There are various ways the 2026 UTEP football schedule doesn't have much in the way of precedent or parallels, and here is one that's comes to the forefront this week: A week after UTEP went to Oklahoma as 41 1/2-point underdogs (and lost 51-0), the Miners return home to face Texas Southern as a 27 1/2-point favorite.
A week after being the team with nothing to lose, UTEP goes into a game it pretty much has to win if it's going to make anything of this season. And it will be the first time for Miner fans to see the team this year and the first time anyone has seen UTEP in black uniforms with black helmets.
Home opener has special meaning for coach Scotty Walden
"You try not to put added pressure on the players because they already
have enough, the same thing with the coaches," coach Scotty Walden said at his weekly news conference to kick off game week against Texas Southern. "But it does mean a lot to us to start. The seasons I've been a part of that take off and have a positive vibe, they start with a great home opener. That's a part of creating that momentum.
"It's so important for our football team to create momentum as we head into conference play. Every week we're getting closer to Mountain West play so it's imperative to start to give our fans something to be excited about, give our students something to be excited about, so we can build on the momentum going to conference play."
As for the difference in mentality as a four-touchdown home favorite compared to a six-touchdown road underdog, Walden said that's not any kind of a consideration.
"It goes back to playing to a standard," Walden said. "Last week we didn't play well enough. I don't care who we're playing, if we don't practice with our hair on fire and make the proper corrections, it's going to be a tough night. We better get our tail ready and buckle up. The mentality is the same, to be 1-0 this week."
UTEP coach Scotty Walden: Kicking game is emphasis
Many of those proper corrections are going to come in the kicking game, which was dreadful against Oklahoma and has to dramatically improve against Texas Southern.
"As a coach, you get what you emphasize," Walden said. "We're gonna emphasize the dog out of (special teams) until those guys are tired of us saying it. We've shown it on tape, slowing it down, made guys take notes, you diagram it, and then you go walk through it. We start every day with the special teams walk through, every single day."
While Walden stopped short of saying kicker Carlos Arreola, who missed three field goals against Oklahoma, still had the starting job, noting that every position is a competition every week, he gave him a vote of confidence
"I just told him, man, Carlos, we believe in you," Walden said. "We wrap our arms around him, 'Hey, we all have bad days at the office. At the end of the day, that kid's a competitor. Nobody felt worse about that than him."
UTEP set to debut black uniforms
Whoever UTEP puts out there, the Miners are going to give their fans something new by way of something old. UTEP is going to debut black uniforms with Texas Western on them as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the basketball team's national championship. The helmets are going to reach back even further into the school's history.
"The 1914 original symbol of the Texas College of Mines is going to be on our helmet, which, when they first told me that, I was like, 'can that really be cool?'" Walden said. "They showed me that, and it's really freaking cool. I can't believe we went away from that logo. ... We're going to look good, but it's important that we play better."
UTEP players of the week include El Pasoan Shay Smith
The winners of the Luke Laufenberg hustle award against Oklahoma were tackle Tyler Roberts for the offense, safety Esteban Guillory for the defense and linebacker Shay Smith, an El Paso Franklin High School alum, on special teams.
"We could have (given Smith the award) for defense, too," Walden said. "He was everywhere. I told our coaching staff, point blank, the kid needs to play more for us."
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: After Oklahoma rout, UTEP football team faces different kind of pressure
