This afternoon the first weekly UTEP Football press conference took place ahead of this weekend’s season opener.
UTEP will host North Texas on Saturday, August 27 at the Sun Bowl in what will be the earliest start to the season in history of the program.
It appears the UTEP athletic program will accomplish its summer long goal and get a sellout crowd in the Sun Bowl for this year’s season opener.
Opening today’s press conference was Athletic Director Jim Senter who wanted to give a few reminders ahead of Saturday’s football game:
- Because he expects the game to be a sellout, he asked that fans take plenty of time this Saturday evening to get to the Sun Bowl. Arriving 2-4 hours ahead of the 7pm scheduled kickoff was recommended by Senter to the over 45,000 fans expected to be in attendance. This will give everyone plenty of time to get on campus and deal with the expected heavy traffic, in addition to getting to their designated parking lots for those that have parking passes.
- It was also recommended for fans to download their e-tickets onto their mobile devices at home and not at the stadium.
- Gates will open 90 minutes prior to kickoff. Tailgating is allowed.
UTEP head coach Dana Dimel then spoke with the media for approximately 20 minutes after Senter was done addressing the media, here are some of the highlights of what he said:
- In his opening comments Dimel said he was looking forward to the season opener. He said his team has plenty of work this week ahead of Saturday’s game. Dimel then gave a synopsis of this week’s practice schedule.
- Dimel said he was happy with the preparation his team has had over camp leading up to the present day. Dimel revealed that there is still a competition going on at certain spots regarding the 2-deep depth chart going into this week of preparation and started the pros and cons to this.
- UTEP fans can expect 3-4 running backs to play for the Miners and 5-6 wide receivers.
- Dimel asked fans attending Saturday’s game to do their part. Dimel said, “My message to the fans is they have to be a big part and make a difference in this game, so when North Texas has the ball they (the fans) have to be loud and cause havoc for them. Then we have to feed off of their intensity and excitement as a football team”
- Dimel called North Texas “one of the toughest teams we’re gonna play all year in the conference.”
- As for his team, Dimel said one of the Miners’ “secret sauces” this year may just be the depth in the defensive line.
With a win on Saturday the Miners would be winning their fourth straight season opener, which would be a first in the history of the football program.
Saturday’s game will be televised on Stadium.
Author: Joe Rodriguez – El Paso Herald Post
Rodriguez is a life long El Pasoan. Joe has covered sports locally across the Borderland since 2007 for various media outlet both in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez as a personal passion as he is a professional in the world of healthcare (Physiatry). His favorite sports include soccer, auto racing, golf and horse racing.
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