UTEP Miners vs AR-Pine Bluff Football Recap

UTEP 31, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 10 - C-USA Football Scores

You’re not going to solve all your problems in week one of a college football season. Then again, an opening act needs to create a sense of confidence throughout a roster. For the UTEP Miners, it’s hard to feel too good about the 2010 season after a scratchy and patchy start to this year’s 12-game journey.

No coach in Conference USA has a hotter seat than UTEP’s Mike Price.  That seat was engulfed in flames during the first half of the Miners’ season opener, as the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions were going toe-to-toe with the FBS team from the West Texas town Marty Robbins once sang about. Whether it was a pancake-flat mentality or a desire to keep the playbook extremely minimal heading into this Friday’s tilt at defending West Division champion Houston, UTEP seemed to withhold its best effort. The Miners kept a lot of stuff in the bag, but the worry is that they won’t be able to flip the “on” switch as they move forward this fall.

Yes, it’s true that UTEP just did not answer the bell in the first half of play. Up against an FCS cupcake who was supposed to give the Miners confidence, the home crew at the Sun Bowl stadium mustered a paltry 14 points and trudged to the locker room with a meager 14-10 halftime edge. The sputtering start to the season does not augur well for a club that must now take on the high-octane boys from Houston.

At least the Miners did wake up in the second half. UTEP leaned on the smaller bodies of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff front line and asserted its superiority in the trenches. Fortunately for Price and the Miner faithful, senior quarterback Trevor Vittatoe led third-quarter scoring drives of 49, 66, and 62 yards, ensuring the 31-10 UTEP (1-0) victory.

Vittatoe completed 17-of-27 passes for 229 yards.  Although he didn’t throw for a touchdown, his passing put the Miners in scoring position throughout the second half.  Junior running backs Joe Banyard and Vernon Frazier each rushed for over 90 yards and two touchdowns apiece to lead a Miner ground attack that piled up 249 yards. 

The UTEP defense was solid all game, holding Arkansas-Pine Bluff to 278 yards of total offense.  Sophomore defensive back DeShawn Grayson and junior defensive back Antown Blake helped keep the pass-happy Arkansas-Pine Bluff attack in check, combining for 14 tackles and one pass break-up. 

Grayson, Blake, and company are in for a test next week, when the Miners travel to Houston (1-0) to take on Case Keenum and the Cougars in a Friday night go-round.  The Golden Lions being SWAC play with a trip to Alabama State (1-0).