UTEP’s Sean Kugler on last second win over NMSU, upcoming game against Incarnate Word

UTEP’s Sean Kugler held a news conference Monday, Sept. 21 to discuss winning the Battle of I-10 over New Mexico State University and this week’s game against Incarnate Word.

Read what Kugler had to say below.

(On Saturday’s 50-47 overtime win at NM State)
“Extremely exciting win for our team. I felt it was a great team win. I think what we saw and what I saw was a display of young men that refused to get beat, who refused to ever quit during the game. They were down by 14 three different junctures during the game. We went into the game minus some cards and with the best player on our team out. We lost our quarterback early in the third quarter and the team just kept fighting and kept responding. Even when they were down 14 in tough situations, with two two-minute drills and one backed up 99 yards, to fight back and win it in overtime was exciting to me as a head coach. To be honest, that was one of the most exciting games I have ever been a part of as a coach and maybe one of the proudest moments I have ever had with my team or players because of their resiliency in that game. New Mexico State and UTEP is always an exciting game, there have always been some wild finishes, but I don’t know if there has ever been one as wild as that. My hat goes off to them. They are a much-improved team from a physicality standpoint. They came out swinging and got us on our heels several different times. I can’t say enough about the fight in our team and the lack of quitting. I think that’s a life lesson for those guys moving forward that if you just keep fighting and you just keep believing in yourselves, good things will happen and they saw the end result of that in that game. The thing I was most proud of on the sidelines, even down 14 with four minutes left, I didn’t sense any panic from the players. I didn’t sense any of the ‘Oh, here we go.’ The loser mentality if you call it that, there was none of that. They were focused, they were into the game, and they did what they had to do to get that game won.

“We went into the game saying we can’t have turnovers. We did. Mack [Leftwich] had the fumble. I don’t fault him for that. He was knocked out before he even hit the ground. It was a vicious hit and he lost control the ball, which they recovered. [Ryan] Metz, his first interception, went a pick six to the house. I admire the young man because it didn’t faze him one bit. That would rattle a lot of quarterbacks, not only a quarterback playing for the first time. My hat’s off to him for handling that situation properly. We talked about being a running back not by committee but by team. I felt we accomplished that. We had 44 rushing attempts for 269 yards, a 6.1 average and three touchdowns. LA Dowell popped a touchdown, Darrin Laufasa and then Metz the tying touchdown to put us into overtime on a quarterback draw. We talked about dominating the line of scrimmage. I felt at times we did. I think our offensive line played very well in that game. We had no sacks. In the two-minute situation they were flawless. They gave Metz plenty of time. They pressured him a few times and they picked up all of the blitzes. They were very physical in the run game. The disappointing thing is we got stopped in two third and one situations which we hang our hat on and we allowed some run-throughs on a cross dog and a blitz fire which can’t happen again. Aside of those two plays, it was one of the better offensive line performances I’ve seen. They have been playing very well.

“We talked about catching the catchables. We only had one drop. That was by Jaquan White. It would’ve been a first down and probably room to run after that. I think he was kind of looking upfield before he tucked that thing away. But Jaquan played extremely well in that game minus the drop. We talked about the quarterbacks making efficient reads, good game management and ball delivery. I thought they did an excellent job with accuracy. We were 74 percent with all our quarterbacks. That’s the highest percentage since we’ve been here. We’ve got to do a better job with the huddle management. We do a lot of personnel grouping changes and we had a big-time issue with that in the third quarter. I’ll put that on me and we will get that corrected. That comes from the sidelines and it also comes from the quarterback managing the huddle. We’ll do something this week to properly ensure that never happens again. Probably from the entire game, that was the most frustrating thing on my end. That’s something that cannot happen, having a pre-snap penalty due to management. That’s on me and we will get that corrected.

