UTEP looking for bowl eligibility on senior night

The Miners will play their final home game of the 2011 season Nov. 19 at the Sun Bowl against Tulsa with the chance of earning a second-consecutive bowl berth.

UTEP is coming off a 22-17 win against East Carolina, the first against the Pirates since joining C-USA in 2005. The Miners have now beat all other 11 C-USA teams at least once in school history.

The Tulsa Golden Hurricanes have yet to lose a C-USA game (6-0) this season and are coming off a 59-17 rout over Marshall.

First year head coach Bill Blankenship has led Tulsa to a 7-3 record with all three of their losses coming against ranked opponents: No. 7 Oklahoma State, No. 1 Oklahoma and No. 4 Boise State.

This will mark the 20th meeting between both squads, with Tulsa holding an 11-8 advantage over the Miners. Even though the Golden Hurricanes hold a 5-4 advantage in the Sun Bowl, they have yet to beat a Mike Price-coached team in El Paso.

"I think having the game here makes a big difference. There's just a lot of excitement involved this week because of our seniors. This is their last game in the Sun Bowl," Price said. "We know that this gives us a chance to be bowl eligible so there's all kinds of reasons to be motivated for this game."

The last time both teams faced each other, Tulsa edged the Miners 31-28 Nov. 20, 2010 in Tulsa. Senior quarterback G.J. Kinne thew for 325 yards and two touchdowns in the meeting.

Kinne recently surpassed the 10,000-yard mark in total offense becoming only the second player in school history to do so behind former quarterback Paul Smith.

"He's one fantastic quarterback, one of the highest recruited quarterbacks in the state of Texas," Price said. "He can run, pass, makes great decisions. He's competitive, tough and an experienced veteran. He's really the heart and soul of that offensive team."

Aside from dealing with Kinne, the Miners will attempt to stop a Tulsa running attack that is averaging nearly 210 yards per game.

"They have two speed backs. (Sophomore) Ja'Trian Douglas is the guy who's going to take most of the fly sweeps that they run and (sophomore Trey) Watts, (former Oklahoma quarterback) J.C. Watts' son, is the other running back that's kind of an inside runner, really elusive," Price said. "Then they have a big 250-pound fullback/tailback Singleton that they bring in short yardage and goal line and he runs over people."

UTEP's junior quarterback Nick Lamaison was sidelined during the game against East Carolina with a groin injury.

Sophomore Carson Meger stepped in leading the Miners to the victory all while completing 18-of-27 attempts for 155 yards. If Lamaison can't play, Meger will make his second start of the season.

Junior kicker Dakota Warren suffered a groin injury and his status is still uncertain for Tulsa. Senior kickers Mike Scott and Kevin Lopez, along with freshman Steven Valadez, will handle the kicking if Warren can't play.

"We'll just see how Dakota is going to be. If he isn't the kicker, we would probably use Scott or Lopez in extra points and Steve would kick the long ones, but we're not in that position right now," Price said. "Going into the game, I would think Dakota would be our kicker and Nick would be our starting quarterback."

It will be senior day at the Sun Bowl when the Miners take the field at 1 p.m and a total of 22 senior players will suit up for their final home game.

"Senior day can cause a distraction to some kids. I saw (former Notre Dame head coach) Lou Holtz talking about it on TV the other day. I hope the seniors don't get tears in their eyes and get all emotional before the game because when that happens, they don't play very good," Price said. "We have to take this one game at a time and prepare for it the same way...We know the importance of the game."

Daniel Ornelas may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.