Kicking Off
UTEP launches its 89th season of football on Thursday, Aug. 31 at San Diego State ... the game will be nationally televised on CSTV with kickoff slated for 8:30 p.m. MST (7:30 p.m. PST) ... it is the first of five nationally televised games on the Miners' 2006 slate, including three straight on CSTV to open the year ... UTEP is 37-46-5 in season openers, including 8-30-2 on the road ... last year the Miners won their first game at Interstate 10 rival New Mexico State, 34-17, to snap a 12-game losing streak in season openers on the road ... it marked UTEP's first season-opening victory away from home since 1982 ... the Miners are 4-13 in their last 17 season openers ... the San Diego State game marks the fourth year in a row that UTEP has kicked off a season on the road ... the Miners opened the 2003 campaign at Arizona, the 2004 season at Arizona State and 2005 at NMSU ... UTEP has opened the season on the road in 12 of the last 14 years ... the exceptions were 1999 and 2002 ... UTEP is trying to win its season opener in back-to-back years for the first time since 1987 (beat New Mexico State 31-0) and 1988 (beat Mankato State 37-3) ... in fact, only 13 times in school history -- and only three times since 1957 -- have the Miners started a season 1-0 in consecutive years (1914-15, 1923-24, 1928-29, 1931-32, 1938-39, 1939-40, 1947-48, 1948-49, 1953-54, 1956-57, 1982-83, 1986-87, 1987-88) ... UTEP is 1-18 in its last 19 non-conference road games.
The Series
This is the 22nd meeting between UTEP and San Diego State, with the Aztecs holding an 18-3 advantage in the ledger ... it is the first matchup between the old Western Athletic Conference rivals in San Diego since 1998, a 34-29 Aztec victory ... the last meeting between the schools occurred during the 2003 season in El Paso, when SDSU blanked UTEP 34-0 ... UTEP has posted a 1-9 record in 10 trips to San Diego State ... the only victory was a 34-33 nail-biter in 1987 under the direction of coach Bob Stull, who is currently the Miners' director of athletics ... SDSU has won the last three meetings between the schools in San Diego by an average of 18.0 points ... all but one of UTEP's nine losses at San Diego State have been by more than 20 points ... overall the Miners have dropped seven straight games to the Aztecs -- by an average of 17.7 points -- since a 58-7 triumph in the Sun Bowl in 1988 ... UTEP has opened a season against San Diego State once previously in school history -- in 1975, when the Aztecs prevailed 31-10 at home ... UTEP and San Diego State were joint members of the WAC from 1978-98.
The Last Meeting
San Diego State forced six turnovers in a 34-0 shutout of UTEP on Sept. 13, 2003 in the Sun Bowl ... Aztec cornerback Jacob Elimimian picked off UTEP quarterback Orlando Cruz twice, including an 85-yard return for a touchdown ... Lynell Hamilton rushed for 107 yards on 22 carries, and Matt Dlugolecki completed 18 of 28 passes for 180 yards to lead SDSU ... UTEP's Cruz was 11 for 28 passing for 75 yards ... the Miners were outgained in total offensive yards 317-261.
Sixteen Miners Have Faced SDSU
Sixteen players on UTEP's 2006 roster appeared in the last meeting with San Diego State as freshmen in 2003 -- RB (now LB) Josh Chamois, LB Troy Collavo, RB (now LB) Steve Douglas, DB Nate Draughon, DB Joe Fleskoski, DL Justin Hanel, WR Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr., DB (now LB) Jeremy Jones, LS Aaron King, WR Chris Marrow, TE Casey Mauch, DB Phillip Moss, LB (now DL) Alex Obomese, QB Jordan Palmer, K Reagan Schneider and DL Zach West ... Fleskoski started the game at free safety and had seven tackles ... Palmer, in his third collegiate game, completed four of 12 passes for 62 yards with an interception.
Price vs. Long
Although UTEP's Mike Price and San Diego State’s Chuck Long have never met on the gridiron as head coaches, Price’s Washington State Cougars lost to the Oklahoma Sooners -- with Long as offensive coordinator -- in the 2002 Rose Bowl by a 34-14 score ... Price is facing San Diego State for the first time as a head coach this week.
