It appeared almost as an oasis in a desert of college football.
And it was exciting.
It has been 30 years since that 1988 band of Miners brought joy to the success-starved football fans of El Paso.
And it was not so much just that the Miners had not been to a bowl game in 21 years. The program had gained notoriety along that rocky road for being one of the worst teams in the nation year-in, year-out. And they had done it for two decades.
Saturday night, when another UTEP team is fighting its way out of the desert of the college football landscape, when the winless Miners host North Texas, the 1988 team will be remembered and honored on its 30th anniversary.