Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 124. UTEP
“Loser! You’re a loser!” - Hank Hill
Well, they’re not the worst Texas team on this list. UTEP started in the Western Athletic Conference from 1983-2004 before settling into Conference USA, which they’ve been a member of ever since. UTEP hasn’t been that bad, but goes on temporary stretches of REALLY bad play. 1983-85 and especially 2017-19 are two of the worst 3-year stretches by any team in NCAA history. 2017, 18, and 19 were the 8th worst, 56th worst, and 32nd worst seasons by ANY team since 1983! UTEP was also a bottom 3 team each of those years.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
| 31 | UTEP | 1988 | 7.729 | 10-3 |
| 32 | UTEP | 2004 | 5.432 | 8-4 |
| 47 | UTEP | 2000 | -2.291 | 8-4 |
| 52 | UTEP | 2005 | -5.597 | 8-4 |
| 44 | UTEP | 1987 | -5.61 | 7-4 |
| 85 | UTEP | 2014 | -17.606 | 7-6 |
| 85 | UTEP | 2021 | -19.455 | 7-6 |
| 88 | UTEP | 2008 | -24.651 | 5-7 |
| 74 | UTEP | 1991 | -24.861 | 4-7-1 |
| 102 | UTEP | 2022 | -25.576 | 5-7 |
| 85 | UTEP | 1999 | -26.391 | 5-7 |
| 92 | UTEP | 2011 | -27.658 | 5-7 |
| 95 | UTEP | 2010 | -28.937 | 6-7 |
| 95 | UTEP | 2009 | -29.344 | 4-8 |
| 105 | UTEP | 2020 | -29.824 | 3-5 |
| 91 | UTEP | 2006 | -30.054 | 5-7 |
| 92 | UTEP | 2007 | -30.812 | 4-8 |
| 103 | UTEP | 2015 | -34.148 | 5-7 |
| 90 | UTEP | 1997 | -34.899 | 4-7 |
| 87 | UTEP | 1994 | -35.668 | 3-7-1 |
| 88 | UTEP | 1986 | -36.056 | 4-8 |
| 95 | UTEP | 1998 | -37.605 | 3-8 |
| 106 | UTEP | 2012 | -40.476 | 3-9 |
| 115 | UTEP | 2016 | -41.375 | 4-8 |
| 93 | UTEP | 1990 | -41.748 | 3-8 |
| 104 | UTEP | 1996 | -51.738 | 2-9 |
| 102 | UTEP | 1983 | -54.137 | 2-10 |
| 103 | UTEP | 1984 | -54.444 | 2-9 |
| 101 | UTEP | 1989 | -55.144 | 2-10 |
| 102 | UTEP | 1985 | -55.832 | 1-10 |
| 103 | UTEP | 1992 | -56.307 | 1-10 |
| 112 | UTEP | 2001 | -58.13 | 2-9 |
| 117 | UTEP | 2013 | -59.505 | 2-10 |
| 107 | UTEP | 1995 | -61.558 | 2-10 |
| 114 | UTEP | 2002 | -62.161 | 2-10 |
| 115 | UTEP | 2003 | -64.839 | 2-11 |
| 105 | UTEP | 1993 | -65.749 | 1-11 |
| 129 | UTEP | 2018 | -66.876 | 1-11 |
| 128 | UTEP | 2019 | -69.533 | 1-11 |
| 130 | UTEP | 2017 | -74.613 | 0-12 |
+------+------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: -5440.29611 (124th)153-316-2 record
1 conference title
0-7 bowl record
1 consensus All-American
30 NFL players drafted
0-7 in bowls is crazy. Given that bowl matchups are usually a fair matchup, there was a 0.8% chance for UTEP to go winless in all seven games. I’m not going to rag on them too hard, though—just making 7 bowl games is impressive compared to the teams we’ve seen thus far. UTEP’s also had some notable players including Aaron Jones, Will Hernandez, and Jordan Palmer. 30 NFL players shows a very good track record for developing talent at a Group of 5 school, and UTEP’s certainly had a few seasons to write home about.
Top 5 Seasons
5. 1987 (7-4 overall, 5-3 WAC)
Over the 12 seasons prior to 1987, UTEP had a STAGGERINGLY BAD 19-119 RECORD. The most wins in a season since 1971 was just 4. Second year head coach Bob Stull was tasked with turning around a dead program, and had went 4-8 the previous year, tying their best win total in 16 years. 1987 would show even more signs of growth, shocking the nation by starting 7-2 before finishing 4th in the WAC at 7-4 overall with a 5-3 conference record. Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter led a strong offense that was 20th in the nation in PPG with 28.1. Offensive line coach Andy Reid coached a solid group that paved the way for RB John Harvey who ran for 1170 yards and 16 TD.