UTEP/SDSU Ties
Four Miner assistant coaches (Jim Clark, Tim Hundley, Ikaika Malloe, Jeff Woodruff) have coached in the Holiday Bowl at Qualcomm Stadium ... freshman DL Robert Soleyjacks is the lone San Diego native on the Miner roster, although freshman WR Pierce Hunter (National City), freshman DB Anthony Morrow (Fallbrook) and senior WR Daniel Robinson (Oceanside) all hail from towns within an hour's drive of the city. Hunter, Morrow and Soleyjacks are expected to redshirt this season ... UTEP sophomore OL Robby Felix attended Centennial High School in Corona, Calif. along with SDSU junior DB Ray Bass and junior LB Brett Martin ... UTEP senior LB Josh Chamois and freshman LB Landon Goodwell were teammates of SDSU sophomore DL Jonathan Soto at Bishop Amat High School in West Covina, Calif. ... UTEP has 33 native Californians on its roster, including 23 listed in the two-deep for the SDSU game (nine on offense/11 on defense/three specialists).
In the Polls
UTEP received four votes in the preseason Associated Press top-25 poll, putting the Miners tied for 36th in the country ... UTEP tallied three votes in the preseason USA Today poll (tied for 43rd nationally).
State of the Program
UTEP is coming off back-to-back eight-win seasons and consecutive bowl games for the first time in 50 years ... UTEP has never played in three straight bowls since the inception of the program in 1914 ... the Miners are 16-8 over the last two years under head coach Mike Price ... prior to Price's arrival, UTEP went 6-30 from 2001-03 with three straight two-win seasons ... last year UTEP set a school record by averaging 47,899 fans in the 51,500-seat Sun Bowl stadium ... the Miners are 10-2 at home under Price and 6-4 in away games.
Noting the Depth Chart
UTEP's depth chart for the season opener features 26 seniors (seven on offense/16 on defense/three specialists), 11 juniors (seven on offense/three on defense/one specialist), four sophomores (three on offense/one on defense) and 15 freshmen (eight on offense/six on defense/one specialist) ... the depth chart features 12 seniors in starting assignments, including nine on the defensive side of the ball ... three true freshmen have cracked the depth chart -- RBs Donald Buckram and Jason Williams, and WILL LB Aaron Sims ... since 1988, UTEP has had a true freshman in the depth chart for week one in all but two seasons (2002, 2004) ... LG Cameron Raschke, a 2005 redshirt, is the only projected freshman starter.
Starting Experience
UTEP returns 22 players who have started games at the collegiate level (11 on offense/11 on defense) ... 15 Miners have made at least 10 starts, and five have started 20 contests or more (DB Quintin Demps, DB Joe Fleskoski, WR Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr., QB Jordan Palmer, DL Zach West) ...Palmer and Fleskoski, high school teammates at Mission Viejo (Calif.) High School, rank first and second on the team with 30 starts and 27 starts, respectively ... WR Chris Marrow’s next start will be the 20th of his collegiate career ... if the starting lineup for SDSU remains true to the depth chart, UTEP would have three first-time starters on offense (LT Oniel Cousins, LG Cameron Raschke, WR Daniel Robinson) and two first-time starters on defense (SAM LB Jason McQuay, RT Ricky Van).
Keep an Eye on Em
Several UTEP players are on watch lists for national postseason awards ... LB Troy Collavo is a candidate for the Butkus Award (best linebacker) ... OL Robby Felix is a candidate for the Dave Rimington Trophy (most outstanding center) ... LB Jeremy Jones is a candidate for the Bronko Nagurski Award (best defensive player) and the Butkus Award (best linebacker) ... DL Alex Obomese is a candidate for the Ted Hendricks Award (top defensive end) and the Rotary Lombardi Award (top lineman) ... QB Jordan Palmer is a candidate for the Manning Award (quarterback/awarded at the conclusion of the bowl season) and the Maxwell Award (national player of the year) ... K Reagan Schneider is a candidate for the Lou Groza Award (top place-kicker) ... RB Marcus Thomas has been nominated for the Doak Walker Award (top running back).
