UTEP Football Offensive Report Card

If you take away the mistakes that were made Saturday night, the UTEP offense made some big plays against Louisiana Tech. Unfortunately, they also made multiple mistakes to negate any of the progress they could have made in the Sun Bowl. As a result, the Miners lost their sixth game of the season, 42-21 to the Bulldogs.

QUARTERBACKS: C
Kai Locksley had his best passing performance of the season, completing 17 of 30 passes for 227 yards and no interceptions. He also added a one-yard touchdown run. However, he also had three fumbles and lost two of them which proved costly.

RUNNING BACKS: B
Treyvon Hughes (13-60, 1TD) and Josh Fields (7-52) both ran extremely well, but they combined for only 20 carries. Despite their ground dominance, UTEP threw the ball more than they had most games. The run-pass combination would have provided better results for the Miners had the team not turned the ball over three times on turnovers.

WIDE RECEIVERS: B
It was a solid game for the UTEP receiving corps, who registered 17 catches and no drops. Justin Garrett (5-60) had a terrific night, while Tre'Shon Wolf (4-44), Alan Busey (3-35), and Jacob Cowing (2-70, 1TD) also had good performances.

OFFENSIVE LINE: C-
It was another mixed bag for the Miners OL. The unit did their job in opening up holes for the running game throughout the contest. However, they also allowed four sacks, six tackles for a loss, and six quarterback hurries. UTEP also lost a fumble due to a high snap and they did not pick up a block when Locksley fumbled in the third quarter after being hit on the blindside by La Tech's Amik Robertson.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C
Mitchell Crawford averaged only 30 yards on four punts, which was an uncharacteristic performance from the Miners senior. A shanked 23-yard punt might have been partially blocked. Walter Dawn did have a nice game returning kickoffs, with two for a total of 65 yards. Brady Viles saw action on kickoffs.

OVERALL OFFENSE: C
Between the mix of running and passing attacks, UTEP should have been in this football game. However, turnovers once again killed them, and is a big reason why they only scored 21 points. It sounds like a broken record but if the Miners take care of the football and not give it away, commit few penalties like they did against La Tech, and build on their balanced offense, they would have a terrific chance to win football games. The downside is we have not seen them execute all three categories in the same game this season. This team has scored 21 or fewer points in each of the last six games. That is not going to get it done, especially in Conference USA.