.
"We've got to start getting the numbers to prove it," head coach Mike Price said. "Tulsa is really, really good. We've been playing really, really good people."
The road in front of UTEP is clear. The Miners have to win at least four of six, and they need to get start stringing something together.
They lost at the buzzer in the opener, were humiliated and uncompetitive against a pair of Big 12 powers, dominated their arch-rival, had a storm-the-field moment in an upset of then-No. 12 Houston and gave all that momentum back in a gaffe-filled loss to Memphis.
"We've done it at times," defensive coordinator Osia Lewis said. "We've got to do it consistently."
Lewis refers to a defense that actually is statistically worse than last year, but that goes for the whole team.
The talent is there -- UTEP still is the only team to hang 58 points on Houston and just about overcame all their errors against Buffalo and Memphis.
This team can win all six games remaining on its schedule and may be favored against all but Tulsa. The Miners also could lose all six. They must go 4-2 to have a chance at a bowl, which is the minimum bar of success for a team with so many seniors.
Offensively, the good news is that quarterback Trevor Vittatoe seems to have regained his form. He was good the past two games, but he was undone against Memphis by drops from his receivers. The line also has improved since the debacle against Texas.
"Obviously, we're blocking a little different athlete than we were Texas week, but they've bought into what we're doing and the production is starting to show up," co-offensive coordinator Bob Connely said.
The
key to the second half will be the receivers, who started to show flashes the past two weeks but have to eliminate drops.
Defensively, the Miners certainly look improved, but half of their games are against teams with offenses ranked first (Houston), third (Kansas) and seventh (Texas) nationally, so the numbers don't show. Even against Kansas and Houston, UTEP played well for stretches on defense.
"We could use that as an excuse," Lewis said. "Our job is to stop them. Our job is to get the ball to our offense. We're not going to say, 'Hey, we played Texas, we played Kansas, we played Houston.' That's an excuse."
Linebacker Jeremy Springer echoed that.
"That's an excuse," Springer said. "To be a great defense, you have to play great against great teams. I think we're better (than last year), but we've had a lot of little mistakes."
There are no more great offenses on the schedule, though the Tulsa unit that arrives Wednesday certainly is good.
The defense needs its improvement to become more tangible.
"We've got to start getting the numbers to prove it," head coach Mike Price said. "Tulsa is really, really good. We've been playing really, really good people."
The road in front of UTEP is clear. The Miners have to win at least four of six, and they need to get start stringing something together.
