Lone Star State foes collide Saturday night in El Paso as the 10th-ranked Texas Longhorns take on the UTEP Miners.
Texas undoubtedly feels good about its effort in the season opener against Florida Atlantic, as strong play on both sides of the ball resulted in a 52-10 triumph. Last year, the Longhorns finished 10-3, and while that record would be welcomed by most programs, it marked a disappointment for a team that annually has its sights set on a national title. There were some key losses in the offseason, but there is still plenty of talent present on the roster as usual.
Texas-El Paso is eager to get back on the field after being embarrassed by Buffalo in the season opener, 42-17. The Miners were 3-1 in openers under Mike Price before that lopsided setback. UTEP is 7-26-1 all-time versus Big 12 schools and 3-43 against AP Top-25 opponents. The club has lost eight in a row to ranked foes.
Surprisingly, this game marks just the third all-time meeting between Texas and UTEP. The Longhorns have won both previous meetings which took place in 1930 and 1933.
"Offensively, we were 8-of-8 in the red zone and we had no turnovers,"
said Texas head coach Mack Brown, analyzing the performance of his team in week one. "The offensive line played really well, and they gave up no sacks."
The Longhorns utilized a tremendously balanced attack to knock off the Owls. They racked up 232 rushing yards on 46 carries, an average of five yards per attempt. Quarterback Colt McCoy was nothing short of sensational, as he ran for 103 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries while also completing 24-of-29 passes for 222 yards and three scores.
McCoy struggled a bit last season at times, but he is a big-time performer capable of making a run at the Heisman Trophy. There is no shortage of talent at the receiver position, and Irby Blaine led the group with seven catches. Texas kept possession of the ball for more than 35 minutes and was 7-of-14 on third down conversion attempts. Clearly, the performance of the offense was thoroughly outstanding.
The biggest area of concern for Texas heading into the season was the secondary, which features some unproven players. "We thought it was a great opener for us, because we won the game against a team that threw it really well and was good at quarterback and wide receiver,"
said coach Brown. "That was something that we needed, we needed an early test to try to gauge where our guys in the secondary were and how much improvement we had made against the pass."
Florida Atlantic racked up 255 passing yards and averaged 15 yards per completion.
On a positive note, the Owls were only able to complete 17-of-39 passes. The run defense was tremendous, as Texas only surrendered 37 yards on 23 attempts. Lamarr Houston and Dustin Earnest both had two TFLs in the contest, but Houston is expected to miss this weekend's game for what is listed as personal reasons.
UTEP simply did not get the job done offensively in the loss to Buffalo. The Miners only managed 266 total yards, including 67 rushing yards on 26 attempts. It certainly didn't help that UTEP turned the ball over three times, all on interceptions. Quarterback Trevor Vittatoe completed 20-of-37 passes for 199 yards, and Jamar Hunt was the top receiver with six catches for 86 yards. In regard to the play of Vittatoe, coach Mike Price was disappointed. "I don't think he played particularly well, and I don't know why he didn't. He was in there with the coaches watching tape on Friday morning, and we didn't get in until 3:30 a.m. So he was concerned. He can play a lot better."
Just like the offense struggled against Buffalo, so to did the UTEP defense. The Miners did not fare well against either form of attack, as they yielded 263 rushing yards and 221 passing yards. They permitted 5.3 rushing yards per carry and a whopping 22.1 passing yards per completion. There were a ton of big plays made by Buffalo, and Texas is even more explosive.
It was obvious in coach Price's weekly press conference that he is concerned about the potency about the Longhorns. "Colt McCoy, I try to find something wrong with that guy. He was 18 of 19 in the first half, and the one incompletion he threw hit the guy in the chest in the end zone."
