KICKING OFF: UTEP opens its 87th season of football on Saturday, Sept. 3 at I-10 rival New Mexico State ... the Miners are 36-46-5 all-time in season openers, including 7-30-2 on the road ... UTEP has lost 13 of its last 16 season openers ... the Miners haven’t won a season opener on the road since 1982, when they prevailed at New Mexico State 20-17 ... since then, UTEP has dropped 12 consecutive season openers away from El Paso ... the Miners are opening a season on the road for the third consecutive year ... UTEP lost at Arizona in 2003 (42-7) and at Arizona State in 2004 (41-9) ... the last time the Miners were victorious in a season opener was 2002, when they routed I-AA Sacramento State 42-12 in the Sun Bowl ... UTEP’s last season-opening win over a Division I-A opponent came in 1999, a 13-10 decision over New Mexico in the Sun Bowl ... three of UTEP’s five season-opening wins since 1987 have come over regional rivals New Mexico (twice) and New Mexico State (once) ... UTEP hasn’t won a non-conference road game since Sept. 28, 1996 at Northern Illinois (37-6) ... since then the Miners have lost 18 straight non-conference away games.
THE SERIES: Saturday’s game marks the 83rd meeting between the Miners and the Aggies ... UTEP leads the series 47-33-2 ... UTEP has won three of the last four meetings in the series, and 11 of the last 17 overall ... NMSU has won four straight over UTEP at Aggie Memorial Stadium, outscoring the Miners 158-69 during that span (average score 39.5 - 17.3) ... UTEP’s last win in Las Cruces came during the 1991 season (22-21) ... UTEP and New Mexico State first met on the gridiron in 1914 ... the teams faced one another annually from 1946-2000, then did not meet in 2001 before the series was resumed in 2002 ... the Aggies downed the Miners 49-14 in Las Cruces in 2002, then the teams didn’t play again in 2003 ... last year UTEP blanked NMSU, 45-0, before a crowd of 46,123 in the Sun Bowl ... UTEP is opening a season against New Mexico State for the first time since 1995, and the seventh time overall (the Miners are 3-3 when facing the Aggies in game one).
TRAVELING TROPHIES: The winner of the UTEP-New Mexico State game annually receives a pair of traveling trophies, the silver spade and the brass spittoon ... the first spade used for this purpose was an old prospector’s shovel dug up from an abandoned mine in the Organ Mountains near Las Cruces in 1947 ... the idea of the present silver spade came from former UTEP student Don Henderson, who secured it in 1955 ... perhaps the idea behind the spade is the fact that at the time the prospector’s spade was uncovered, both schools’ major field of study had use for the tool -- mining and metallurgy for the College of Mines and agriculture at then-New Mexico A&M ... the brass spittoon, officially known as the Mayor’s Cup, came about in 1982 when the mayors of the two cities -- Jonathan Rogers (El Paso) and David Steinberg (Las Cruces) -- decided to present another traveling trophy to the winner of the UTEP-NMSU game.
THE LAST MEETING: Howard Jackson rushed for 158 yards, all in the first half, to trigger UTEP’s 45-0 victory over New Mexico State on Oct. 2, 2004 in the Sun Bowl ... it marked the fifth straight time that the Miners beat NMSU in El Paso ... it was UTEP’s biggest win over the I-10 rivals since a 69-7 triumph in 1949, and first shutout of the Aggies since 1987 ... UTEP led 24-0 at halftime after limiting NMSU to five first downs and 101 yards of offense ... the Miners finished with 445 yards of offense to the Aggies’ 226 ... Jordan Palmer completed his first three pass attempts for UTEP before suffering a mild concussion on a sack by NMSU’s Greg Scaffidi ... Omar Duarte relieved Palmer the rest of the way and completed 10 of 13 attempts for 146 yards and three TDs ... New Mexico State’s best scoring chance came late in the third quarter, when Ryan Guardia misfired on a 29-yard field goal attempt.
MUMME VS. PRICE: UTEP’s Mike Price and New Mexico State’s Hal Mumme will be facing one another as head coaches for the first time on Saturday ... Mumme was the offensive coordinator at UTEP from 1982-85 ... he was on the Miner sideline when UTEP defeated Weber State -- under the direction of third-year head coach Mike Price -- 40-34 on Nov. 19, 1983 in the Sun Bowl ... Mumme is 0-1 versus UTEP (34-24 loss to the Miners in 1995 when he was the head coach at Valdosta State), and Price is 1-0 against NMSU (45-0 victory in 2004).
