On the surface, it looks rather odd - 6-5 Marshall is a one-point underdog against 3-8 Texas-El Paso.
On the surface, it looks rather odd - 6-5 Marshall is a one-point underdog against 3-8 Texas-El Paso.
Coach Mark Snyder wasn't asked about that, specifically, in his Tuesday press conference, but he probably wouldn't have flinched. While he is a football coach, given to talk up the opposition during game week, he also got to see the Miners on video.
He sees an explosive team, very representative of Conference USA's West Division. Combine what with the long trip to the Mountain Time Zone, and the Herd has its hands full.
"They are the best 3-8 team in the country, and the film doesn't lie," Snyder said. "Donald Buckram leads our league in rushing. He is third in receptions. [Jeff] Moturi has been there forever. He can catch the football. [Trevor] Vittatoe has been around for a very long time. They have an explosive offense that gets 600 yards and 50 points, the film doesn't lie.
"If we think we are going to walk in there, and they are going to roll over, we are wrong."
The Miners (3-8, 2-5) come into the 3 p.m. EST game Saturday at Sun Bowl Stadium on a four-game losing streak. None were total wipeouts, such as the 64-7 obliteration the Miners endured at Texas in September. On the contrary, the Miners could have won all four, making their outlook vastly different this week.
A recap of the skid:
Home loss to Alabama-Birmingham, 38-33: The Miners piled up 585 total yards, but most of that came in trying to close a deficit that reached 38-20 in the fourth quarter.
Overtime loss at Tulane, 45-38: The Miners gave up an 11-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 1 second left in regulation, then failed to score the tying TD in overtime despite having first-and-goal at the Green Wave 2-yard line.
Loss at Southern Methodist, 35-31: The Miners piled up 627 total yards and Buckram rushed for 241, but the Mustangs won on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Padron to Emmanuel Sanders with 4:34 left. Vittatoe drove UTEP to the SMU 14, but was sacked on fourth-and-6.
Loss at Rice, 30-29: In the "if this doesn't beat all" category, the Owls scored two touchdowns in a 1:20 stretch of the fourth quarter to erase a 29-17 UTEP lead, thanks in part to a fumbled kickoff return by Jeff Moturi. Buckram then fumbled into the Rice end zone to kill one drive, and fumbled again at the Rice 38 to kill another.
Imagine, if you can, if such as stretch happened at Marshall, As it is, coach Mike Price is really taking it hard.
"It's been rough for him," Vittatoe said. "He hasn't been in a losing streak like that in a long time. It definitely has him stressed out."
"We've had positions where we could have distanced ourselves," Price said Wednesday. "Could have, should have, would have. In 10 games we have three fumbles; the last game we fumble six times. Three of them on kickoff returns - with three different guys.
"It's not a comedy of errors, it's a tragedy."
Not all the results have been tragic for the Miners. They came off a 34-7 loss to Kansas by thumping rival New Mexico State 38-12. After the Texas game, they ran roughshod over then-No. 12 Houston, 58-41. After a 35-20 loss at Memphis, UTEP rallied to beat Tulsa 28-24, sending the defending West Division champs on the road to a losing season.
On the surface, it looks rather odd - 6-5 Marshall is a one-point underdog against 3-8 Texas-El Paso.
Coach Mark Snyder wasn't asked about that, specifically, in his Tuesday press conference, but he probably wouldn't have flinched. While he is a football coach, given to talk up the opposition during game week, he also got to see the Miners on video.
He sees an explosive team, very representative of Conference USA's West Division. Combine what with the long trip to the Mountain Time Zone, and the Herd has its hands full.
"They are the best 3-8 team in the country, and the film doesn't lie," Snyder said. "Donald Buckram leads our league in rushing. He is third in receptions. [Jeff] Moturi has been there forever. He can catch the football. [Trevor] Vittatoe has been around for a very long time. They have an explosive offense that gets 600 yards and 50 points, the film doesn't lie.
"If we think we are going to walk in there, and they are going to roll over, we are wrong."
The Miners (3-8, 2-5) come into the 3 p.m. EST game Saturday at Sun Bowl Stadium on a four-game losing streak. None were total wipeouts, such as the 64-7 obliteration the Miners endured at Texas in September. On the contrary, the Miners could have won all four, making their outlook vastly different this week.
