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High points: Emergence of Sky Logan, Nick Usher's continued improvment, Roy Robertson-Harris' leadership, UTSA game
Low points: Inconsistencies at defensive tackle, entire defense allowing almost five yards per carry for the year
Final Grade: C+
Sean Kugler was excited about the direction the defensive line was headed into fall camp, and for good reason as the defensive line became a defensive strong point right next to the linebackers.
While it took them awhile to become a force, some adjustments, and UTEP's two veteran leaders taking their production to the next level helped this group prosper in the second half of the season.
Junior Nick Usher had the best statistical season of his career, and earned C-USA honorable mention honors for his strong season. Usher was second behind Alvin Jones with 10 TFL's, and recorded three sacks this season
Senior Roy Robertson-Harris also finished the year strong, the 6'7 NFL prospect had 4.5 TFL's in the final four games, and recorded 2.5 sacks for the season.
2015's breakout player played inside, and thrived once he was placed in the starting lineup.
Junior-to-be Sky Logan started his first career game against UTSA, and ended up with three sacks, and five tackles for losses from the three-technique for his season stats. Logan will be a valuable piece for UTEP going forward along with Usher, and Silas Firstley.
Firstley played well towards the end of the season, along with the athletic Lawrence Montegut.
UTEP had a stuff rate on defense of 20.7% which ranked 56th in the nation, and also boasted a 5.4% havoc rate which ranked 54th in the nation.
Those numbers improved steadily as the season went along, as the defensive line also ranked 49th against teams adjusted offensive line yards, meaning UTEP's defensive line held their own.
Going forward, UTEP will rely upon a number of red-shirt freshman next season, mixed with some proven production that showed they can be relied upon in 2016.
UTEP wants to win games in the trenches, and in some sequences UTEP's defensive line did just that. But a new era of defensive lineman will take the reigns in 2016.
Key losses: Roy Robertson-Harris, Alex Villarreal
Key Returners: Nick Usher, Silas Firstley, Sky Logan
2016 commits: Christian Johnson, Josh Ortega
Defensive Footprint
| Team | Rk | Nat'l Average | |
| Std. Downs Run Rate | 58.0% | 85 | 60.1% |
| Pass. Downs Run Rate | 28.9% | 110 | 33.8% |
| Overall Havoc Rate | 14.9% | 91 | 16.5% |
| DL Havoc Rate | 5.4% | 54 | 5.2% |
| LB Havoc Rate | 3.3% | 97 | 4.6% |
| DB Havoc Rate | 6.1% | 73 | 6.5% |
| PD to INC | 27.6% | 105 | 32.8% |
Individual Defensive Stats
| Name | Pos | Ht, Wt | Year | Tackles | % of Team | TFL | Sacks | Int | PBU | FF | FR |
| Alvin Jones | LB | 5'11, 220 | SO | 70.5 | 12.7% | 14.5 | 6.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimmy Musgrave | LB | 6'0, 240 | SR | 42.5 | 7.6% | 7.5 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Roy Robertson-Harris | DL | 6'7, 255 | SR | 39.0 | 7.0% | 7.5 | 2.5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Usher | DL | 6'3, 235 | JR | 36.5 | 6.6% | 10.0 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kalon Beverly | DB | 6'1, 175 | FR | 33.5 | 6.0% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Lewis | DB | 5'11, 170 | FR | 32.0 | 5.7% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nik Needham | DB | 5'11, 185 | FR | 31.5 | 5.7% | 2.0 | 0.5 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Dashone Smith | DB | 6'0, 200 | JR | 30.5 | 5.5% | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ishmael Harrison | DB | 6'0, 200 | SR | 29.0 | 5.2% | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Kelvin Fisher Jr. | DB | 5'11, 200 | SR | 26.0 | 4.7% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sky Logan | DL | 6'2, 285 | SO | 23.0 | 4.1% | 5.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Traun Roberson | DB | 6'0, 200 | SR | 21.0 | 3.8% | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Gino Bresolin | DL | 6'2, 290 | JR | 19.0 | 3.4% | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trey Brown | LB | 6'0, 225 | SR | 18.0 | 3.2% | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Da'Carlos Renfro | DB | 5'10, 175 | SR | 16.0 | 2.9% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Silas Firstley | DL | 6'0, 265 | JR | 15.5 | 2.8% | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mookie Carlile | DB | 6'1, 200 | FR | 11.0 | 2.0% | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Lawrence Montegut | DL | 6'1, 230 | SO | 10.0 | 1.8% | 3.0 | 2.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Adrian Hynson | DB | 5'10, 185 | FR | 9.0 | 1.6% | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Villarreal | DL | 6'4, 300 | SR | 7.5 | 1.3% | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trent Trammell | DB | 6'0, 200 | SR | 6.0 | 1.1% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Leon Hayes | DB | 5'10, 200 | JR | 3.5 | 0.6% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cooper Foster | LB | 6'1, 210 | JR | 3.0 | 0.5% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brian Madunezim | DL | 6'3, 275 | JR | 3.0 | 0.5% | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| LaQuintus Dowell | DB | 5'10, 205 | SR | 2.0 | 0.4% | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Note: It appears "Fumble Returns" are getting pulled instead of "Fumble Recoveries." My apologies. Will try to get that corrected. | |||||||||||