“I was very pleased with the performance of Ryan Metz. I can’t say enough about this kid. This kid is an unbelievable person. He’s a kid that remains focused all the time. I always knew when he got his opportunity he was going to shine because the kid really believes in himself, his teammates believe in him. He has an unbelievable will and it shows. He was unfazed. There’s a lot of pro quarterbacks put in those situations that would’ve struggled. Ninety-nine yards, no timeouts and [he] moved the offense right down the field. I mentioned after the game that he called his own plays during those two-minute drives. That’s by design. All our quarterbacks call the two-minute plays. We coach them up on what to look for. We coach them up on the clock management as far as timeouts. We coach them up on when they need to clock it, when they need to run specific plays. But in that situation, you don’t have time to be calling in plays and getting everybody lined up. So we put it on the quarterback. He was flawless in his calls. He’s a very intelligent young man and executed it to perfection. Hats off to him again, what a gutsy performance by him. The call at the end of the game, quarterback draw, we actually do have that in our game plan. We probably haven’t called it in two years. In Ryan Metz’s role of decks, it’s still up there. He called it. Every single lineman and back was kind of looking at him like ‘Wait, for real?’ And it was a great call and very gutsy because with no timeouts, if he had gotten tackled on that we would’ve been in a real rush situation. He saw what he saw and he made a great call and he got it in the end zone. If you would’ve told me that we played New Mexico State and it would’ve went to overtime and the game-winning pass was from Ryan Metz to Cedrick Lang before the season, I probably would’ve said ‘Excuse me, what?’ But it was awesome. I can’t tell you how excited, not just because it was the game winner, but how excited our team was for Cedrick Lang. All the work he has put in to convert to a tight end. He has really become a big part of our team. His family was there, his kid was there, it was just exciting all around.

“Some notes on offense … we gave up zero sacks as I mentioned. Time of possession was in our favor. I thought we were very good on third downs, 47 percent. And really, you take away the two drops on third and one and the drop on third down, we would’ve been close to 70 percent. We were 2-for-2 in red zone scoring. Those are all things offensively that I judge our offense on and they were all good. We had too many three and outs. We’ve got to clean that up. The thing that was concerning to me was penalties again. Penalties are on me. We have a lot of young guys that are playing that need to learn how to play inside the rules. Our job as coaches it so get that done. My goal as a head coach is to have that cleaned up immediately because it has been an eyesore the last two weeks.

“Defensively, our goal was to create turnovers, at least two. We only created one, that was an interception by [Kelvin] Fisher which was an excellent play. We talked about stopping the run and having a gang mentality on #3. I told you last week what I felt about that running back. I thought he was very special. I told the young man that myself after the game. We did not do that. He had 196 yards and one touchdown. We had to have hard man focus on #1 and #5. We lost that focus at times. They had six receptions for 190 yards and two touchdowns. We talked about forcing #17 to make turnovers, which he only did one time. He did a good job managing the game for them. We talked about winning up front. I felt at times we did and at times they did. I think they have really improved on both sides of the ball up front, much like we’re trying to do. We talked about playing with more energy than their team for 60 minutes. We were outplayed at several moments in that game. But when it came crunch time, the defense came up with the big stops. Jimmy Musgrave came up with an unbelievable play on a third and short that if they convert that, the game is over. We only had one timeout. We would’ve had to burn it. They could’ve gotten a victory in kneeling formation. He made the stop short, we burned the timeout, forced them to punt and we had to go 99 yards but we got it done. That was an outstanding play. And then overtime, Nick Usher tackle for loss. We bottle them up, force them to kick a field goal, and then we go down and score the touchdown. They didn’t pack it in. They kept fighting, much like the entire team. I applaud them for that.

“A couple things on defense that stood out … blocked PAT by Nick Usher. We have been close several times this year. We always talk about how we’ve got to get one. Really, if you look at it, it’s the difference in the game. We aren’t going to overtime if we don’t block that PAT. The other big play was the safety by Alvin Jones. We’re not going to overtime if we don’t get that safety. And, as I mentioned, the interception by Kelvin Fisher. We did do a good job on third downs. We held them to 30 percent. That’s our success rate that we hold our standard by, getting off the field on third downs. We did not do a good job in the red zone. They scored five out of six opportunities there. Alvin Jones, unbelievable game. That guy had 5.5 tackles for losses, 1.5 sacks. They credited him for 11 tackles, he probably had closer to 15. It was as dominant of a game from a single person as I have seen in a long time.Ryan Metz, his performance speaks for itself. Both those guys are going to be honorary captains this week and they’ll represent carrying out the pickaxe for the first home game. We do have a home game this week. I’m getting used to going on the road.

“Special teams, I think have been improving each week. We did have one shag punt. We only had a 39.2 yard average. I really think Luna is a 46, 47 yard average [guy]. He did get two inside the 20 and Mack had one quick kick that we downed at the one that resulted in a safety on the next play. We did have some missed tackles on punt. We were not happy with the punt return average. They had a 15-yard average. Punt return, I think it has been a long time since we had a punt return to the house. Jaquan White did an excellent job doing what he is coached to do – fielding the punt, putting his foot on the ground and getting vertical. He returned it 64 yards for a touchdown, which was a huge play at that point of the game. It also earned him Conference USA special teams player of the week. He did have a few misjudged punts. We’ve got to do a better job of communicating the distance where he doesn’t have to run up on the punt where he’s in position to catch it. The one really could’ve been hurtful when it went all the way back to the one-yard line. It really put the offense in a tough position. We’ve got to be better there.

