Texas-El Paso has a lot worse problems on its mind than playing football on a Saturday night in Salt Lake City. So when the Miners put up next-to-no resistance in a 56-3 Utah win in Rice Stadium, it's at least understandable.
When there's a possibility the Internal Revenue Service willwant to talk to the guy next to you on the field, when your school has just begun a five-year NCAA probation for administrative errors that had nothing to do with the coaches or players, when your school's in El Paso, well, a 42-0 halftime deficit doesn't seem so bad, and three first-half touchdowns by Daniel Jones (187 yards receiving) and Utah scoring six touchdowns on six possessions doesn't look so formidable.
"This is the way we are supposed to play," said Jones. "That is Utah football. We came to play. It's never boring. You have to stay pumped up."
"Everyone got a piece of the pie," said Ute quarterback Jonathan Crosswhite. "It was good we got to spread the wealth around." Three Ute quarterbacks, six running backs and six receivers got stats from this game.
To the Miners' credit, they got their only score of the game in the second half. They didn't quit. Their starting quarterback even tried to play with a separated throwing shoulder.
UTEP coach Charlie Bailey has never beaten the Utes, but he's come closer, and he didn't care much about effort Saturdaynight. "All I have to say is we got our (bleep) kicked on both sides of the football. They ran over us, passed us and threw us," he said. "It was my fault as a coach. I take all the blame.
"I don't know if we will win another football game. I didn't see one positive thing," the Miner coach said. "I didn't expect them to run past us the way they did."
Neither did Utah coach Ron McBride, who was apprehensive all week because UTEP always seemed to stay close to his teams, even though he was 6-1 against the Miners.
"Obviously, we have to be pleased," McBride said. "The team executed well as a team. We never gave UTEP a chance to get into the game. It didn't matter who was playing; they all did well. I am really pleased with the effort as a whole."
The Miners have been through this before. Two weeks ago, they lost 55-3 at Louisiana State, which was ranked 10th nationally before losing Saturday to 12th-ranked Auburn.
Utah's score beat that, and the Utes were into their second string in the second quarter. By game's end, walk-ons were making the big plays for Utah. Defensive back Colby Knight picked off an interception on the game's last play.
Less than seven minutes earlier, third-string quarterback Scott Styles made his first career pass completion to tight end Matt Nickell for a 1-yard touchdown. That came after walk-on freshman running back Nick Morgan had toted the ball for 41 yards off-tackle and carried four times on a seven-play drive.
That was after Boo Bendinger scored on a 66-yard pass from second-string freshman quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, with 13:05 left in the game, career highs for both ends of the pitch-and-catch tandem.
Jones had two touchdown receptions from Crosswhite, one from Arceneaux.
Dyson caught a 3-yard TD pass on Utah's first drive, Jones caught a 41-yarder, Juan Johnson ran in from the 1 and Chris Fuamatu-Ma'afala raced 35 yards up the middle for the fourth with 1:14 left in the first quarter. Jones (54 and 25 yards) had the second quarter's only TDs. UTEP got its only score, a 33-yard field goal prior to Bendinger's and Nickel's scores. Ute kicker Tommy Truhe was officially 8-for-8 on PATS, though he missed one in the first half but got a second chance and made it good when UTEP was offside.
It was Utah's largest victory margin since 1983. It was the most points by a Ute team since a 57-42 win over Wyoming in 1991.
UTEP's program, already under a five-year NCAA probation for administrative errors involving football and men's and women's basketball, among other teams, was recently hit with allegations of football athletes scheming to draw inflated income-tax return checks. An Internal Revenue Service investigation alleges as many as 30 players, either current or former, are involved in getting fraudulent tax returns. A UTEP spokesman said no one involved with the team has any idea which current players - or if any current players - might be involved. The investigation was made public less than two weeks ago.
Crosswhite left with the score 34-0 and 9:41 left in the first half. Arceneaux was 7-for-7 for 152 yards and two touchdowns, and Styles was 1-for-1 for a TD.
Utah tried to take pity on the Miners, substituting linemen and defenders early, and losing yet another left guard (as well as a couple other players) to injury. Nathan Sybrowsky, who moved to the jinxed left guard position for this game after Luis Park blew a knee last week at TCU, was hurt with 11:48 left in the first quarter on Utah's first possession of the game. He apparently sprained an ankle. He tried to play again but soon left. Park won the left guard job in the preseason when Todd Jackson sustained a foot injury.
Except for Utah's injuries - offensive lineman Sam Katoa was hurt near the end of the half - nothing went right for UTEP. It returned a Fuamatu-Ma'afala fumble 93 yards for a touchdown, but Fuamatu-Ma'afala was ruled down. Dyson scored for Utah on the next play, a 3-yard pass from Crosswhite leading to a 7-0 advantage. UTEP blocked a PAT kick but was ruled offsides, and Utah made the second attempt. On an incomplete Ute pass in the end zone, UTEP was called for a late hit on backup quarterback Darnell Arceneaux, a redshirt freshman, who entered the game for Crosswhite with 8:09 left in the first half and lofted Jones's third TD pass.
Robert Love and Teneil Ethridge had first-half interceptions for Utah, and Taulia Lave had a fumble recovery.