A Long, Strange Trip For Moss
Senior DB Phillip Moss is the only Miner player in his sixth year with the program ... Moss was a "gray shirt" in 2001, then actually appeared in one game as a quarterback (versus Boise State) in 2002 before redshirting the season ... he was moved to defense in 2003, where he has spent the last three seasons.
Final Go-Around For Palmer
Quarterback Jordan Palmer, UTEP's all-time passing and total offense leader, enters his senior year having appeared in 34 games with 30 starts ... his current string of 24 consecutive starts ranks tied for seventh among all Division I-A quarterbacks ... Houston's Kevin Kolb is the leader with 36 straight starts ... Palmer is UTEP's career leader for total offense (7,532 yards), touchdowns responsible for (68), passing yardage (7,489), passing touchdowns (62), passing attempts (998), passing completions (569) and 300-yard passing games (10) ... he ranks second among returning Division I-A signal-callers with 62 touchdown passes, three behind Florida's Chris Leak (65) ... he is third in touchdowns responsible for (68) behind Leak (75) and Kolb (72) ... Palmer is fourth in career passing yards (7,489) behind Kolb (9,155), Notre Dame's Brady Quinn (8,336) and Leak (8,271) ... he is also fourth in total offense (7,532 yards) behind Kolb (9,752), Quinn (8,447) and Leak (8,378).
More Palmer Tidbits
Jordan Palmer has thrown for three touchdowns or more in 12 career games (eight last season) ... he has had a touchdown pass in his last 20 contests ... Palmer has a career mark of 17-13 as a starting quarterback (16-8 over the last two seasons) ... UTEP is 17-9 in Palmer's career when he throws two interceptions or less, and 1-7 when he has three picks or more ... Palmer has thrown for over 300 yards in four of his last six games.
Backup QB Could Be Three-Headed Monster
While Jordan Palmer is entrenched as UTEP's starting quarterback, it's anybody's guess who will get the majority of the snaps among the backups ... coach Mike Price has hinted that freshmen Brandis Dew and Kyle Wright and junior Lorne Sam could all see action in 2006 depending on situations ... all three are in their first season with the Miners ... Dew is a physical specimen (6-5, 265) with the strongest arm of the group ... while not as physically gifted as Dew and Sam, Wright has impressed the coaches with his intangibles and moxie ... Sam is an outstanding athlete who played wide receiver at Florida State (2003-04), and could see action at that position as well as quarterback in El Paso ... Sam is expected to give the Miner offense a new dimension with his ability to take off from the pocket ... he was a PrepStar All-American at Buford (Ga.) High School, one of two high school All-Americans on the UTEP roster (RB Marcus Thomas is the other).
Higgins Has a Shot at Record
Senior WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. could become UTEP's all-time leader for touchdown receptions this season ... he currently has 19, nine behind the record-holder Lee Mays (28) ... Higgins rates tied for second on the UTEP charts for touchdown receptions, eighth in receiving yards (1,899) and ninth in catches (108) ... he is tied for eighth in school annals with five career 100-yard games ... Higgins ranks tied for fifth among returning Division I-A wideouts with 19 touchdown catches behind USC's Dwayne Jarrett (29), Texas Tech's Jarrett Hicks (28), Washington State's Jason Hill (25) and Eastern Michigan's Eric Deslauriers (22) ... Higgins, who is expected to be utilized on punt and kickoff returns in 2006, is 13 yards away from cracking the UTEP career all-purpose top-10 list ... he currently has 2,872 career all-purpose yards ... Higgins would become the fourth Miner receiver to rank in the top-10 in all-purpose yardage, joining Cedric Johnson (fourth), Chuck Hughes (fifth) and Lee Mays (sixth).
