UTEP Miners at East Carolina Pirates Gameweek Reading Material

I know it's only Wednesday, but its still time to talk college football. For your enjoyment, here's a handful of pieces concerning this Saturday's Conference USA matchup between our UTEP Miners and the East Carolina Pirates, in Greenville, NC. Have a read.

UTEP football: With loss of Spencer, young safeties must step up - El Paso Times
Over four games, the senior safety became the face of a new-look, hard-hitting, turnover-creating defense. He embodied the notion of playing like every play could be his last, and late in the third quarter against Wisconsin, that was indeed the case. In an ugly moment at Camp Randall Stadium, Spencer's knee, his season and perhaps his UTEP career went all at once, and now the Miners begin the process of picking up the pieces with a couple of underclassmen in freshman Shane Huhn and sophomore Wesley Miller.

Game 5: Miners Open League Play at East Carolina - University of Texas at El Paso Official Athletic Site
UTEP opens its eighth season of Conference USA play at East Carolina on Saturday. The Miners are 22-34 versus C-USA opponents since joining the league for the 2005 season. UTEP is 16-12 in C-USA home games and 6-22 in C-USA road games. The Miners haven't won more than one C-USA road game in a season since 2005.

Texas-El Paso (1-3) at East Carolina (2-2) (ET) | College Football | Bradenton Herald
Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (50,000) -- Greenville, North Carolina. Television: The CW, IMG Sports Network. Home Record: UTEP 1-1, ECU 1-0. Away Record: UTEP 0-2, ECU 1-2. Neutral Record: UTEP 0-0, ECU 0-0. Conference Record: UTEP 0-0, ECU 1-0. Series Record: East Carolina leads, 2-1.

Mike Price Media Luncheon Quotes (9/24/12) - University of Texas at El Paso Official Athletic Site
"We're 1-3, and a realistic goal could've been 4-0. If I had said that to you a month ago, you would've said, `Who are you kidding?' But the way we've played, we certainly had opportunities in those three games.

McNeill's Weekly Press Conference: ECU vs UTEP | Beach Carolina Magazine
UTEP has an explosive offense that returns most of the starters from last year’s teams. They are going to try to spread the football. Nick Lamaison is their veteran starting quarterback. The team has speed at the wide receiver position with Michael Edwards and Jordan Leslie. They return most of their offensive line from last year. UTEP uses a committee of running backs in Nathan Jeffery, Autrey Golden and Xau Williams. On defense, they have an attacking front seven that emphasizes movement and blitzing. We have to make sure we are ready to face pressure similar to what we felt last week against North Carolina.

All or nothing for Lamaison - Sports - The Prospector - University of Texas at El Paso
"I want a conference championship," Lamaison said. "We want to go to a bowl game and win a bowl game, those are our objectives and we’ll accept nothing less."

Simple math for ECU: 7 points better than 3 in red zone - East Carolina - NewsObserver.com
The East Carolina football team doesn’t have anything against sophomore kicker Warren Harvey, but they would like to see a little less of him on Saturdays. In their loss to North Carolina, the Pirates (2-2, 1-0 Conference USA) hindered themselves twice in the first half on long drives into the North Carolina red zone by kicking field goals instead of scoring touchdowns. As it turned out, those were the only two trips inside the red zone for ECU, a place where the Pirates have had much success under third-year coach Ruffin McNeill and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley.

Senior Receiver Dayon Arrington Dismissed From ECU Football Program - East Carolina Official Athletic Site
East Carolina senior wide receiver Dayon Arrington has been dismissed from the Pirate football program after an early Sunday morning arrest that followed prior team rule violations according to an announcement from head football coach Ruffin McNeill Sunday night.

Conference USA power rankings for Week 5 of the college football season | NOLA.com
The Miners scored first at Wisconsin in Week 4 and also didn't have to contend with RB Montee Ball after he left the game with a concussion in the second quarter. But it wasn't enough as the Miners allowed Wisconsin RBs James White and Melvin Gordon to pick up the slack, and QB Joel Stave completed 12 of 17 passes for 210 yards and a score in his first start. UTEP is now 0-17 on the road against BCS teams.