The 2009 UTEP Miners football team represented the University of Texas at El Paso in the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Mike Price. The Miners played their home games at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. The Miners finished the season 4–8 and 3–5 in Conference USA play. UTEP averaged 29,010 fans per game.
Recruiting
UTEP's class of 20 players includes 14 who are graduating from Texas high schools in 2009. The most notable of these players is Darren Mickens, the nephew of NFL cornerback Ray Mickens.
Schedule
Game summaries
Buffalo
Sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard threw for 159 yards in his first career start, leading Buffalo to a 23–17 win over UTEP in the season opener for both schools on Saturday in the Sun Bowl.
Maynard's 42-yard pass to Naaman Roosevelt with 12:13 remaining in the third quarter gave the Bulls a 23–7 lead that the Miners couldn't overcome – although they did come close.
UTEP chipped away, cutting the deficit to 23–14 on a 17-yard scoring run by James Thomas with 7:37 remaining in the third period, then 23–17 on a 31-yard field goal by Logan Barrett with 5:45 to play.
The Miners got the ball back following a defensive stop and drove 60 yards to the Buffalo 20-yard line with under a half–minute remaining. Trevor Vittatoe hooked up with Thomas for the apparent tying score with 14 seconds left, but the play was nullified due to a holding penalty on offensive lineman Rod Huntley. Making matters worse, offensive lineman Lance Evbuomwan was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating the touchdown, backing up the Miners to the 42-yard line. Vittatoe's final two pass attempts – both intended for Kris Adams – fell incomplete and the Bulls escaped El Paso with a victory.
In a twist of fate, UTEP's defense – much maligned over the last three seasons – kept the Miners in the game on a night when the offense struggled. The Bulls were held to only 309 yards on 61 plays.
But the Miners weren't sharp offensively – particularly in the first half – and were whistled for 12 penalties totaling 101 yards. Dropped balls, bad exchanges and a botched catch on a kickoff were among the culprits that did in the Miners.
Trevor Vittatoe completed 27 of 45 passes for 233 yards for the Miners, but did not throw a touchdown pass for just the third time in his college career. Adams fell two yards shy of 100 receiving, and Donald Buckram gained a career–high 108 yards on 14 rushes.
Kansas
Jake Sharp ran for 104 yards and three touchdowns while No. 24 Kansas got two big punt returns from Daymond Patterson to beat Texas-El Paso 34–7 on Saturday night.
Todd Reesing completed 25 of 41 attempts for 260 yards with one interception. He threw a 5-yard TD to Sharp and worked again with Dezmon Briscoe, who returned from a one-game suspension for violating team rules and had eight catches for 154 yards.
The Jayhawks (2–0) finished with 576 total yards and their defense racking up five sacks while holding UTEP (0–2) to negative rushing yards until the closing minutes.
The Miners, who finished with 4 yards rushing, avoided the shutout when Trevor Vittatoe found Donavon Kemp for a 75-yard catch-and-run with 12:39 remaining.
Other than a Mariachi band performance at halftime, UTEP fans didn't spend much time cheering anything.
One week after committing 12 penalties for 101 yards in an opening loss to Buffalo, UTEP was flagged 13 times for 137 yards. Vittatoe was 14-of-25 for 187 yards with one interception.
The Jayhawks weren't perfect. Reesing got off to a slow start, kicker Jacob Branstetter was 2 for 4 on field goal attempts and Kansas struggled early to convert third downs, going 3 of 9 in the first half before rebounding to finish 9 of 18.
It didn't matter.
Patterson set up a field goal with a 19-yard punt return in the second period and took another punt back 49 yards in the third just before Sharp's final TD. Sharp ran through big holes all night, and his 3-yard burst put Kansas up 27–0 midway through the third period.
The Jayhawks got rolling with a big second quarter, scoring 17 points to lead 20–0 at the break.
Sharp, who rushed for 123 yards in last week's win over Northern Colorado, scored on a 1-yard plunge, then Branstetter made a 24-yard field goal for a 13–0 lead. Reesing placed a perfect pass over Sharp's shoulder for a 5-yard TD play. That gave Reesing at least one touchdown pass in 20 straight games.
Kansas missed a chance to build the lead when Branstetter missed a 38-yard field goal attempt as the half closed.