The UTEP Miners head to Austin on Saturday for a daunting matchup with the No. 7 Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium. Winless all-time against the Longhorns, the Miners enter this game as 41.5-point underdogs against a Texas team still working through early season miscues.
UTEP comes to Austin with a 1-1 record on the season — a 28-16 loss against Utah State and a 52-17 win over
UT Martin — and sits at No. 114 in the most recent SP+ rankings from ESPN. The Miners are still searching for consistency on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball after losing both coordinators while looking to build momentum under second-year head coach Scotty Walden.
Walden, a 38-year-old Texas native, has built his young career on energy and innovation. After a challenging first year at UTEP accrued a 3-9 record, the enthusiastic coach is looking for tangible improvements this season behind a huge portal haul in the offseason.
Walden’s ascent to an FBS head coaching position occurred rapidly. From becoming the youngest head coach in the NCAA at East Texas Baptist at age 26 to reviving Austin Peay with an up-tempo offense, he has never been afraid to break convention.
Now, Walden is tasked to resurrect a program that has struggled for decades — the Miners have just three winning seasons in the last 20 years. Known for his innovation, enthusiasm, and offensive prowess, Walden has a track record of putting points on the board and building a program off the field.
Perhaps no moment better showcases the passion and enthusiasm he brings as a coach than his first appearance at a UTEP basketball game, when he jumped onto the press table to fire up the crowd before later ripping off his shirt to reveal a chest painted blue with an orange pickaxe.
Walden has made it clear throughout his career that he is willing to be unorthodox. The offensive scheme he runs is the best example of the innovation and creativity he brings as a coach. The Miner offense runs an extremely up-tempo system with a variety of motion, misdirection, and unique formations. Expect wide splits, single-back formations, and rapid play calling on Saturday, the biggest challenge a Walden offense has faced to date.
Offense
Leading the offense is redshirt sophomore Malachi Nelson. Nelson was the no.1 ranked recruit in the nation in 2022, according to ESPN, and spent his first year at USC underneath Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams. The 6’3, 193-pound signal caller transferred to Boise State after his first year, but lost the starting job to Maddux Madsen before opting to transfer to UTEP after the season. In his first offseason with the Miners, Nelson won the starting job over returning starter Skyler Locklear and Shay Smith.
Nelson has competed 60.0 percent of his passes for 456 yards along with five touchdowns and one interception through two games. In the loss to Utah State, Nelson and the offense struggled to consistently move the ball. Those issues did not persist against UT Martin as Nelson threw for four touchdowns and averaged 19.6 yards per completion.
The leading target for Nelson is redshirt junior Kenny Odom. A year after leading the Miners in receiving yards (741), yards per catch (16.1), receiving touchdowns (eight), and receiving yards per game (61.8), Odom is off to another blistering start, catching 14 passes for 221 yards and two touchdowns in just two games including a 74-yard touchdown against UT Martin.
Odom started his career at Austin Peay with Walden before following the head coach to UTEP, a decision that has proved fruitful for Walden, Odom, and the entire UTEP program.
Right behind Odom is miner back Kam Thomas. Thomas similarly began his career at Austin Peay with Walden before transferring to UTEP and fulfills a unique position that Walden refers to as the Miner Back. When asked to describe this position, Walden explained it’s “a scatback, hybrid slot wide receiver and running back.” Thomas demonstrated his versatility in the season opener, getting 25 touches between handoffs, passes, and punt returns. He missed the game against UT Martin with an injury and will be a key player to monitor leading up to the game on Saturday.
To compliment Odom and Thomas, Walden added a variety of new faces in the wide receiver room. Former Michigan State wide receiver Jaylan Brown, Clarion University standout Trevon Tate, California (PA) wideout Eric Willis III, and Trinity Valley CC receiver Toric Goins Jr. are all new pass catchers for the Miners after arriving on campus via the transfer portal.
Willis III has established him as a reliable target thus far, reeling in eight catches for 60 yards while Goins has added four catches for 107 yards, including a 48-yard touchdown.