Wide Receiver A Mix of Old and New
Of the six wideouts listed in the depth chart for the San Diego State game, three are seasoned veterans (Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr., senior Chris Marrow, junior Joe West) and three others are relatively untested at the Division I level (freshman Jeff Moturi, senior Daniel Robinson, senior David Sutton) ... Marrow is 24 yards away from joining the 1,000-yard club ... the El Paso native has battled injuries over the last two years and is hoping for an injury-free senior year ... West found his stride over the last six games of the 2005 season with 14 receptions for 206 yards ... Moturi was the biggest surprise of the spring and has earned a spot in the rotation as a redshirt freshman ... Robinson and Sutton came to UTEP as junior college transfers and have combined to make four catches for the Miners ... Robinson could be a breakthrough player in 2006 after redshirting a year ago due to UTEP's glut of wide receivers.
Tight Ends Solid, if Healthy
UTEP has three outstanding tight ends (sophomore Jamar Hunt, senior Casey Mauch, junior Jake Sears) -- if they can stay injury-free ... Mauch will not play against San Diego State while serving an indefinite suspension for violating team rules ... Hunt and Sears both missed chunks of spring ball with a hamstring injury and separated shoulder, respectively ... Hunt is a 23-year old sophomore who served a Mormon mission in Mexico City for two years before enrolling at UTEP ... he is the third Hunt brother to suit up for the Miners as Brent (1997-99) was a former offensive lineman and Justin (2000-04) was a former tight end ... the 6-7, 260-pound Hunt is QB Jordan Palmer's biggest target ... Sears is the fastest of the tight ends ... look for the Miners to employ a number of two-tight end sets this season to get both Hunt and Sears on the field at the same time.
Thomas’ Team
Junior Marcus Thomas takes over as UTEP's primary tailback in 2006 after splitting time at the position with Matt Austin and Tyler Ebell a year ago ... Thomas started the last six games of the 2005 season, rushing for 594 yards (99.0 avg.), after opening the year in redshirt status ... Thomas set a school record by rushing for over 100 yards in four straight outings versus Tulsa, Texas Southern, UAB and SMU ... he was also third on the team in receiving last season with 32 catches for 440 yards ... Thomas averaged 117.8 all-purpose yards per game to rate seventh in Conference USA and 59th nationally ... the former Parade high school All-American has gained 25 pounds since last season, while improving his 40 time from 4.65 seconds to 4.30.
True Freshmen Backs Could Get a Look
A pair of true freshmen running backs -- Donald Buckram and Jason Williams -- could see playing time this fall ... Williams is listed as the top backup to Marcus Thomas and Buckram is on "red alert," meaning he could redshirt the season ... both Buckram and Williams were regarded as top-300 players in the state of Texas at Copperas Cove High School and Robert E. Lee High School (in Tyler), respectively ... Buckram, the smaller and quicker of the two, rushed for 1,546 yards and 26 touchdowns a year ago ... Williams, the power back, compiled 1,291 yards and 13 TDs on the ground in 2005.
Youth Movement in O-Line
UTEP has a young offensive line, with a redshirt freshman (Cameron Raschke) and two sophomores (Robby Felix, Tyler Ribitzki) targeted as starters ... Felix started all 12 games at center a year ago, and Ribitzki started half the contests at right tackle ... Felix was one of the nation's top rookies a year ago, earning a spot on The Sporting News' Freshman All-America Team ... the left side of the line needs to be rebuilt as last year's starting left guard (Jose Garcia) and left tackle (Josh House) have exhausted their eligibility ... the veteran of the O-line is junior RG James Riley, who has appeared in 23 games for UTEP with 11 starts (all in 2005).
Linebackers Should Be Strength of Defense
UTEP returns six of its top seven tacklers from a year ago, including a pair of linebackers who had 100 stops in seniors Troy Collavo and Jeremy Jones ... Collavo and Jones tied for the team lead with 14.5 tackles for losses each ... Collavo added 112 tackles and 3.5 sacks, and Jones contributed 130 tackles and three sacks ... Jones was third in C-USA and 14th in the country with 10.8 tackles per game last season ... he had double-digit stops in eight of 12 games in 2005 ... three players (seniors Josh Chamois and Jason McQuay, junior Emeri Spence) are competing to fill Thomas Howard's old SAM LB slot ... Howard was taken by Oakland in the second round of the NFL Draft, the earliest a Miner player has been selected since 1969 ... Chamois is playing his third position for UTEP after previously toiling at running back and tight end ... Spence is suspended from the team indefinitely for violating team rules, and will not play on Thursday.
