Conference U-S-Hey: UTEP Miners

Welcome to C-USA WKU fans, here is a little bit to know about the University in ole West Texas town of El Paso.

Nov 16, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; UTEP Miners head coach Sean Kugler speaks to his team during a timeout against the FIU Golden Panthers at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

Football

Rebuilding, retooling, restoring; name any “rebuilding,” term and UTEP Football is in that mode.  After a 2-10 season, you can only get better, right?  Well that’s what we hope under second year head man Sean Kugler, who has changed the culture, scheme, and overall attitude of the program.  While he has had more success off the field in retooling, and balancing the roster, he has also installed a tough discipline as pillar for the program during his first year of tenure.

On the field look for one of the top running back tandems in the conference in sophomore Aaron Jones and senior Nathan Jeffery. Jones ran for 811 yards as a freshman even with missing the final four games with injury, and was also named a freshman All-American by some publications. Jeffery will be a senior this year, and will have a chip on his shoulder due to a tough injury riddled season last year, after a breakout sophomore campaign.  Jeffery was considered a solid NFL prospect after his sophomore year, but last season erased that label, and this kid is hungry as hell to get that back. Jameill Showers returns under center, as his season too was cut short due injury. Showers looked very sharp in the spring in year two of his direction of the offense, and is becoming a senior leader. Injuries were a theme last year, but none were felt harder than the defensive side of the ball. The Miners use a 4-2-5 look on defense, and were scotch taping together the secondary by the end of the season.  There is some hope as Kugler and Co. brought in some immediate help on defense, but way too many questions remain on D to tell whether the wins and loss ship is righted in the right direction. Despite a rough patch of seasons, UTEP fans still will show up to the Sun Bowl. UTEP drew 20,000-30,000 fans last season for each game, and any improvement on the field will see an increase in attendance this year. [ed. note- ALL WKU sports can learn from this. SUPPORT YOUR TOPPERS]