UTEP Weekly Football Press Conference Transcript: Oct. 30

10/30/2023 5:25:00 PM

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EL PASO, Texas – UTEP head coach Dana Dimel had his Monday press conference in advance of the Miners' CUSA home game against WKU on Saturday night and recapping UTEP's 37-34 victory at Sam Houston.

Opening statement by head coach Dana Dimel
"Just talking about the Wednesday games one more time. Touched on that briefly. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was really, really good for the teams in our league. It's amazing how much exposure we got from those games and for people that don't get a chance to necessarily see our games, especially because our games are usually so late on the national time clock. For us to get that kind of exposure was good. (Going) 2-1 in October was good, not what our goal was, but two wins on national TV was really good for our program. That leads us into the last game. It was obviously big for us to get another road win and to have back-to-back conference road wins for the first time since 2004. That's a big accomplishment for our football team to be able to have that kind of composure. Composure was the name of the game for us throughout the whole ballgame as far as how we handled ourselves. Cade (McConnell) did a really good job of protecting the football throughout the whole game until toward the end right there. But again, he was smart with it, protected it. It was nice to have Mike Franklin, Torrance (Burgess Jr.) and Deion (Hankins) all back in the backfield working together at a more healthy clip. Deion hasn't been healthy except for some of the last couple games because he got hurt in the Jacksonville State game. I don't know if he's completely healthy now, but it's nice having him back. Deion's played a couple really good games in a row. Torrance, Mike and Deion really complement each other, so it showed up in our run production. Just something to note, having those guys back together I think is important for us, and it's important for us moving forward. All of them have seemed to practice really well this week, and we're looking forward to be able to use all three of those guys in the upcoming game. Our defense played much, much better in the second half than in the first half. We did some really nice adjustments to what we were seeing in the second half. Things that didn't really get talked about as much, the two opportunities when Sam Houston had a chance to take bigger leads and we held him to field goals. Both times they weren't great starting spots for our defense to be backed up against, and we did a tremendous job of holding them to field goals. I thought it was really good because it kept us in the game. Then the second-half drive, where we down by two scores, we just stayed patient and ran the ball. They started pressuring us more, and that created some more opportunity for us in the run game. So, we had a big run against some of the pressure looks. We finished that drive off the way we needed to finish the drive off because we had a couple of drives in the first half that would move the ball really well but didn't finish with touchdowns. But there, we finished with a touchdown, got ourselves back into it. Our defense was doing a good job on third down. The offense got the ball back, put together another drive and got the score tied. Then we get the big turnover from the defense, which was much needed, and gave us great field position. We knocked the ball into the end zone from the inch line there to take the lead. Now we feel like if the defense gets another stop, we just need to get a couple of first downs and the game is in control. We got a little bit aggressive on the second and long. We tried to throw the ball and made a mistake, but it was the first mistake we made all game as far as turning the ball over or even getting close to turning the ball over there. Obviously, our defense is backed up and they were able to get the score. Then we get another drive, don't get anything, and punt the ball over to them. The defense gets another great stop and stops them quickly. Then Cade makes that that throw to Jeremiah Ballard, which was a tremendous throw and a tremendous catch by JB. Then Buzz (Flabiano) makes the field goal. Overall assessment, Buzz played really well, (is named) conference player of the week, which we were really proud of him for that. Our receivers played well. I talked about the running back position. Our defense did some really good things in the second half. Emari White stepping up as a third receiver for us, he's very, very fast. We could talk about Emari for a while. It was nice to get him back in action, get him making some plays and showing off the speed that he has. So, it was really good to get him to come along as a third receiver for us. I'm proud of where Cade is, getting thrust into the situation he's been put into. He's accomplished something special in his first three starts, getting two wins, conference road wins."

On WKU
"So again, (it) gives us momentum moving into this ballgame here. It gets us a chance to get back home and get ourselves back on track with our homefield advantage, playing against a Western Kentucky team that has a very prolific offense. They have a tremendous quarterback. They've got very, very talented, skilled players across the board, whether it be running back or wide receiver. They use a bevy of receivers. They have obviously have one receiver that's got the predominant amount of the catches, but they got some other receivers that got in the upper twenties for catches for them as well. So, they don't have any trouble moving the ball. They score a lot of points and have so for the last three or four years in conference play. They've been one of the best offenses in the conference for quite a while now. Defensively they have a lot of athleticism. They give you multiple looks for to prepare for offensively and do a good job with their defensive scheme as well. So again, it'll be a big test for us. (We) get back at home right now. We're just taking it one practice, one game at a time to get ourselves back to our original goal in the season. We're just preparing hard and are excited about the opportunity. (We're) looking forward to being back at home and playing in the Sun Bowl."

On Cade McConnell preparing his fourth straight week as a starter
"I'm seeing him get all the reps that he needed to get. He's starting to get them. I see his understanding, his poise and composure during the game, which is something that we really, really like that Cade brings to the table. He's a very strong student of the game, loves to study the game, spent this whole weekend at home studying and preparing for this week's game. He just stays poised and calm. We can put a lot on his plate because of that. He's really good at recognizing pressures, seeing pressure looks and having the ability to have the play against the pressure level that needs to be run. So, he does a great job with that part of it. So, his understanding of the game of football is tremendous. He's got a good rapport with our receivers. He knows what their strengths and weaknesses are and how to bring the best out of them. So, there's a lot of positives. Now it's nice because he's getting more and more reps in practice, and he's able to showcase those strengths that he has."

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