Loads of Experience in D-Line
Of the 10 players listed in the depth chart at defensive end and defensive tackle, seven are seniors and five (Justin Hanel, Alex Obomese, Joe Ward, Justin Watson, Zach West) have started games for the Miners ... the headliner of the group is senior LE Obomese, who had a team-leading 6.5 sacks a year ago ... senior LT Hanel started nine games last season after the incumbent Chris Mineo went down with a high ankle sprain in the Memphis game ... senior RT West has started 22 games for UTEP, but finds himself situated second on the depth chart behind senior Ricky Van heading into the SDSU game ... West has 19 tackles for losses in his career, but was hampered by injuries last year ... senior Ward, the top backup at RE, had a monster spring but has gradually been eased back into the lineup after missing most of fall camp with a hamstring injury.
Secondary Returns Relatively Intact
UTEP welcomes back starting free safety Joe Fleskoski, starting strong safety Quintin Demps and two corners (Nate Draughon, Josh Ferguson) who both made seven starts in 2005 ... Fleskoski and Demps have been big playmakers for the Miners ... Fleskoski has four career interceptions, including a 68-yarder for a score versus New Mexico a year ago ... Demps has had five interceptions as a collegian ... he preserved UTEP's 44-41 win over Houston last season by picking off Cougar QB Kevin Kolb in the second overtime ... Demps also scored a touchdown off an interception versus SMU as a freshman in 2004, and forced two fumbles -- including the game-winner in the second overtime period -- against Rice ... Ferguson is coming off a 31-tackle campaign with two picks, and Draughon totaled 25 stops with a team-high 10 pass break-ups last season.
Special Teams Are Aptly Named
UTEP's special teams should indeed be special in 2006 with both kickers returning, as well as a deep snapper (Aaron King) who may be the Miners' top pro prospect ... senior kicker Reagan Schneider rates first in school history in PATs (103), second in kicking scoring (205 points) and fifth in field goals (34) ... he is third in overall scoring ... Schneider has converted on 93 consecutive PATs ... he was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award last year, presented to the nation's best place-kicker ... Schneider is 15-for-20 on field goal attempts of 40 yards or more over the last two seasons ... senior Ryan Hotchkiss averaged 38.6 yards per punt in 2005, but the former junior college product is expected to be significantly improved in his second year with the Miners ... King has handled the Miners' long snapper duties for the last three years ... UTEP has gotten off 98 percent (102-of-104) of its punts since 2004, including 40-of-40 a year ago ... UTEP's primary kickoff and punt returners are expected to be seniors Josh Ferguson and Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. ... Higgins has 758 career kickoff return yards (22.3 avg.) and 170 career punt return yards (9.4 avg.).
Miner Nuggets
UTEP is opening a season in August for the first time since 2003. The Miners are 3-3 all-time in the month of August ... the Miners have posted a 2-4 record versus Mountain West Conference schools since the league was formed for the 1999 season (2-1 versus New Mexico, 0-1 versus San Diego State, 0-2 versus TCU) ... starting WILL LB Jeremy Jones and his top backup, T.J. Monroe, are cousins ... UTEP was picked second in Conference USA's Western Division in a vote by league head coaches with 60 points, right behind Tulsa (61 points) ... two former Miners will be inducted into the UTEP Athletic Hall of Fame on Oct. 6. WR Chuck Hughes (1964-66) ranks second in school history for receiving yardage (2,882) and touchdowns (19), and Owen Price was a triple threat (rushing, passing, punting) from 1938-41 ... UTEP is 14-2 under coach Mike Price when scoring 30 points or more (7-0 last season), and 11-2 when rushing for over 100 yards ... UTEP outscored opponents 94-41 in the first quarter last season, allowing just five touchdowns in the opening period all year.
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