“Kickoff cover, I was very excited about. We pinned them twice inside the 15-yard line. That’s what we expect from our kickoff coverage unit. I think kickoff coverage unit displays the toughness of your team. We pride ourselves in being good in that area and they were excellent. Great hustle. Great plays by Alvin Jones and Daniel Siller keeping those guys inside the 15. Kickoff return, I really feel we’re getting close. We had two good returns. We had two missed opportunities where I felt if the backline blockers got vertical we would’ve had a chance to pop one, particularly after the safety. Again, small steps there. I think we’re getting closer and I think Autrey [Golden] is ready to pop one. PAT/field goal, [Jay] Mattox has been 100 percent all year. He was also 5-of-7 on touchbacks. He is doing an outstanding job for us. As I mentioned before, the PAT field goal block by Usher was a huge play in the game. He’s a relentless effort player. The Top Gun Award, which goes to our top special teams player of the week, went to LA Dowell for the third week in a row. He was a little gassed. He plays on all four core special teams. You throw in he had 11 carries and does some pass protection as well, he put in a good day’s work for us. And for only practicing two days at running back, I thought he did a heck of a job. Again, 24-hour rule for our team. We talked about that yesterday. It was an exciting win, an emotionally spent win when you put that much effort into fighting back that many times. But our kids were energized after the game. I think they saw the fight in themselves. Sometimes you need to go through it to even know you have it. I was very proud of the team. It was an outstanding game probably for the fans, probably not for a head coach. Those are the types of games that give you ulcers. But I can’t relay how proud I was of the team. We’ve got to use that momentum moving forward.

“We are extremely excited about coming back to the Sun Bowl. Our fans up there were outstanding. They were vocal. They energized our players after the game. They all stayed after the game. Our players were so excited to have the fan base there. It doesn’t go unnoticed. We love our fans. We can’t wait to have them come out this week in the Sun Bowl, pack the Sun Bowl and give us the energy we need. We’re going to need the fans. They do such a great job disrupting the other team’s offense with their crowd noise. Our kids are really excited about coming home and playing in front of the home folks.”

(On Incarnate Word)
“Offensively they have scored 14.7 points per game, 131 yards rushing. They do want to establish the run. They have been very balanced. They are at 39 rushes per game to 30 passes. They are averaging 300 yards a game. Time of possession, they are about even, they are at 29 minutes. They have struggled a little bit on third downs. We’ve got to keep them in that situation. They have had some fumble issues. They have lost six fumbles and given up three interceptions. They are -4 in turnovers this year so they’re kind of in the same boat as we are at that point. I’m sure that they’re focusing in on that. Their quarterback is a mobile guy, he’s got their lone rushing touchdown of the year. He’s got a 3.6 average and a long of 57 as a rusher. He has thrown for 445 yards and two touchdowns, two interceptions. They’ve got two solidly built running backs, one is 215 and one is 200. They are both around the same stature. One has 126 yards, 3.8 average and the other has got a 4.7 yard average and 116 yards. Both of them have popped long runs, 32 and 37. Both are very capable running backs. Their tight end is a player. This guy is 6-7, 255 pounds. He is about the size of Roy Robertson-Harris. He leads their team in receptions. He has 188 yards, 12.5 yards per catch, and a touchdown with a long of 20. He is a weapon in their passing game. Their offensive line averages about 6-3, 290 pounds per man. Younger guys, two juniors and two sophomores. They have a smaller receiver, 5-8, 170 that’s second on the team in receptions and also has a touchdown and a 10.5 average. Kind of what we have struggled with – a smaller, more explosive receiver. He is also their punt returner and a very good one, he has taken one to the house. We’ve got to be very solid on him.

“I think they’re very good on defense. They have given up 23 points per game. They have only given up 3.7 yards per rush, 166 yards passing. They are only giving up 314 yards a game. They are a veteran defense. They base out of an odd front which presents a whole new slew of problems because it’s a different scheme from what we have been facing the first three weeks. We’ve got to be on point coaching and getting our guys mentally prepared to handle that. They’ll pressure you. They have four sacks and five interceptions. Opponents have only been converting 27% of third downs. If they get you in third and long, they have been very good at getting off the field. Red zone touchdowns, they have been good there, teams have only been 6-out of-10. They have a very special player #8. He is an outside linebacker for them. He is 6-3, 230 pounds. He is a transfer from Arkansas. He leads their team in tackles. He has 25 tackles, six tackles for losses, two sacks, three pass break-ups, and two quarterback hits. That’s outstanding in three games. He is also their kick returner. He is a violent player. This guy will be an NFL player in the future. Their linebackers are their #1, #2 and #3 leading tacklers which in a 3-4 scheme, you would expect. This inside linebacker #35 has 22 tackles, a tackle for loss and a pass break-up. Inside linebacker #9 has 22 tackles, tackle for loss, one sack and a forced fumble. In that scheme, they’re asking their linebackers to be their playmakers and they are. They have a very good sized defensive end #99, 6-6, 275. He has been very productive for an end in a 3-4 scheme with 11 tackles, tackle for loss, quarterback hit and he has blocked a kick. Their strong safety has 13 tackles, he leads their team in interceptions with two. And their cornerback #23 leads the team in pass break-ups. They are a junior/senior laden defensive team. They have a lot of experience. And they have been playing solid defense throughout the year.

