The plan was so simple on a drawing board.

The UTEP football team has struggled to return punts for years, then the Miners struggled even to field them last year when opponents averaged more than 46 yards a punt after typically long bounces and rolls.

More:What to know: UTEP Miners at Charlotte 49ers

The Miners had a problem to fix.

They rode the junior college recruiting route to prosperity on defense and offense, so why not reprise that for special teams?

Go get an electric junior college returner who wasn’t getting much interest as a position player, stick him back there to field punts, problem solved.

That’s the quick story of why Marcus Bellon is in El Paso a year after scoring six return touchdowns for Santa Barbara Community College. The way of it is never as simple as the plan on the drawing board, but UTEP looked awfully smart when Bellon took a low line drive punt 47 yards for a touchdown against Boise State last week, the type of game-changing play the Miners have lacked on special teams in recent years.

As UTEP heads into a key Conference USA game with Charlotte on Saturday, Bellon is the reigning C-USA special teams player of the week and the second-ranked punt returner in the league at 9.3 yards an attempt.

Bellon is an example of where the simple idea is sometimes the right one.

“That was a cool moment,” Bellon said of his return touchdown that put UTEP ahead of Boise 20-10. “Boise was my dream school growing up, my grandparents lived in Idaho, I grew up going to Boise State games, then they didn't offer me.

“That was an ideal first touchdown, there is no team I wanted to beat more than them.”

Boise State was hardly alone in not recruiting Bellon, a 5-9 receiver who put up decent numbers on offense but not enough to draw much major college attention as a wideout.

What UTEP saw was those kick returns and its own area of need.

“He's super competitive,” Dimel said. “When you see his tape from junior college you could see how dynamic he was. He's a scrappy, intelligent, competitive football player and he uses all that savvy in his game.

“Punt returners are different, you're good at it or you're not. They are a rare breed. He's got that savvy to do it.”

Special teams coach Aaron Price put it this way: "There are things that are hard to coach. You've got to catch it in a crowd, you have to have nerve to catch it. He has that. He has great vision and he gets vertical."

Bellon wasn’t sure he had that until college, as he was a quarterback at Truckee High in California, near Lake Tahoe, and deemed too important to return punts until the postseason.

One of his coaches at Truckee, Jackson Weed, was hired at Santa Clara CC and able to project Bellon as an ace returner. The results were dramatic and put Bellon on UTEP’s radar.

“I knew with my size getting recruited at receiver was difficult,” Bellon said. “I had to have that edge of returning. When (UTEP receivers) coach (Scotty O'Hara) said their returner for the last two or three years was gone and they needed someone to replace him I figured it was a pretty opportune situation.”

Bellon didn’t have many opportunities early, though just fair catching the ball was improvement for the Miners. He had a muff against New Mexico State, but started looking more comfortable there against New Mexico when he had a 34-yard return.

Now he looks like the player UTEP saw on tape.

Bellon is humble about his success.

“It all starts with blocking,” he said. “If the bullets don't get the gunners I have to fair catch. It's a team thing, I just do my part. If everyone blocks well I just have to make one or two guys miss and it's a touchdown.”

As for his return philosophy, he Forrest Gumps it.

“I don't have a style, just run fast and don't get tackled,” he said. “Make the first man miss no matter what. Other than that, I just run.

”Get yardage, get vertical, do what I can before they get there.”

That aligns with the thinking of Price.

“If he catches it and gets vertical, we're looking for 'first downs,'” Price said. “That's what we say on the return, if you get 10 yards that's one less first down the offense has to get. It's about being ball control, field position and the hidden yardage that are so important on special teams."

Touchdowns are a bonus, and Bellon’s was UTEP’s first punt return score since 2015 and the second since Johnnie Lee Higgins had two in 2006. Higgins saw Bellon’s return, as he was in town for his UTEP Hall of Fame induction that weekend.

On his touchdown against Boise, Bellon saw it coming when he was on the sideline watching the defense push the Broncos back to the 1.

“I knew since they were backed up to the 1 they were going to have to get the ball off quick and there would be a chance regardless, even if the gunners were let free,” Bellon said.

“When teams are backed up like that they usually kick a low line drive or something returnable. Those are pretty opportune times.”

There were some nervous moments. Bellon ran out of space as he neared the goalline and he had to drive across, which led to a review. Then there was a flag near the end zone.

The flag was on a teammate for an after-touchdown celebration and the review confirmed Bellon was easily across the line for his first Miner touchdown.

“Plays like that change the momentum, take the heart out of the team,” Bellon said.

He’ll try to reprise that Saturday at Charlotte.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.