A recap of the skid:
Home loss to Alabama-Birmingham, 38-33: The Miners piled up 585 total yards, but most of that came in trying to close a deficit that reached 38-20 in the fourth quarter.
Overtime loss at Tulane, 45-38: The Miners gave up an 11-yard touchdown on a screen pass with 1 second left in regulation, then failed to score the tying TD in overtime despite having first-and-goal at the Green Wave 2-yard line.
Loss at Southern Methodist, 35-31: The Miners piled up 627 total yards and Buckram rushed for 241, but the Mustangs won on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Kyle Padron to Emmanuel Sanders with 4:34 left. Vittatoe drove UTEP to the SMU 14, but was sacked on fourth-and-6.
Loss at Rice, 30-29: In the "if this doesn't beat all" category, the Owls scored two touchdowns in a 1:20 stretch of the fourth quarter to erase a 29-17 UTEP lead, thanks in part to a fumbled kickoff return by Jeff Moturi. Buckram then fumbled into the Rice end zone to kill one drive, and fumbled again at the Rice 38 to kill another.
Imagine, if you can, if such as stretch happened at Marshall, As it is, coach Mike Price is really taking it hard.
"It's been rough for him," Vittatoe said. "He hasn't been in a losing streak like that in a long time. It definitely has him stressed out."
"We've had positions where we could have distanced ourselves," Price said Wednesday. "Could have, should have, would have. In 10 games we have three fumbles; the last game we fumble six times. Three of them on kickoff returns - with three different guys.
"It's not a comedy of errors, it's a tragedy."
Not all the results have been tragic for the Miners. They came off a 34-7 loss to Kansas by thumping rival New Mexico State 38-12. After the Texas game, they ran roughshod over then-No. 12 Houston, 58-41. After a 35-20 loss at Memphis, UTEP rallied to beat Tulsa 28-24, sending the defending West Division champs on the road to a losing season.
The Miners' offense has speed, speed, speed, and that begins with Buckram. The 5-foot-10, 195-pound junior from Copperas Cove, Texas, has emerged from the shadows and broke the school's 73-year-old single-season rushing record last week. He has 1,569 rushing yards, and has topped 200 three times this season.
He has gotten bigger and has stayed away from injuries, for the most part.
"He's been a track athlete, and runs a 10.4 100 meters," Price said. "He lost the weight, down to 175 for track season, and had to build himself back up. He had a shoulder operation last spring and couldn't run track. He gained 15 pounds in muscle, came in at 190-plus and now he's running through arm tackles and getting additional yards on contact. When he was 175, he went down easier.
"Also, he's now an adult, physically and mentally. He's a good student, he's got a little baby and he's doing well with his spouse."
The receiver positions are loaded with speed, with Moturi (46 receptions, 795 yards, three TDs) and Kris Adams (37-483, one TD). And don't rule out Donavan Kemp, who has just 10 catches but is averaging 26 yards per receptions, with three scores.
Vittatoe is the third-year starter, has thrown for 2,791 yards, 9,166 in his career. But the 6-2 junior isn't happy that he's completing 53 percent of his passes, or that his interceptions (13) outnumber his touchdowns (12) this year.
"It's definitely my worst season in my career out here," Vittatoe said. "I've stumbled on my reads here and there. I've had guys [open] and missed."
Price thinks Vittatoe has struggled with expectations, as much as anything, comparing it a little to the firestorm at Marshall surrounding Snyder.
"Mark's been fighting the expectation level there," Price said. "He's lost a few games and he's 6-5; yeah, so what? He's got a damn good team, and he's done a really, really good job.
"The expectation for Victor was to be a big-time quarterback, a first-team All-American, Case Keenum-type of guy. But he didn't have that type of year. He needs 200 yards to be the first in history here to throw for 3,000 yards three years in a row, and that ain't bad. But the expectation level for me and him, and the people around him, we're not satisfied with that. And next year, the pressure will be on Buckram, to see what he can do."
UTEP didn't expect to be eliminated from the bowl picture in the second weekend of November, not after what it did to Houston a month earlier. Now the Miners must play for pride, and to give 23 seniors their proper send-off.
And to end a four-game losing streak, one more agonizing that the most deviant minds could concoct.
"Our schedule was frontloaded," Price said. "In November, we thought it would be a month where we were playing teams we were at least equal to. The losing wears and tears on our soul.
"Our character is very well built up. I'm really tired of building character; I'd like to build wins."
Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.
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