Improvement, that was one of the key words all week around the Miners football team in preparation to face UNLV this Saturday. Improvement might come with change. Kai Locksley will be the started tonight against the Rebels. Kai was a pleasant change in the offense last week, after Ryan Metz gave up a quick turnover in the first drive of the game.
Locksley final numbers against Northern Arizona were 13-26, 120 yards with 1 INT and also 18 carriers for 50 yards. Utep did not produce enough offensive power to watch NAU. Northern Arizona took the 20 point victory over the Miners 30-10. Kai worked with the offense all week and i believe we can expect more from him today.
Image credit: El Paso Times
The Rebels coming off a loss of there own in week 1. Nothing similar to the Miners though, as UNLV played the #15 team in the nation in the USC Trojans. The running game was working for the Rebels as Lexington Thomas rushed for 136 yards in 14 attempts with 1 TD. Most of the yards coming from his 71 yard TD run. Sophomore QB Armani Rogers looked less than impressive as he had a 44.4% completion rate and threw for less than 100 yards. He did add 2 TD, one of them a great 31 yard throw.
It will come down to see if UTEP defense can get turnovers and stop drives early. If Utep doesn’t let UNLV extend drives and gets off the field when they have the chance, then i believe UTEP can get enough offensive power to get away with a win in Las Vegas. One of the key defensive players is Oregon transfer senior linebacker A.J. Hotchkins which set the mood with 13 total tackles in week 1. Look for him to cause some trouble tonight against this UNLV offense.
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