Three Keys to Victory | UTEP
Five games into the season, and I have a lot of questions. Who's the starting QB this week? Where are all of our running backs - are they safe? Are they alright? Can we win a road game? Will we like this midweek game stuff that's somehow already here?
With so many questions, I'm here to provide some answers as the Bulldogs look to get back to .500 out in El Paso tonight.
Know Thyself
So far in Coach Cumbie's sophomore campaign, it feels like the offense we run is dictated by what the defense is giving us. That might seem like a good idea on the surface - if you know Nebraska's run defense is elite, for example, you adjust your gameplan to account for it - sometimes it's been taken to extremes. Instead of passing the ball against Northwestern State and building some much needed momentum and confidence for your QB and wideouts, you ran for 350 yards.
That's... fine... we did what we needed to do to get the W. But being "run first" ain't Louisiana Tech football. We're a passing team. Especially this year, when running backs 1-3 on the depth chart have played a combined 120 of the offense's 340 snaps through five games.
We need to establish an identity - and that identity should be: We are going to come out and SLING it. Sure, UTEP is bad against the run. We'll take some rushing yards. But on 1st and 10, 2nd and 8, etc... we better be willing to pass.
Win Third Down
Tech needs to be better about sustaining drives; moving the ball downfield efficiently and effectively. That includes staying on the field by converting third downs. So far this season, the Dogs haven't been great at this - we rank 94th in 3rd down percentage at 36.9%. Luckily, the Miners' defense is allowing opponents to convert on nearly 50% of their third down attempts (49.3%, 120th in FBS).
On the other side of the ball, we absolutely have to keep UTEP from converting on third downs and staying on the field. Tech currently allows opponents to convert on 39.5% of attempts (71st), while UTEP is successful on only 34.4% (113th).
We should have the advantage on third down - let's take advantage of it.
TURNOVERS
Last week I stressed that Nebraska was a team that would put the ball in danger. They certainly put it in danger when they fumbled at least twice... but Tech wasn't in a position to make the play. Maybe the ball bounced the other way... who knows. The point is, we needed a couple of those turnovers to go our way, but instead we let a mistake-prone Nebraska team come out with a clean sheet on Saturday night.
This week, the same can be said. In his long career at UTEP - Gavin Hardison has thrown 3 TDs and 5 INTs in games against Louisiana Tech. Maybe he's cleaned it up in his super senior year? NOPE! He's thrown 5 TDs and 7 INTs through 5 games - and seems to be a big reason the Miners are off to a 1-4 start. Coupled with the team's fumbles, UTEP is ranked 125th in turnover margin with a -1.4 average per game.
Tech has absolutely got to take care of the football on both sides of the ball if they want to win in El Paso.
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Evan also writes for go tech pls dont die - check them out at gtpdd.dog and on Twitter at @gotechplsdntdie