UTEP/NMSU CONNECTIONS: UTEP DB Josh Ferguson and NMSU WR Stevelan Harper were teammates at Hayward (Calif.) High School ... UTEP WR David Sutton and NMSU DE Maurice Murray were teammates at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High School ... UTEP RB Matt Austin and NMSU OL Adam Honaker both played at Parkland High School in El Paso ... Mike Fanoga, defensive line coach at New Mexico State, was a member of the UTEP staff from 1987-89 (his first coaching job, as a graduate assistant). He also played for the Miners from 1985-86, and earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UTEP.
IN THE POLLS: UTEP received 22 votes in the preseason USA Today top-25 poll, putting the Miners 37th in the nation ... UTEP received 10 votes in the preseason Associated Press poll (38th in the country).
THE TWO-DEEP: UTEP’s depth chart for the New Mexico State game features 18 seniors, 24 juniors, seven sophomores and four freshmen ... the only true freshman on the two-deep is Houston native Fred Patton, a projected reserve at left corner ... the 5-9, 175-pound Patton was a state Top-300 player by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine at North Shore High School ... Patton is the first Miner true freshman to crack a season-opening depth chart since 2003, when three true freshmen (LS Aaron King, WR Chris Marrow, K Reagan Schneider) were listed for the first game at Arizona ... since 1988, UTEP has had a true freshman in the depth chart for week one in all but two seasons (2002, 2004).
STARTING EXPERIENCE: UTEP returns 25 players who have started at least one game at the collegiate level -- 13 on offense and 12 on defense ... eleven Miners have made 10 starts or more (DB Quintin Demps, DB Joe Fleskoski, WR Chris Francies, OL Jose Garcia, WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr., OL Josh House, LB Thomas Howard, WR Chris Marrow, DL Chris Mineo, QB Jordan Palmer, DL Zach West) ... Francies and Mineo have both started 30 games to tie for the lead among active UTEP players ... if the depth chart for the New Mexico State game proves to be accurate, UTEP would have seven first-time starters in the season opener (four on offense, three on defense).
GRIZZLED VETERANS: Offensive linemen Jose Garcia and Josh House are both in their sixth year with the UTEP football program ... both came to UTEP in the fall of 2000 and attended preseason training camp in Socorro, N.M. before taking on “gray shirt” status ... they redshirted during the 2001 campaign ... Garcia and House have started 22 and 12 games for the Miners, respectively ... House has gained 50 pounds since coming to UTEP and earned honorable mention All-Conference honors in 2004, his first year as a starter.
THE GRADUATE: DL Tevita Fifita earned his bachelor’s degree in communication in December and is working on his master’s degree in public administration ... Fifita has played in 28 games for the Miners, making four starts ... he is listed as a reserve left end in the depth chart for the New Mexico State game.
EBELL TIME: Former UCLA standout Tyler Ebell will make his highly-anticipated Miner debut on Saturday at New Mexico State ... he will have one year of eligibility with the Miners after redshirting his freshman year (2001) with the Bruins ... Ebell rushed for 1,495 yards and 12 touchdowns in two seasons at UCLA (2002-03) before sitting out last season per NCAA transfer rules ... the native of Ventura, Calif., was a Parade and PrepStar All-American as a prep, setting national records for rushing yardage (4,495) and rushing touchdowns (64) as a senior ... he is one of three former prep All-Americans on the 2005 Miner roster ... the others are junior quarterback/wide receiver Lorne Sam (PrepStar All-American) and sophomore running back Marcus Thomas (Parade All-American) ... Sam is sitting out this season after transferring from Florida State, and will have two years of eligibility at UTEP beginning in 2006.
1,000-YARD CLUB: Barring injury, UTEP will likely have four receivers with over 1,000 yards in their careers at season’s end ... senior Chris Francies (1,248 yards) and junior Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. (1,062 yards) have already joined the 1,000-yard club ... senior Jayson Boyd had 560 yards last season and has had 729 in a two-year collegiate career that includes one season at Oregon State (2002) ... junior Chris Marrow has tallied 812 yards ... all four of the aforementioned wideouts have had 100-yard games at UTEP ... Boyd reeled in a career-high seven catches for 140 yards in the EV1.net Houston Bowl last season ... he finished the 2004 season with 17 catches for 353 yards over the last three games (117.7 ypg) ... he has had over 100 yards receiving in two of his last three games ... Francies posted 104 yards receiving versus Rice in 2002 ... Higgins has had three 100-yard performances, including a personal best 126 yards against Louisiana Tech in 2003 ... Marrow registered 116 yards against Weber State a year ago.
