# 2018 UTEP Miners football team

The 2018 UTEP Miners football team represented University of Texas at El Paso in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Miners played their home games at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Dana Dimel. They finished the season 1–11, 1–7 in C-USA play to finish in a tie for sixth place in the West Division. UTEP averaged 14,155 fans per game.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Derron Gatewood | C | SR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Kalaii Griffin | LB | SR |

### Preseason media poll

Conference USA released their preseason media poll on July 17, 2018, with the Miners predicted to finish in a tie for sixth place in the West Division.
West Division :
| Predicted finish | Team |
| 1 | North Texas |
| 2 | Louisiana Tech |
| 3 | UAB |
| 4 | Southern Miss |
| 5 | UTSA |
| T–6 | Rice |
| T–6 | UTEP |

## Spring Game

The 2018 Spring Game took place in El Paso, on April 13, at 7 p.m.
| Date | Time | Spring Game | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| April 13 | 7:00 p.m. | Orange vs. Blue | Sun Bowl • El Paso, Texas | CUSA.tv | Orange 20–13 | - |

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Year at UTEP | Alma mater (Year) |
| Dana Dimel | Head Coach | 1st | Kansas State (1986) |
| Mike Canales | Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks | 1st | Utah State (1984) |
| Mike Cox | Defensive coordinator/linebackers | 1st | Idaho (1989) |
| Joe Robinson | Special teams coordinator | 1st | LSU (1985) |
| Mike Simmonds | Offensive line | 1st | Indiana State (1987) |
| Mike Tuiasosopo | Defensive line/defensive Tackle | 1st | Pacific Lutheran (1989) |
| Keith Burns | Secondary/safeties | 1st | Arkansas (1982) |
| Reggie Mitchell | Running backs | 1st | Central Michigan (1984) |
| Scotty Ohara | Wide receivers | 1st | Arizona (2008) |
| Jake Waters | Inside Wide receivers | 1st | Kansas State (2014) |
| Remington Rebstock | Cornerbacks | 1st | Kansas State |
| Matt Rahl | Director of recruiting | 1st | Missouri Southern State (2003) |
| Barrick Nealy | Director of Player Development | 1st | Texas State (2017) |
| Josh Oglesby | Offensive Quality Control | 1st | Wisconsin (2011) |
| Kevin Schadt | Director of Strength and Conditioning | 1st | Delaware (2007) |
| Nate Poss | Assistant Athletic Director for Football Operations | | |
| Jacob Martinez | Graduate Assistant Football Operations | 2nd | UTEP (2016) |

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 5:30 p.m. | Northern Arizona* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN3 | L 10–30 | 17,271 |
| September 8 | 7:00 p.m. | at UNLV* | Sam Boyd StadiumWhitney, NV | ATTSN | L 24–52 | 14,122 |
| September 15 | 10:00 a.m. | at Tennessee* | Neyland StadiumKnoxville, TN | SECN | L 0–24 | 87,074 |
| September 22 | 5:30 p.m. | New Mexico State* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX (Battle of I-10) | ESPN3 | L 20–27 | 19,412 |
| September 29 | 5:00 p.m. | at UTSA | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX | ESPN+ | L 21–30 | 36,582 |
| October 6 | 5:30 p.m. | North Texas | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | beIN | L 24–27 | 12,809 |
| October 20 | 1:30 p.m. | at Louisiana Tech | Joe Aillet StadiumRuston, LA | ESPN+ | L 24–31 | 18,972 |
| October 27 | 5:30 p.m. | UAB | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN+ | L 0–19 | 10,787 |
| November 3 | 1:30 p.m. | at Rice | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | ESPN3 | W 34–26 | 18,420 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Middle Tennessee | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN+ | L 32–48 | 9,690 |
| November 17 | 5:30 p.m. | at Western Kentucky | Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith StadiumBowling Green, KY | beIN | L 16–40 | 6,221 |
| November 24 | 1:00 p.m. | Southern Miss | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN+ | L 7–39 | 14,962 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Mountain time |||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Game summaries
### Northern Arizona

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Lumberjacks | 10 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 30 |
| Miners | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### At UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 10 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Rebels | 14 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 52 |

### At Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Volunteers | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |

### New Mexico State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Aggies | 10 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 27 |
| Miners | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |

### At UTSA

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Roadrunners | 7 | 17 | 0 | 6 | 30 |

### North Texas

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Mean Green | 7 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 27 |
| Miners | 3 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 24 |

### At Louisiana Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
| Bulldogs | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### UAB

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blazers | 10 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 19 |
| Miners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Rice

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 7 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| Owls | 0 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 26 |

### Middle Tennessee

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Blue Raiders | 14 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 48 |
| Miners | 0 | 10 | 0 | 22 | 32 |

### At Western Kentucky

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Miners | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Hilltoppers | 27 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 40 |

### Southern Miss

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Eagles | 16 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 39 |
| Miners | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |