UTEP closes out 2023 season with 42-28 loss to Liberty; Dimel confident he’ll return next season

EL PASO, Texas - The UTEP Miners closed out the 2023 season Saturday with a loss at home to the Liberty Flames, 42-28.

It was the end of what's been a disappointing season for the Miners as they'll end their season with an overall record of 3-9, (2-6 in C-USA).

Liberty's rushing attack was just too much for the Miners to handle.

The Flames rarely threw the football, and focused on the run game to put them in prime position to secure the win.

Liberty's offense carried the ball 62 times for a total of 441 yards and 5 touchdowns.

Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter threw the ball just 11 times for 22 yards and one touchdown.

By comparison, the Miners were just simply ineffective on offense.

At halftime, UTEP was -2 yards in the run game.

By the end of the game, the Miners had run the ball a total of 28 times for just 50 total yards.

All four of UTEP's touchdowns came by way of a run on short yardage situations.

UTEP quarterback Cade McConnell had 12 completions on 25 attempts for a total of 164 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

The game was never really close, except in the first quarter when the Flames and Miners would trade touchdowns on their first possessions of the game.

However Liberty would go on a run, scoring a touchdown on their next two drives.

Liberty would take a 28-7 lead into the half.

The Flames would find the end zone two more times in the second half, while UTEP would punch it into the end zone three more times with the run game.

Despite UTEP's three touchdowns in the second half, the game was already well in hand for the Flames.

Liberty ends their regular season undefeated at 12-0.

They will now turn their attention to New Mexico State who they will face in the Conference USA championship Friday.

As for UTEP, the question now looming over the football program is if head coach Dana Dimel will return for a 7th season with the Miners.

He has one more year left on his current contract.

Dimel has cited injuries to his team as the main reason why the team struggled this season.

It is true, the Miners have had to deal with a total of 26 injured players.

That included 4-year starting quarterback Gavin Hardison who suffered a mid-season injury to his throwing arm.

Hardison never played another snap the rest of the season, and the Miners had to rely on 4th string quarterback Cade McConnell.

Dimel has said his team looks nothing like it did back in week 1 of the season, and that if the injuries hadn't occurred he's confident his team would be competing for a conference championship.

Dimel was asked after Saturday's loss if he expects to return next season.

His reply was "Sure, absolutely."

He then went on to say that he can't do anything about the type of injuries that happen to his players, but that he can do something about the team being competitive and playing hard.