QB NO QUESTION MARK: UTEP enters the 2005 season with an established quarterback for the first time since 2000, when Rocky Perez was the clear-cut starter ... Jordan Palmer started all 12 contests a year ago, throwing for 2,818 yards and 26 touchdowns ... the last time UTEP returned a 2,000-yard passer was 1990, when senior Howard Gasser was coming off a 2,586-yard campaign ... Palmer became only the second Miner sophomore to pass for 2,000 yards in 2004, joining Billy Stevens who achieved this feat in 1965 (3,032 yards) ... Palmer threw for over 300 yards in each of the last three games last season, a school-record streak that he carries into 2005 ... he owns four career 300-yard games, tying him for third place in school history (Brooks Dawson is second with six) ... in his last seven games Palmer has thrown for 1,964 yards (280.6 avg.) with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
WHERE’S THE BEEF? IN THE O-LINE: UTEP’s depth chart for the New Mexico State game features four projected starters in the offensive line who weigh 300 pounds ... left guard Jose Garcia is 320 pounds, right tackle Luis Espinosa is 305, left tackle Josh House is 300 and right guard James Riley is 300 ... if Andy Smith (305 pounds) started at center, all five Miner linemen would weigh 300 pounds ... UTEP has never opened a season with at least four starting O-linemen weighing 300 pounds ... UTEP’s projected starting O-line for NMSU averages 6-3 and 300 pounds.
HOWARD AMONG NATION’S FINEST: Senior linebacker Thomas Howard was recently named the preseason Defensive Player of the Year in the state of Texas by Dave Campbell’s magazine ... it marks the first time in the 46-year history of the prestigious publication that UTEP has had a preseason player of the year on either side of the ball ... a Lubbock native, Howard came to UTEP as a walk-on defensive back in 2001 ... at the time he weighed 195 pounds, now he’s up to 240 ... his father, Thomas Howard Sr., was also a linebacker who enjoyed a lengthy NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Cardinals ... Thomas Howard Jr. has posted 211 tackles in 36 games for the Miners, including 27 for losses and 10 sacks ... he ranks 10th in school history with 27 tackles for losses behind Camar Jackson (28.5, eighth) and Hal Barnett (28, ninth) ... with his next sack, he will move into a tie for 10th place on the UTEP career list ... Howard tied Chris Mineo for the team lead in sacks last season with eight ... the sack total is tied for fourth place on the Miner seasonal chart ... he also had 14 stops for losses in 2004 (tied for ninth place in school annals).
NO WORRIES WITH D-LINE: UTEP needs to replace two starting linebackers and both starting corners from last year’s defensive unit that yielded nearly two fewer touchdowns per game from 2003 ... the line is expected to be the strength of the stop troops this fall ... projected starters Chris Mineo (left tackle), Alex Obomese (left end), Joe Ward (right end) and Zach West (right tackle) have made 45 starts between them ... reserves Tevita Fifita (left end) and Justin Hanel (left tackle) have also started games for the Miners ... Mineo earned first team All-WAC honors in 2004, and West was an honorable mention All-League choice ... Mineo has led the D-line in tackles each of the last two years (70 stops in 2003, 50 in 2004) ... he had 13 tackles for losses (third on the team) and eight sacks (tied for first on the squad) last season ... Mineo has 10.5 career sacks, 12th in school history ... he has also blocked three kicks as a Miner, tying him with Robert Murray (1983-86) for the top career total in the record book ... West raised his production from 14 tackles in 2003 to 40 last season ... he also improved from two tackles for losses to 12 ... Obomese enjoyed a productive sophomore campaign (36 TT, 7 TFL, 4.5 SCK) in 2004 despite coming off the bench for 11 of 12 games.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Free safety Quintin Demps made quite an impact as a freshman last season ... he contributed 58 tackles, two interceptions and four pass break-ups while starting all 11 games he appeared in ... he was tabbed the co-WAC Freshman of the Year and a freshman All-America by three agencies (Football Writers Association of America, Scripps, The Sporting News) ... Demps showed a flair for making big plays ... his forced fumble in the second overtime sealed the Miners’ 35-28 win over Rice in the Sun Bowl ... he also had a 51-yard fumble recovery for a score against Boise State, and a 43-yard interception for a TD versus SMU ... Demps joined LB Thomas Howard and DL Chris Mineo as All-Texas defensive selections by Dave Campbell’s preseason magazine.
CONGRATULATIONS: Five Miners were awarded scholarships on Aug. 20, including three seniors ... they are freshman WR Dustin Bell (Dallas, Texas), senior WR Jacob Gonzales (San Antonio, Texas), senior LB Gabe Macias (El Paso, Texas), junior DB Bryant Tisdale (Clearwater, Fla.) and senior OL Jordan Tubig (San Antonio, Texas).
