In The Dig: It's out with UAB week and on to the Tulane Green Wave; Bob Stull announces a new ticket promotion; The Rush makes a cameo in the Inc.; a great Don Haskins story that you must read; and more.
The UTEP Miners
The Aftermath:
After the UAB game, Mike Price addressed how UTEP let UAB hang around a bit too long. No killer instinct.
"We just gave (UAB) hope and they kept it," said UTEP head coach Mike Price, who is 1-3 against the Blazers. "They just hung in there and you have to really credit their coach for this win because they were on the ropes."
The Infirmary: I don't believe this game was lost due to injuries, but when you read this report you might have a different opinion.
Price didn't elaborate on any other injuries, but said center Nathan McCage (ankle), receiver Donavon Kemp (ankle), linebacker Royzell Smith (knee) and tackle Jermard Reed (knee) were all seriously hurt. Smith said he would be ready next week, but was wearing sweats the entire second half. Kemp left on crutches.
Record Setting Day: The Miners allowed UAB's running backs to have their best day in the four plus year tenure of Coach Neil Callaway. The running stats were silly.
That was just a small sam pling of the best overall day by the running backs since Neil Callaway took over the program. UAB rushed for 228 yards and, with David Isabelle out of the game be cause of an injury, the run ning success didn't come from the quarterbacks.
The Presser: For those of you who missed Mike Price's press conference earlier today, here are the key quotes. I'll post video when it's made available.
On to the Next One:
I'm not done with UAB coverage just yet, because the game had so many ramifications what will impact the rest of the season. But, it is time to start passing on some Tulane information too.
Uh Oh: Tulane was blown out by Tulsa but the Wave are starting to get things going on offense. Ryan Griffin had a nice game.
Tulsa jumped to a 24-7 halftime lead, and Tulane never threatened despite a huge night by quarterback Ryan Griffin, who completed 36 of 51 passes for 412 yards - all career highs.
Cheaper than the Movies: Bob Stull wrote today in El Paso, Inc., that UTEP will have a promotion for the Tulane game. Any adult ticket will be good for one adult and one child. So, a $20 ticket can get you and Junior into the game. UTEP only has two home games left. If you're in El Paso, get out to the Sun Bowl.
More Miners News & Notes
A Cameo for the Rush: Ray Sanchez doesn't think UTEP's 10 Year Anniversary Event for the 2000 WAC Champion team did enough to honor Miner legend Rocky Perez. He used one of my posts to show how much Rocky Perez meant to that team.
More from Ray: While doing some research, I stumbled upon Sanchez's website where he has a heck of a story on how Don Haskins distributed his Disney money from "Glory Road" to the players, trainers, and staff that worked at TWC back in the day. Read this story (bottom of page).
"I have been asked if I’m a millionaire now," the former UTEP basketball coach says with a frown. Not so, although he would have been a lot better off financially if it weren’t for an extraordinary act of generosity on his part.
Speaking of the Bear: Tim Floyd's boys started practicing this week and check out what Rus Bradburd had to say about the practice.
Practice is closed for the first couple of weeks. But a couple of old friends slipped in. Rus Bradburd, who was an assistant with Floyd in the 1980's and now is an author ("Paddy on the Hardwood" and "Forty Minutes of Hell: The Extraordinary Life of Nolan Richardson") and an English teacher at New Mexico State, smiled and said, "We just saw two-and-a-half hours of Don Haskins drills."
Paydirt Pete Shout-Out: UTEP's mascot is already competing in the highly publicized Capital One Mascot Challenge (and he's undefeated). Now, he's up for the American Mustache Institute's Mustache of the Year Award. It's real. I'm not making this up.
Win a Game First, Will: New Memphis guard Will Barton isn't just guaranteeing a C-USA Championship. He guarantees a National Championship in this interview with FoxSports.com. Durant didn't do that. Beasley didn't do that. Mayo didn't do that. Take a breather, kid.
Hey, Rice won the "Bayou Bucket" when they beat Houston. The Cougars are hurting....
I liked this Burnt Orange Nation post summarizing how UT has owned Nebraska since the Big 12 was formed. UT has literally found a new way to beat Nebraska every single time they've played.