UTEP's Aaron Jones out for year

Star tailback Aaron Jones, the hometown hero turned face of the UTEP football program, had surgery Tuesday, abruptly putting an end to his season.

"He's devastated, of course," coach Sean Kugler said during the team's morning practice.

Before going into surgery, Jones was at the Miners' morning practice. Once Kugler started speaking, Jones walked off of Glory Field on crutches, accompanied by his father, Alvin Jones Sr. It was one of the only times he was not showing the warm, beaming smile so associated with him.

A few hours later he was on an operating table to repair a torn ligament in his left ankle. He will be given a redshirt season, meaning he'll still be a junior next year, which will be his fourth at the University of Texas at El Paso.

Everyone associated with the program and everyone who cheers for UTEP should be devastated. Jones was the big bright spot in a 0-2 start where UTEP was not competitive against Arkansas and Texas Tech. But even in those losses, Jones was cementing his spot as one of the nation's elite running backs.

Against Texas Tech, he caught a 24-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter, then popped a program record 91-yard run in the second quarter that moved him to ninth on UTEP's all-time rushing list. Shortly after that, with 1:52 left in the first half, Jones plunged up the middle for 3 yards that got him to 139 for the game, 209 for the season and 2,341 for a spectacular career that hopefully is barely half over.

That was his last carry. There will be no more yards for Jones this year.

After getting tackled on that run, he struggled to his feet, tried to take a few steps and fell back to the turf. He was carried from the field, then driven on a cart to the locker room. For the rest of the game against Tech, UTEP's heart and will were broken.

"When he was in high school and got hurt, I was crying," said his twin, Alvin Jones Jr., the team's starting linebacker, in the post-game interview room. "But it’s college now. I’ve got to play through it."

The players, including Alvin, were instructed to say no more about Jones' injury at Tuesday's practice and Kugler didn't elaborate on specifics of the injury, other than to say that a full recovery is expected and he'll get his junior year back.

At one point in practice Kugler walked over to Aaron Jones, who was watching with his father, and pointed all over his body to where he had previous surgeries.

"It's going to be OK," Kugler assured the Joneses.

He hopes the team will be, too, but there is no avoiding the magnitude of the loss.

Aaron Jones was mostly not recruited three years ago out of Burges High, as the then-165-pounder's only offers to big schools were UTEP and the University of Texas at San Antonio. New Mexico had lined up an in-home visit but, according to Jones, didn't show up.

"My mom made dinner for them and everything," Jones recalled after rushing for a career-best 237 yards against the Lobos in last year's season opener.

UTEP was asking Alvin to walk on, but when Kugler was hired, he offered both brothers scholarships and they came to their hometown school together.

In his first college practice in Alpine in 2013, Aaron Jones broke two long touchdown runs, at one point sprinting past his chasing brother.

Within days, Kugler was using a new pet phrase to describe Jones: "He's a special cat."

In his first college game in 2013, Jones had only 11 carries against New Mexico and turned that into 127 yards. Through eight games that year, he was the nation's second-leading freshman rusher before breaking a rib against Texas A&M.

Jones then gained 20 pounds in the off-season and had an even better sophomore year, leading UTEP to a bowl game in 2014 while establishing himself as the team's workhorse back and the soul of the program.

He put on another 20 pounds this year to get up to 205 while still looking faster than he was before - he outsprinted the entire Texas Tech secondary on his touchdown run - and was an obvious choice to be on the cover of the team's media guide. He was the first junior in Kugler's tenure to be elected as a team captain.

Before the season started, he was named to watch lists for the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award, the Doak Walker Award, the Wuerffel Award and the Maxwell Award, but Jones was just as proud of getting named to the watch list for the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team Award, which recognizes community service. Jones has always been the go-to player when the program needs someone to represent it at a community service event.

He was plenty good on the field, too.

"I hate to hear this," New Mexico State coach Doug Martin said Tuesday when he learned the news. "That's true for any player, but he's gifted, just a special football player. ... He's an NFL football player."

UTEP will go forward without him now. Senior Jeremiah Laufasa, true freshman Trayvon Hughes, senior LaQuintus Dowell and perhaps even starting fullback Darrin Laufasa will form a tailback by committee.

Jeremiah Laufasa has 16 yards on nine carries, Hughes has minus-3 yards on seven carries and Dowell is playing at tailback for the first time since his sophomore year. Darrin Laufasa has 18 yards on three rushes.

"It does have to change," Kugler said of the offense. "If you’ve got a racehorse, you’re going to ride that racehorse, you know what I mean? We had a special player and we built quite a bit of our offense around that player. Now we don’t have that player. It’s going to have to be more of a team mentality when it comes to running the ball.

"We may have to throw the ball more than we normally do, which we are confident about with some of the weapons. We're probably going to have to change the makeup of what we are to overcome the loss of that player. From a coaching standpoint, I’ll do whatever it takes as a team to get us in the best position to win games. You’ll see that on Saturday as far as what those adjustments will be."

Receiver Autrey Golden, one of Jones' best friends, said, "Aaron's a good player, a good teammate. He worked so hard."

That work now will be done in rehab with the strength and conditioning crew.

Bret Bloomquist may be reached at 546-6359.