In The Dig: Wrapping up the Beatdown of 1-10, DeWayne Walker apologizes to the Aggie faithful, the Houston Cougars pick up the pieces, and checking in with game reports from across the league.
The UTEP Miners
Wrapping Up the Beatdown of 1-10
Here is video of all the post game comments. Mike Price, Trevor Vittatoe, Kris Adams, Evan Davis, Royzell Smith, and Jamie Irving all spoke with the media.
Two Banged Up Receivers
When asked if the Miners suffered any injuries against the Aggies, he responded "Kris hurt his back a little bit. McClure had a hip pointer I think. But I think they'll be ready for the next game Saturday."
A Family Affair
For those who don't know, Mike Prices son Eric is the offensive coordinator at Memphis. When asked what it would be like coaching against his son, Price joked "Hasn't crossed my mind" He later added "Ask some of these guys he recruited a lot of them. It's going to be an experience for us and our family. First time ever. I'm glad they (Memphis) won tonight."
Hometown Kid Done Good
Whenever a Miner is recognized by his local newspaper I will try to post it here. This time, Miner Royzell Smith made some local headlines in Fort Bend, Texas.
Smith, a 2007 Thurgood Marshall graduate, led the Miners with 10 tackles: two solo and eight assists. also intercepted a pass by New Mexico State quarterback Seth Smith, returning it for 13 yards in the fourt quarter. Smith is the son of Royzell Smith III and June Woods.
Now, a Local Kid Done Good
Julio Lopez is a graduate of Montwood High School. He had his first career catch on Saturday against New Mexico State and it went for an 18 yard touchdown.
Montwood graduate Julio Lopez, who actually began college at New Mexico State, made his first career catch. It was an 18-yard touchdown in the first quarter. He is the 15th different Miner to make a catch this season, matching in three games the total from last year.
Drinkin' the Orange Kool-Aid?
Jay Koester at Turn Up the Orange thinks I'm drinking the Kool-Aid by thinking UTEP might have a crack at the C-USA West Title now.
Here is where I'm tempted to scoff and do one of those stunts like, "If UTEP wins C-USA West, I'll streak buck-naked through Memorial Triangle to the union." But nobody wants to see that. And, you know, the Miners did look impressive Saturday. And I can't argue with the Miner Rush schedule analysis. So, what the heck, let's dream a little.
No Apologies Necessary
NMSU Coach DeWayne Walker apologized to the Aggie fan base for NMSU's performance on Saturday.
"This was a poor showing and I apologize to all Aggie fans, in a rival game," NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker said. "They definitely did not deserve our showing tonight."
More Miner Links
Bill Knight thinks UTEP's I-10 route was a good old fashioned mugging.
BleedCrimson.net notes that NMSU's offense had a terrible start but showed some signs of life late in the first half.
The Fort Worth Star Telegram notes that Trevor Vittatoe is on the cusp of history and has already broken some records.
SR QB Trevor Vittatoe now has 83 career touchdown passes, the fifth-best total in Conference USA history. - Vittatoe becomes the first quarterback in UTEP history to throw five touchdown passes in a game four times. He also passed for five TDs versus Rice in 2007, Louisiana Lafayette in 2008 and Marshall in 2009.
500! The UTEP volleyball squad picked up the 500th win in program history. It came against Prairie View A&M.
Don't Call it a Tournament: The Don Haskins Invitational, formerly the Sun Carnival Classic or Sun Bowl Classic, used to be a four team tournament during the holidays. Now, it's a "classic." That means UTEP is guaranteed to play Air Force on day 2. No chance of an upset.
The Rice Owls were blown out 31-13 by the Northwestern Wildcats.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane just can't seem to wrap their heads around Dana Holgorsen's offense. First, Holgorsen killed them at UH, now at Oklahoma State the Air Raid racked up 722 yards and 65 points. YIKES.
Steve Campbell at the Houston Chronicle discusses the state of Houston football... without Case Keenum.
ESPN thinks Houston is a different team without Case Keenum.
They simply are a different team without their best player. This is two games in a row now that Keenum has been injured trying to make a hit on an interception. Coach Kevin Sumlin had talked to Keenum about trying to avoid making tackles, but the competitive nature got the best out of the former Heisman Trophy candidate.
Kudos to Southern Miss for beating up on the Kansas Jayhawks on ESPN last Friday. The Hattiesburg American notes that this was the biggest win of Larry Fedora's tenure there.
SMU beat Washington State 35-21. Kyle Padron looked really good. He tossed for 280 yards and 4 more touchdowns.
The Memphis Tigers snapped Middle Tennessee State's 2 game winning streak in a close one 24-17.
Behind a 121-yard rushing effort and two touchdowns from senior running back Greg Ray and key defensive plays from a trio of freshmen, the Tigers defeated Middle Tennessee State, 24-17, on Saturday night before 27,695 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
Last week, Marshall almost beat a ranked West Virginia squad. This week, Doc Holliday's bunch fell to 0-3 after Bowling Green crushed them 44-28. Brian Anderson tossed four interceptions.