Southern Miss 34, UTEP 13: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19336" align="alignleft" width="300"]Photo courtesy UTEP Athletics Photo courtesy UTEP Athletics[/caption] In a game wreaked by weather havoc, UTEP couldn't find anything positive in their loss to Southern Miss. DCTF's Greg Tepper breaks down the takeaways.UTEP’s season ended when Aaron Jones’ did. Perhaps it’s appropriate that the Miners’ loss to Southern Miss was marred by lightning. As the bolts lit the Hattiesburg skies, it also shed light on UTEP’s biggest problem: they can’t run the ball. The 2015 Miners were supposed to be built around the run game, and it’s not just because it gains yards — it keeps their suspect defense off the field and fresh. When star running back Aaron Jones went down to an ankle injury, that was that for UTEP, though we didn’t know it then. Jones provided a spark that the Miners have been unable to replicate, try as LaQuintus Dowell and Darrin Laufasa may. The Miners aren’t a one-man team, but they do have a superstar — Jones — and he’s sidelined. So are the Miners’ hopes of contention. The Miners’ secondary can’t find a stop. Once again, UTEP — which entered the game ranked 122^nd in the nation in pass defense — faced a solid passing offense with QB Nick Mullen and Southern Miss. And once again, the Miners couldn’t find a stop through the air. Mullens torched the Miners for four touchdowns, and while the Golden Eagles did more than their share on the ground with two rushers over 100 yards, that was all gravy. Right now, any reasonable passing offense can have their way with UTEP’s secondary, and that is instant doom against the better teams in Conference USA, which… It doesn’t get a whole lot easier from here. …by the way, Southern Miss really isn’t one of them. And when you take a look at UTEP’s upcoming schedule — home to Rice, at a feisty Old Dominion team, home to Louisiana Tech — you start to see the writing on the wall. Not to be all doom-and-gloom here, but UTEP is staring 3-8 in the face going into their season finale against a reeling North Texas team. If they can’t find a spark offensively, or they can’t find a stop against a decent passing offense, things are bound to get worse before they get better for the Miners.