Three UTEP Football DBs Enter the Transfer Portal

UTEP cornerbacks Dennis Barnes and Broderick Harrell, along with nickel cornerback Dy'vonne Inyang, have each entered the NCAA transfer portal, as reported by Matt Howe of 247 Sports on Friday. 

Inyang and Harrell were routine starters on the Miner defense, while Barnes started four times and appeared in six games for the team.

Harrell, a redshirt junior out of Frenship High School, is the longest-tenured Miner of the three players that will transfer. He was a Sean Kugler signee and joined the team in 2016, where he didn't see the field until Dana Dimel took over the reins of the program in 2018. The cornerback had a season-high nine tackles against UTSA. He finished the season totaling 32 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and one pass breakup.

Another significant loss will be Inyang, who emerged as a starter at the nickel corner position. The Kilgore College transfer played in all 12 games last year and registered 14 tackles. This year, his numbers improved in a big way. Inyang averaged 4.6 tackles per game (32 total) and helped the defense with two forced fumbles. He will play his senior season elsewhere.

Barnes led the UTEP secondary in pass breakups (five), while finishing the year with 22 tackles, 2.0 TFL and a forced fumble on the year. The redshirt junior from Fort Scott Community College flashed some potential to be the team's top cornerback by his senior season. His value showed when Barnes took away some playing time from starting cornerback Josh Caldwell at times.

In a series of tweets Friday, all three of the players confirmed their departures.

(Updated at 3:38 with new info on UTEP's game versus North Texas)

The Miners (3-4, 0-3 in C-USA) have played only once since their Oct. 24 game against Charlotte. Following their cancellations against Rice and Southern Miss, UTEP has their season finale on the road against North Texas (3-5, 2-4 C-USA). Previously, the Mean Green said they wouldn't make the Oct. 31 trip to El Paso because of the high number of COVID-19 cases in the city. Now, the game has been moved to Denton in order to "give [UTEP] the best opportunity to get back on the field," according to Dimel.