“On special teams, their punter has a 37 average and a long of 56. He has kicked four inside the 20. He has had one blocked. Their punt returner, as I mentioned is a receiver #2. He has taken one 66 yards to the house. This guy is an explosive kick returner. It seems like we face one of those every week. Kickoff cover, they have been averaging only 19.8 yards per return. So as I mentioned, every week I always judge a team’s toughness by their kickoff coverage unit. This is a very physical team on special teams. Kickoff returns, as I mentioned they’ve got a 6-3, 230-pound returner. He is averaging 22.6 [yards], he has had a long of 35. PAT/field goal, they have used two guys, one for longer range and one for shorter range. They are 3-of-6 on PAT/field goals. I am excited about coming back to the Sun Bowl. We are expecting great weather. We are expecting a great crowd. Our kids are energized to finally be playing in front of the fans. They are energized by their win last week. As ugly as it was at times, as bleak as it looked at times, I have never been more proud of a team for fighting back against a rivalry opponent on the road and getting one of the biggest comeback wins in school history.”

(Is Ryan Metz your starting quarterback?)
“Ryan Metz will be our starter. Mack is probably going to be out for an extended period of time. He took a vicious shot. He had a severe concussion. He was out. He was out before he even hit the ground. It was a scary thing as a coach to see something like that. Our main concern for Mack right now is getting him healthy. Coming back from a concussion like that, there’s a protocol that you have to go through and we’ll adhere to that 100 percent.”

(What is the NCAA concussion protocol)
“It varies on the degree of concussion. He had a severe one. There’s a certain amount of time they can’t even go to class. They can’t do certain exercises. Then there’s a period of time where they can start exercising. Then there’s a return to play protocol that they have. Depending on the severity of it, sometimes it’s a week to two weeks, sometimes it’s a month. We take that very seriously, as I know all college and NFL teams do. Concussions are real and it’s something to be taken seriously. When he’s ready to play, it’ll be because he’s ready to go. We’re not going to force anybody back early in that situation. I was scared when I walked out there. I saw how his head snapped and how his head hit the ground. I was more concerned about a neck injury or a broken jaw. But it was a concussion. He was very lucky. He took as vicious of a hit as I’ve seen, and I’ll leave it at that.”

(Is Garrett Simpson an option?)
“Garrett still, in our mind, was too hobbled to go out there and compete at the level we wanted him to compete at [last week]. He just wasn’t back full strength from his high ankle sprain. To be honest with you, my view on quarterback play is you go with the hot hand. Ryan Metz is the hot hand. We saw his performance. He’s going to be the starting quarterback for this game and moving forward. Kavika Johnson, I thought did a heck of a job in the game. He has gotten better managing each week what we call the Wild Miner. He made some productive plays in that game and really had a nice downfield throw. If Autrey gets his head around a little bit quicker, he’s probably going to the house. So I was pleased with the progress, really of all the quarterbacks. I thought they all played well in the game and all managed everything well. We did have the pick six as I mentioned, but to have the guts to overcome that and not be rattled by that just says a lot about the character of Ryan Metz.”

(On the wide receivers leading the team in receiving)
“I like this group of wide receivers. I’m starting to develop more trust in these guys. I think we’re becoming more balanced offensively. That’s where we want to be. We want to be 50/50. We’re getting close to that point right now. Guys like Batson, Freytag and White are earning trust. We know what Autrey can do and Warren Redix has done a nice job for us too. I really feel right now we have five very capable receivers. I think the quarterbacks are developing trust with these guys. The coaching staff certainly is. I’ll be a happy guy if we go out there and we’re 50/50 in run pass. We have been heavy run tilted. As I mentioned, you’ve got a guy like Aaron Jones, you ride that guy. But we don’t have a guy like Aaron Jones. So we’re going to have to be more balanced. We’re going to have to push the ball down the field more, which I felt we did. Again, I think those guys are very capable. I’m more pleased with the wide receiver group than at any point since I’ve been here and they’re going to be around for a while. I’ve got a lot of trust in those guys and they’re going to get better.”

