This is the Depth Dossier: the UTEP Miners, Week 10.

UTEP fell 17 to 14 to Hawaii, and even with a late rally that made it close, the real story is a 29-play gap that tells you more about this season than the final score does.

Hawaii built a 17 to 7 lead into the fourth quarter and then just kept the ball away from the Miners, winning time of possession 36 minutes and 35 seconds to 23 minutes and 25 seconds. Quarterback Micah Alejado threw for 303 yards, and wide receiver Titan Lacaden caught 11 passes for 109 yards. UTEP's best offensive answer came from running back Lamar Sperling, who turned just 11 carries into 63 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Raymond Moore the third found wide receiver Judah Ezinwa for a 15-yard touchdown to cut it to three, but UTEP's offense was stuck at two for ten on third down and only ran 49 total plays. They never got the ball back with enough time to finish the comeback.

Here's the thing about the box score. It says UTEP outgained Hawaii on the ground and won the turnover battle, and both of those are true, but they're also misleading. Hawaii ran 78 plays to UTEP's 49. That's not about tempo so much as UTEP's offense simply not staying on the field, and third down was the big reason why. UTEP converted two of ten, Hawaii went eight of fifteen, and every one of those Hawaii conversions was another minute and a half UTEP's defense had to survive.

The protection problems explain a lot of this. UTEP came into the week allowing close to five sacks a game, the worst rate in the country, and nothing in this one suggested that's getting fixed anytime soon. Winning the turnover battle and still losing by three is about as clean an indictment of this offense's inability to cash in chances as you'll find.

A few other things stood out. Ezinwa's touchdown catch was his first as a Miner and his first of any kind since 2022, which is a bigger story than his final line of two catches for 20 yards suggests. Running back Carver Cheeks turned just three touches into 68 total yards, including a 36-yard catch, the kind of explosive play this offense badly needs more of. And on defense, linebacker Jayden Wilson had 11 tackles, while defensive back Xavier Smith added nine tackles and an interception, which is a big reason this game stayed within three points despite Hawaii piling up 424 total yards.

Now, turning to the depth chart, there were no injuries reported from this game. The bigger development is at quarterback. Moore started and played the entire game, going nine for eighteen passing for 109 yards and a touchdown, while adding 41 yards rushing on seven carries. That's a real shift from last week, when a different quarterback, Colson, took every offensive snap and Moore was used strictly as a designed runner and gadget passer. Whether this is a permanent change or just a one-week look hasn't been addressed, but it's the biggest thing to track going into next week.

Sperling's day, nearly six yards a carry and a touchdown, gives UTEP a rushing option they should keep leaning on, especially with the rest of the offense struggling to generate anything. And Cheeks's efficiency on just three touches is the kind of thing that should earn him more snaps if the coaching staff is looking for ways to create explosive plays without relying on an offensive line that's allowing sacks at the worst rate in the nation.

On defense, Wilson and Smith's tackle numbers, plus Smith's interception, keep both of them in the conversation as the most consistent playmakers on that side of the ball. Defensive lineman Kode Lowe picked up his first sack as a Miner, which is worth filing away as a potential building block up front.

The structural issues remain unresolved. An offensive line that can't protect, and an offense that can't finish drives. Whatever direction the quarterback situation takes from here will be the headline to watch.

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