A NEW ERA: UTEP joins the new-look Conference USA for the 2005 season ... the Miners are grouped in the league’s Western Division with Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane and Tulsa ... the Eastern Division is composed of East Carolina, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss, UAB and UCF ... the division winners will meet in the league championship game on Dec. 3 at a to-be-determined site ... UTEP was affiliated with the Western Athletic Conference in football from 1968-2004 ... New Mexico State is a member of the new WAC.
MINERS PICKED FIRST: UTEP is projected to finish first in the Western Division of Conference USA this season, based on a preseason poll of league head coaches ... the Miners received 68 votes, more than any other C-USA school ... Southern Miss, the preseason favorite in the Eastern Division, was second with 64 votes ... rounding out the Western Division are Houston (59 votes), Tulane (46), Tulsa (31), Rice (27) and SMU (21).
WATCH LISTS: Six Miners have been named to watch lists for various post-season awards ... senior LB Thomas Howard is on watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player; the Rotary Lombardi Award, presented to the top interior lineman; and the Dick Butkus Award, presented to the top linebacker ... senior DL Chris Mineo is also on the Rotary Lombardi Award list ... junior Jordan Palmer is on the watch list for the Davey O’Brien Award (top quarterback) ... senior Tyler Ebell is on the watch list for the Doak Walker Award (top running back) ... junior Reagan Schneider is on the watch list for the Lou Groza Award (top placekicker) ... junior Alex Obomese is on the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award (top defensive end).
FROM THE WEIGHT ROOM: UTEP Coach Mike Price says this is the fastest team he has ever coached. The team average in the 40-yard dash is 4.73 seconds, led by junior WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr.’s clocking of 4.18 seconds. Other significant 40 times belong to junior DB Nate Draughon (4.29), senior LB Thomas Howard (4.33) and senior RB Tyler Ebell (4.37) ... six Miners achieved vertical jumps of 40 inches or better in winter testing, double the number from the previous year. They are sophomore DB Emeri Spence (44 inches), senior DB Cedric Click (43), Draughon (42), senior WR Jayson Boyd (41), senior DB Marshall Sanford (40.5) and freshman RB Jon Lane (40) ... UTEP’s average standing long jump has increased from 8-5 to 8-10 1/4 in two years, and the average 10-yard dash time has improved from 1.6 seconds to 1.53 seconds. The average vertical jump has increased from 31.8 inches to 33.3 inches over one year ... junior WR David Sutton has the top standing long jump on the team at 10-10.
UTEP ON THE TUBE: Eight Miner games are slated for national television in 2005 ... three will air on ESPN networks and five on CSTV affiliates ... ESPNU has coverage of Saturday’s game at New Mexico State ... the home opener versus Houston (Sept. 16) will be carried on ESPN, and the game at Tulane (Oct. 14) will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2 ... CSTV or its affiliate, the i network (formerly PAX), will carry UTEP’s games against New Mexico (Sept. 24), Memphis (Oct. 1), Marshall (Oct. 22), Rice (Oct. 29) and UAB (Nov. 19) ... prior to this season, a total of four UTEP games all-time have aired on national television, including the 2004 EV1.net Houston Bowl on ESPN.
MINER NUGGETS: Mike Price was able to keep his coaching staff together during the offseason, a rarity for UTEP football. It marks the first time since 1987-88 that the Miner staff has remained intact from one season to the next ... two former Miners will be inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame on Sept. 23. Fred Carr (1965-67) was one of the greatest linebackers in school history, and went on to play for Green Bay in the NFL (he is a member of the Packer Hall of Fame). Fred Wendt (1942, 1946-48) was the only player in school history to rush for 300 yards in a game, rocketing for 326 yards versus New Mexico State in 1948 ... UTEP’s top two tight ends -- sophomore Jake Sears and junior Casey Mauch -- combined to score three touchdowns over the last four games in 2004 ... second-string tailback Matt Austin, an El Paso native, has never started a game for the Miners but still owns 943 career rushing yards ... UTEP lost its last two games in 2004. Head Coach Mike Price hasn’t been saddled with three consecutive losses since 2000 when he was at Washington State and the team finished 4-7 ... despite only one season as UTEP’s primary kicker, junior Reagan Schneider ranks first in school history in PAT percentage (.984), fifth in field goal percentage (.667), sixth in PATs (62) and 10th in kicking points (110). He has made his last 52 extra point attempts ... UTEP hasn’t opened a season with a victory coming off a bowl year since 1957. The Miners played in the Sun Bowl on Jan. 1, 1957, then kicked off the 1957 campaign with a 14-13 win over North Texas State in El Paso. Since then UTEP is 0-4 in season openers following a bowl year.
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