Senior Nick Lamaison may be the starting quarterback for the UTEP Miners but he'd better not look over his shoulder or he'll see junior junior Carson Meger hovering. UTEP head coach, Mike Price, said on Monday that both Lamaison and Meger would play in Saturday night's season opener against the Sooners. As to how much playing time Meger gets we don't know but it may depend heavily on Lamaison's performance.
In 2011 Nick Lamaison completed just 58% of his passes for 1,718 yards and threw just two more touchdowns (12) than he did interceptions (10). The pressure is on Lamaison to produce and to do so quickly. He has a revamped Oklahoma secondary to go against in the season opener but don't let 2011's woes trick you on this Sooner defense. Taking the shortcomings of 2011 extremely personal, OU's secondary has made it their mission to prove themselves in 2012. There to assist them is new/old defensive coordinator Mike Stoops who wasted no time in making personnel moves to shore up the exposed weaknesses of last season.
If UTEP doesn't find success early in the game then Price could make the switch to Meger who has become somewhat of a fan favorite. In 2011 he filled in for three games while Lamaison was injured and completed 63% of his passes for 669 yards and two touchdowns but he also tossed five interceptions. He passed for a season high 240 yards against South Florida and 204 against Tulsa. Both games were losses.