UTEP 24, Rice 21: What We Learned

[caption id="attachment_19026" align="alignright" width="300"]Photo by Maria Concha Photo by Maria Concha[/caption] These quarterbacks can get the job done. Only one came out victorious, but both quarterbacks did a good job of leading their respective teams in this nail-biter. UTEP should feel confident about its young signal-caller, Mack Leftwich. He threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns while leading the Miners to their first victory over Rice in four years. Leftwich showed off his accuracy and arm strength, looked good in the pocket and proved that he can stay poised and put together a solid drive under pressure. Driphus Jackson had a nice outing for Rice and got help from a handful of Owls, but he had too many bad throws and didn’t get enough protection from his offensive line. UTEP needs to find a running game. When Aaron Jones went down with a season-ending injury early in the year, UTEP’s running game took a big hit. It couldn’t find a consistent replacement for him, but LaQuintus Dowell was its closest bet – until he went down in the second quarter against Rice. Jeremiah Laufasa had an admirable performance, but UTEP rushed for just 161 yards against a struggling Rice defense. The Miners should be getting better run production considering their solid offensive line. Someone has to step up and make UTEP’s offense more balanced or the end of its season isn’t going to be pretty. Rice’s defensive struggles continue. Once again, the Owls found themselves unable to contain an offense. Their secondary continues to be a step behind and their front line wasn’t able to break through to pressure UTEP’s quarterback consistent enough to pay off. The Miners racked up 392 yards and held the ball for seven minutes longer than Rice because the Owls couldn’t find a way to stop drives. Although Rice managed to hold UTEP to a field goal on their last offensive drive of the game, the Miners chewed seven minutes off the clock and the 48 seconds remaining weren’t enough for Rice’s offense to win the game. The Owls have to develop a defense that can get the ball back in the offense’s hands quickly.  Tip your cap to the special teams. Owl punter James Farrimond had a nice night, averaging 51.2 yards per boot, leading to several UTEP mishaps when returning punts. But UTEP’s special teams had the play of the game. The Miners blocked Rice’s 38-yard field goal attempt and used that momentum to knock down their own game winning field goal.