Receiver Higgins helps keep UTEP afloat

11/17/2006 4:05 AM

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer

EL PASO, Texas (AP) -They called him ``The Real Deal'' in high school, and Texas-El Paso receiver Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr. has proven to be the same thing in college.

Higgins ranks second nationally in receiving yards per game at 110.3, and the go-to receiver for quarterback Jordan Palmer is a big reason the Miners have a chance for an unprecedented third consecutive bowl bid, which would salvage an otherwise disappointing season.

The 6-foot, 180-pound senior might even get a chance to see if that nickname translates at the highest level. UTEP coach Mike Price thinks the opportunity is there.

``He's a first-day guy, top three rounds,'' said Price, who coached former No. 1 pick Drew Bledsoe at Washington State.

But there could be doubters, just as there were coming out of the small Southeast Texas town of Sweeny. UTEP was one of the few schools to offer Higgins a scholarship after former assistant Troy Reffett saw him play football and basketball.

``He could have played as a true freshman,'' Reffett said. ``The fact that this is happening, this kind of success, isn't surprising to me. He deserves it.''

He didn't play his first year, instead redshirting under former coach Gary Nord. In his redshirt freshman year, Higgins didn't start but played in all 13 games, finishing third on the team in receiving.

``A couple years ago, before coach Price came, I didn't know where I would be, what I was going to do,'' Higgins said.

Then things started to turn under Price, who handed the reins of his pass-oriented offense to Palmer, the younger brother of Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals.

``He was anonymous when I got here,'' Price said of Higgins.

To some extent so were the Miners. But Higgins' role - and UTEP's profile - grew during back-to-back winning seasons and the school's first consecutive bowl appearances in 50 years. Higgins had 700 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore, and he scored eight touchdowns in six games last year before getting injured.

Higgins saved the best for his senior year, with 1,103 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns through 10 games. He had 13 catches in a close loss to Texas Tech before a huge home crowd early in the season, and he followed that with career highs of 223 receiving yards and three touchdowns against rival New Mexico State. He also burned Tulane for 101 yards on punt returns, another potential avenue to the pros.

Now the pressure is on the Miners (5-5, 3-3 Conference USA) to win their final two games against Marshall and Memphis and improve their chances of getting a bowl invitation after a three-game losing streak dropped them to 4-5. Higgins will want the ball thrown his way.

``He thrives on it,'' Price said. ``It gets him fired up.''

But he doesn't necessarily show it. The humble, self-described country boy is just as comfortable off the field, surrounded by friends.

``I'm not the kind of person who likes to be alone. I like to have company around,'' Higgins said. ``You're not going to find me, unless I am just dead tired, just sitting at home.''

And he's not shy about admitting he's really just a big mama's boy.

``That's just me,'' Higgins said. ``I could be 100 years old, and I will still be a mama's boy.''

His current and former coaches say his mom deserves much of the credit for who he is, and Reffett said that relationship was one of the reasons he was such an attractive recruit. Regina Higgins shrugs off the praise, saying her son was always motivated to prove himself to anyone who said he couldn't do something.

``I told him, 'Prove me wrong,' and he did,'' Regina Higgins said.

Higgins doesn't want to mess with anything but getting the Miners back to a bowl. With such focus, he figures things will work out when the NFL draft rolls around in April.

``I'm staying focused on football,'' Higgins said. ``I just concentrate on the little things.''