4. 2005 (8-4 overall, 5-3 Conference USA)
This was UTEP’s first season in Conference USA, and fans were excited, averaging 47,899 fans per game to rank 44th in the nation in attendance. Football was abuzz in El Paso as just one year prior, UTEP had hired former Washington State and disgraced Alabama head coach Mike Price, who had a great track record for developing QBs like Drew Bledsoe and Ryan Leaf. Heisman winning QB Carson Palmer’s younger brother, Jordan, was entering his third season as the Miners’ starting QB and would continue his growth with a 3503 yard 29 TD 19 INT season. UTEP swept through their schedule, starting 8-1 and earning a #24 ranking before dropping their last two regular season games and their bowl game. It ended up being a “what if” season for UTEP as they only needed to win one of their last two games against 5-6 UAB and 5-6 SMU. Still, 8-4 was a great season and the Miners continued to build on their momentum under Price.
3. 2000 (8-4 overall, 7-1 WAC)
Crazy good year for UTEP, seemingly out of nowhere! Like 1987, the Miners were just 30-94 the previous 11 seasons coming into 2000. Starting just 1-2 with blowout losses to Oklahoma and Texas A&M, it seemed like another losing season for UTEP until they started reeling off blowout win after blowout win. 39-7 over Hawaii, 40-7 over Tulsa, 47-30 over San Jose State. A 23-13 win over a Fresno State team that would finish 6-2 in the WAC was key as the Miners went on a seven game win streak to improve to 8-2 on the year with a 7-0 WAC record. This would set up a hyped Texas showdown between 8-2 UTEP and #15, 8-1 TCU to determine the conference champion. TCU won the day 47-14, but UTEP still tied for 1st place in the WAC and won a share of the conference title, their only one since 1983. TE Brian Natkin was the school’s only ever consensus All-American, catching 63 passes for 775 yards and 4 TD. DE Menson Holloway and WR Lee Mays would become eventual NFL Draft picks, and QB Rocky Perez had a fine season throwing 26 TD to just 6 INT.
2. 2004 (8-4 overall, 6-2 WAC)
Before the 2005 team, there were the 2004 UTEP Miners. Mike Price’s first season surpassed all expectations, leading to him being a finalist for both the Eddie Robinson and Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year Awards. A team littered with NFL talent, they’d start 8-2 and get a #24 ranking before, like usual, losing their last two games. A second place finish in UTEP’s last season in the WAC was an impressive feat as conference champion Boise State finished 11-1, there was almost no usurping them. QB Jordan Palmer would be an eventual 6th round pick, starting RB Howard Jackson would have 1455 yards from scrimmage and backup RB Marcus Thomas would eventually be drafted in the 5th round. Speedy WR Johnnie Lee Higgins was a talented return man who would eventually be a 3rd round pick, and on the defense LB Thomas Howard and DBs Adrian Ward and Quentin Demps would be 2nd, 7th, and 4th round picks, respectively. Very overlooked team coming into the year whose talent was unlocked by Price.
1. 1988 (10-3 overall, 6-2 WAC)
And here it is, every team’s got a “glory year”. For UTEP fans, it was 1988. Coming off the previously talked about 1987 season, there were expectations in El Paso for the first time in forever. They’d just about meet, if not surpass all expectations with the best season in school history. They’d blow out FCS teams Mankato State and Weber State before dropping a game to BYU. They’d reel off win after win, setting up a much anticipated matchup between 8-1 UTEP and #10, 9-0 Wyoming. I’m going to cut to the chase, Wyoming slaughtered them 51-6 (womp, womp). But even then! UTEP would finish the regular season 10-2 before losing to Brett Favre’s Southern Miss in the Independence Bowl, and what a season it was. A bold rushing attack led by 4 men with exactly the kind of names you’d find in an old football film, John Harvey, Scooter Menifee, Willie Fuller, and Eddie Dixon each ran for 350+ rushing yards and 5+ TD en route to 34.2 PPG and the #11 ranked offense in the nation. Bob Stull’s run as head coach was so successful that he’d parlay it into a head coaching gig at Missouri, where he’d infamously be the victim of the “Fifth Down Game”. He’d return to UTEP as Athletic Director from 1998-2017 where he’d lead UTEP to 3 of their top 5 seasons in this list.
5th Quarter
UTEP fans, I know you’re out there. Tell me, why do you always finish your seasons 0-2? And for all the UTEP baby boomers out there, what was Andy Reid like as offensive line coach from 1987-88? Was his greatness obvious or was he still a growing boy?
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