Megers Time to Shine

On Saturday night, everyone thought the infamous "turf monster" jumped up and grabbed Nick Lamaison[db/] as he fell to the ground with no one within 10 feet of him. Some of us in the press box couldn't figure out how it happened and kinda laughed at the incident.

Come to find out at halftime, Lamaison's hamstring issue had returned and that was why he fell. We weren't laughing anymore.

But ladies and gentlemen, "be careful what you wish for" is the old saying that people tell you, right? Everyone has said over the last couple of weeks how tired they were of his play and the inability of the offense to keep the ball for an extended drive and more importantly score. Nothing could prepare the 23,000 plus that was on hand Saturday for the goose egg that the offense laid when Lamaison went down and [db]Carson Meger took over in the second half. 

Nothing has been made official but if Lamaison can't go, then the offense is sure to be turned over to Meger.

You would have to believe that Meger is a capable quarterback and can lead this offense and put points on the board. Meger has not had half the playing time as Lamaison and that has a lot to do with it. When you brake down Meger's numbers through the seven games he has played in (the only game Meger did not play in was at Wisconsin), his numbers are not that bad.

Meger is 41 for 68 for 462 yards in the air with three interceptions and one touchdown. He has a completion percentage 60.3 and he is averaging 66 yards per game. When you look at these numbers, they really are not that bad for the amount of snaps he gets in a given game.

This week though, the Miners are not playing Tulane, they are playing Houston. A place that head coach Mike Price admitted on Monday in his press conference that the Miners have not played well at. The Cougars will however be without DE Lloyd Allen who has beed ruled out of this Saturday's game with an unspecified leg injury. Lloyd isn't a huge loss but significant enough when you notice he is third in sacks for the Cougar defense with 2.5. 

How will Meger fair against against this Houston defense? Houston so far through seven games has allowed opponents to go 164 for 280 for 1999 yards passing with an average of 285.6 yards per game. Opponents of the Cougars have thrown seven interceptions and 13 touchdowns by way of the air.   

With Meger, we are not sure what is going to happen, he hasn't seen that much action consistently and he didn't prove he get the ball in the end zone last week. That being said maybe he needs to start a game and get into the flow from the beginning. It is pretty tough to be a backup, come in cold and be expected to perform.

If he starts Saturday, it will quite possibly be an audition for next year. 

The pressure is now on Meger. The Miners need to win out and Meger needs a good showing for next year.

Chad Middleton, also the producer for 600 ESPN El Paso's SportsTalk, can be reached at show@minerillustrated.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @chad600espn. Make sure to follow Miner Illustrated on Twitter at @minermaniac for more up-to-date news and information about UTEP.