Wednesday, October 28, 1998

Miners
still looking to
come of age

The UTEP football team,
which was humbled by Fresno
State last week, is a 14-12-point
favorite against Hawaii

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

Just when Texas-El Paso head coach Charlie Bailey thought he had turned one of the longest corners in NCAA Division I football, an injury forced him off the road.

In a 28-21 victory over San Jose State 11 days ago, running back Elzie Johnson dislocated his hip and was lost for the season.

Granted, the junior isn't the team's leading rusher or receiver, but he was instrumental in the Miners winning back-to-back Western Athletic Conference games for the first time since Bailey took over the program in 1994.

UTEP went to Fresno State without him last weekend as the Miners attempted to win three consecutive games for the first time since 1988. But without the team's most valuable player, it wasn't meant to be.

The Miners couldn't get their offense going against the Bulldogs, and were run off the field, 32-6. It was enough to keep Bailey down for several days.

"I haven't been doing too good since Elzie was hurt, but I'm existing," Bailey said yesterday. "The sun came up this morning, so that's the most important thing.

"There's no doubt about it that we missed him Saturday. I told people around here after he went down that Elzie was one of our most valuable players.

"The reason for it is he's a good blocker. And second of all, he's a real good mover and shaker coming out of the backfield where we can throw him the football. He also has a knack for finding daylight, especially when he runs the ball inside."

The team leader was UTEP's third-leading rusher and second-leading receiver when he went down. He had 16 catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns and also gained 232 yards on 41 carries.

Without him Saturday at Fresno State, the Miners had their lowest offensive output of the season with 231 yards. The nation's 25th-ranked rushing team generated a meager 92 yards on the ground. It was only the second game this season that the Miners failed to get at least 100 yards rushing.

"Part of the problem was our poor offensive line play," Bailey said. "Fresno ran a lot of stunts up front and it kept us from getting anything going.

"If we can't run, then we're in trouble. I was also disappointed in our quarterback play. No matter who we put under center, we couldn't score any points."

UTEP hopes to get healthy this weekend against a Hawaii team that hasn't played at the Sun Bowl since the Miners rallied for a 34-28 victory in 1994.

On paper, Bailey should be pleased the struggling Rainbows are coming to town. After all, the Miners are a 1412-point favorite.

"Yeah, they've struggled a lot on the offensive side of the football," Bailey said. "Defensively, they've played well enough to win, but it's tough when you don't score a lot of points.

"They've got some receivers who can catch the ball, but they haven't been able to run much. But they'll give us a test. Naturally, everyone we play, it always seems to be a barnburner. And I expect the same thing this week."

Despite a mediocre 2-5 record, the Miners have played well this season. Losses to Texas Tech (35-3) and Fresno State (32-6) were lopsided, but the others have been fairly close.

Oregon managed a 33-26 come-from-behind victory, and UTEP also lost to New Mexico State by nine and to Colorado State by three (20-17) before winning two in a row by a scant six points.

The Miners' go-to guys on offense are running back Paul Smith, receiver Jimmy Carpenter, and quarterbacks John Rayborn and Rocky Perez.

Smith has rushed for 587 yards and one touchdown. Carpenter has caught at least one pass in 18 consecutive games and has 29 catches for 322 yards this season.

Rayborn is the team's top quarterback, but he has struggled from time to time. The senior has passed for 739 yards and four touchdowns, and has thrown five interceptions.

Perez has come off the bench to complete 35 of 65 passes for 405 yards and one touchdown, and has thrown two interceptions.

Brian Young is a force at defensive end. He has 75 tackles this season, including 212 sacks.

"This is an important game for us," Bailey said. "I came into this season believing we would be a competitive team. We've had some setbacks, but we need to win a game like this to keep moving in a positive direction."

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http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu