UTEP football prepares for 'sold out' season opener with North Texas
EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — It's finally here, the first official game week of the 2022-2023 season for Dana Dimel and the UTEP Miners.
Season opening conference game against North Texas this Saturday and they're headed into a year with much higher outside expectations than in years past.
Coming off of the Miner's best season under Dimel, there's a sense that this iteration of UTEP football should surpass the previous one.
But inside the locker room, a different tune is being sung.
“I think the biggest thing is being 1-0. That’s the part we’ve tried to get into our guys from the moment that they got here and started working. You’ve got to be 1-0. You’ve got to prepare for today and not look outside at the big picture because it will overwhelm you at times,” said Dimel. “That’s always been a big thing for us, to be 1-0 in everything we do, so the team has to take that stance as well too.”
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And the program is expecting a lot of those fans with high expectations to show up. Director of Athletics Jim Senter says just 5,000 tickets are left for that first game.
“They're moving very quickly and we continue to see groups buying tickets. It would be my goal and my hope that we could announce on Friday that it's sold out so people don't come to the stadium on Saturday and then get turned away because they want to buy tickets and then there's no none to sell.,” said Senter. “We'll see if that happens. But I'm very very confident we're gonna have a sell-out.
It's his hope that the number will continue to dwindle down the closer we get to game day.
“We’ve got to feed off of their intensity and excitement as a football team. That’s my urging to everyone who comes to the game, really get into the game, and help your Miners have the home field advantage in this ball game,” said Dimel. “North Texas is to me, and this isn’t coach speak, this is me being candid, they’re one of the toughest teams we’re going to play all year in the conference.”
The game will be aired exclusively on KFOX14 on Saturday, August 27 at 7 p.m.
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