He will bring his Texas-El Paso team to Joan C. Edwards Stadium for the second time as the Miners battle the Thundering Herd at 3 p.m. Saturday. In addition to a 2006 visit, Price also brought Weber State to town in 1987 for an NCAA Division I-AA quarterfinal at old Fairfield Stadium.

Neither game went well for Price. His Weber State team was sacked and intercepted into oblivion in a 51-23 Marshall romp, and 19 years later Ahmad Bradshaw ran roughshod over the Miners in a 49-21 thumping (see story, Page 4B).

Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, Price fondly remembers the fans from those games. Neither drew a full house (13,179 in 1987, 20,783 in 2006), but the patrons made an impression nonetheless.

"I like playing in that city because the fans care about their football," Price said Wednesday. "It means a lot to them. It's not something we can't get up for; it's not like playing in an empty stadium. There's not going to be 40,000, but the people there are fans.

"They give me and our team all kind of good suggestions on what we should be doing. If you need an idea, all you have to do is take your headsets off and listen to them, and they'll give you lots of ideas - particularly, where to put your head, something like that."

Price might need to do better Saturday - make that a lot better - to stick around in El Paso.

Price shares the "dean of coaches" title in Conference USA with Central Florida's George O'Leary (it must be re-noted that they could have faced each other as coaches of Alabama and Notre Dame). Price became an instant hit in El Paso and guided the often-woeful Miners to eight-win seasons in 2004 and 2005.

The Miners (5-3, 2-3) have suffered four straight losing seasons since, but have returned to the precipice of bowl eligibility. But with a finishing schedule of resurgent Southern Methodist, Arkansas and Tulsa, disaster seems just as close.

Especially since the Miners have just lost to Alabama-Birmingham and Tulane. Price might want to beat the Herd (1-6, 0-3) to get that sixth win and put other issues behind him.

"We just didn't get it done," Price said of the last two games. "We've had some major injuries in key positions, so that's been difficult in those two games. We haven't moved the ball as effectively as we normally do, only scored two or three touchdowns. We don't like that; we like to score more points than that.

"We've had as many injuries as I've ever had in the coaching profession."

Three UTEP captains have been hit by serious injury. Safety Braxton Amy is gone for the year with a torn Achilles tendon, wide receiver Donovan Kemp blew out his knee and 1,500-yard rusher Donald Buckram is still recovering from a torn meniscus suffered last year against Marshall.

Add that to the situation of quarterback Trevor Vittatoe, who has done everything but get carried down the field to keep playing.

"I'm not going to have captains anymore," Price cracked.

Amy's injury seems to hurt the hardest, as he was the leader of an undersized defense. He could play any position and was the team's top pro prospect. He is so respected, his teammates are taking turns wearing his No. 1 - even defensive end Robert Soleyjacks has taken a turn. This week, it's Martel Strange, a backup defensive back.

"He was a sixth-year player for us; he was the best player on our team, the best athlete on our team," Price said of Amy. "Defensive back, could play corner, played linebacker, played safety. He was a born safety. Could play quarterback if you wanted him to.

"Vertical jump 42 inches, ran a 4.4 [40-yard dash], would hit you like a ton of bricks. Great player, but he had a lot of injuries."

Buckram rushed for 81 yards on 10 carries last week against Tulane, so he is approaching 100 percent. Price said two centers are returning, reinforcing that position.

And then there is Vittatoe, who owns all school passing records and has thrown for 1,848 yards and 15 touchdowns so far this season. He is 25-of-54 for just 271 yards and five interceptions in the last two games, corresponding to his aches and pains.

He hurt his ankle early against UAB, and somehow finished that game and played against Tulane.

"Vittatoe, I didn't even know if he'd play last week. He's so tough, one of the toughest guys I'm ever coached," Price said. "Last week, I don't know if he practiced a day.

"He's much better this week. He's the Brett Favre of college football. He'll start every game in his career, for four years. It's quite an accomplishment."

Reach Doug Smock at 304-348-5130 or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.