(On the abundance of El Paso players making contributions)
“It’s exciting. We’ve said since day one, El Paso is going to be the foundation of our recruiting. We’re not just throwing out noise on that. Heading into next year, we’ve got six commitments from El Paso kids. Our commitment is to keep El Paso kids at home. And we think there’s pretty good football being played in El Paso. It has gotten better each year. El Paso teams are competing with teams outside of the El Paso region. The population has increased. The coaching is much better. I just think El Paso football is really going to benefit our program. A lot of these kids want to stay home and play in front of the home folks. There’s nothing more special probably than having your folks in the stands and having your family in the stands and these kids take a lot of pride in that. I know the Metzes and the Jones and the Elmendorffs, they’ve all got 75 shirts on. How cool is that? We try to keep the top players here and we understand we’re not going to get all of them. That’s going to be every year moving forward. And they’re becoming productive players. You know why? Because they’re good football players.”

(Do you reevaluate your play calls to become more balanced?)
“I don’t reevalute the play calls. I think they’re all good play calls for what they had. It’s more a fact of executing. You’re not going to execute all of the time. But five three and outs in a game, there’s some lack of execution going on for whatever reason. We always reevaluate that each week. We’re always trying to find what we’re doing good. We try to build upon that. What are we not doing good? We’re not just going to try to keep putting square pegs in round holes. If we’re not doing it good, then we probably need to eliminate it. At the early part of the season, you go through that juncture. There was a big wrench thrown into our team as far as reevaluating and doing things quickly. When you lose your best player, you have to change a lot of things. I thought the game plan was outstanding. I thought the running backs were outstanding given the fact none of those guys had the opportunity to carry the load. They carried it together as a group. I thought the quarterback play was very good and the receivers are starting to step up. I am envisioning a more balanced offense in the future and as a coach that makes me happy because you just can’t hang your hat on one thing. I understand that. We did it out of necessity in the past. We had to, but I think we’re moving in a different direction.”

(Will you utilize the no-huddle offense more?)
“We may change the tempo a little bit but I don’t envision us becoming a no huddle spread and throwing it all over the place. That’s not what we do. But can it be incorporated into our offense? Certainly. Do we have more confidence about our two-minute offense? Certainly. We practice it every week. I wasn’t surprised by the results. We do it every week, twice a week against our defense. We put the quarterbacks in those situations. We have fabricated drives in practice that are 99 yards with no timeouts. We have had drives where we have two timeouts. These quarterbacks have been through all that. That’s why we’re comfortable with them calling the plays in [the last] two minutes. They are calling exactly what they have been coached to do. Again, Ryan Metz, when you coach him to do something he is going to do it. He is going to do it to the best of his ability. Unbelievable job really. Unbelievable.”

(On the defense lowering its yards per play average allowed)
“There’s a lot of things. I point to one thing. All you’ve got to do is look at the depth chart in the secondary in the first three weeks. It is ever changing parts. We had young guys in there and then somebody had to move positions. When you’ve got guys at different positions all the time, and it was out of necessity due to injuries, there are communication issues with the front end and back end. This will be the first week that we’ll have the exact same secondary in there. Everybody is healthy. Everybody is going to be playing in the same position. We do have some veteran guys with Traun [Roberson] and Ish [Harrison] back there. It was Ish’s first game back in a long time [last week]. He was out of position sometimes. They’ve just got to be in position and communicate. Do I have confidence those guys can do that and improve? Absolutely. And they will. We have got to be a little stouter up front at the point of attack. I was not pleased with the interior at the point of attack. I thought Geno [Bresolin] held his point but we’ve got to be a little stouter there. We may adjust some personnel or roll some guys in there that can do that. But just like anything, you’ve got to evaluate what you’re doing well and what we’re not doing well and we’re in that process right now. Do I expect them to improve? Absolutely. Because we have to.”

(On Roy Robertson-Harris chasing down a wide receiver in the NM State game)
“It made a big difference to me because it displayed our team’s will. Here’s a 255-pound defensive end that was completely the back side run defender and he chased down a 185 pound running back for 70 yards. It just shows the desire on our team. And I showed it to our team. They did score on the next play so you can say ‘Well, that’s not a factor in the game.’ You know what, it is a factor in the game. It just shows that our guys are going to compete. It was one of the better hustle plays I’ve ever seen by a big man.”

Source: UTEP Athletics