Through two games, the Miners haven’t utilized the tight end in the pass game. Getting a majority of the snaps at tight end is redshirt junior Judah Ezinwa, a 6’3, 235-pound Fontana, Calif. product who is seeing the most action of his career, but hasn’t made an impact as a pass catcher.
Up front, the Miners began the year with uncertainty about who would play where. Leading the inexperienced group is fifth-year senior center Ivan Escobar, an 11-game starter last season. Meanwhile, redshirt senior Jose Immediato and redshirt sophomore Jake Utley have earned starting spots while two new transfers, sophomores James Williams and Mark Robinson, round out the group.
Thus far, the Miners have struggled to pave the way for a ground attack. Against Utah State, UTEP averaged 2.9 yards per carry on 35 attempts. On paper, the run game looked better against UT Martin, but a deeper diver paints a different story. In total, the Miners rushed for 194 yards on 25 attempts, a whooping 7.8 yards per carry. However, if you exclude the two longest runs of the run, a 94-yard touchdown by redshirt senior Hahsaun Wilson and a 63-yard scamper by redshirt junior backup quarterback Skyler Locklear, that stat line decreases to 37 yards on 23 carries for an average rush of 1.61 yards, a far cry from an effective running game.
With that being said, the innovative Miner offense isn’t afraid to stick to the run even if it’s not working, showing incredible balance by running the ball on 60 of 126 offensive plays so far this season.
At Miner back, Thomas receives a healthy dose of those running opportunities while more traditional running backs Emory Ashten and Hahsaun Wilson help shoulder the load. As mentioned, Wilson, a transfer from Charlotte who averaged 6.1 yard per carry last season, broke off a 94-yard touchdown run last week while Ashten leads the team with two rushing touchdowns.
Overall, the UTEP offense is still seeking to consistently implement their identity. With so many new contributors in the offense including Nelson at quarterback, the ability to reliably execute has been elusive.
Defense
On the other side of the ball, the Miners are looking for vast improvements from a year ago, ranking 90th in yards per game, 93rd in pass yards per game, and 113th in scoring defense. Despite the defensive struggles, former defensive coordinator J.J. Clark made the jump to the NFL, joining the Dallas Cowboys as a linebackers coach.
With the departure of Clark, Walden hired Bobby Daly to revamp the defense after spending the previous six seasons as the defensive coordinator at Montana State. The early signs from this season indicate that progress has been made — 66th in yards per game, 77th in pass yards per game, and 88th in scoring defense. Overall, ESPN’s SP+ still rates the UTEP defense at 108th in the nation, but other metrics such as racking up 23 tackles for loss and 10 sacks in just two games suggests improvements have already been made.
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian noted the early success of the UTEP defense, “Very attacking-style defense, 23 TFL’s through two games, very active. We have to handle the movement better this week at the line of scrimmage.”
Daly continues to run a base 3-3-5, although he often runs a variation with one linebacker lining up more like a defensive end. Daly explained the difference from last year’s defensive scheme, “I’m doing a little bit of four-down (linemen) stuff that hasn’t been done here before.”
The biggest defensive weapon is safety Xavier Smith, a redshirt junior who followed Walden from Austin Peay. Smith started 10 games as a Miner last season and ranked third on the team in tackles while leading the team in pass breakups.
“He’s been in the system a long time,” Walden explained. “He’s the emotional leader, he’s the strategic leader, he gets guys lined up. He has the physical tools, but it’s his leadership where he’s stepped up.”
Joining Smith in the secondary are four newcomers with experience from other programs. Senior safety Solo Barnes arrives from Fayetteville State, where he appeared in 26 games over three seasons. At corner, graduate transfer Neil Campbell brings 40 career starts from Indiana Wesleyan, while redshirt senior Donte Thompson has claimed the other spot after previous stops at Incarnate Word, Arkansas State, and Texas State. Rounding out the secondary is sophomore Justin Content, a rare starter that began his career as a Miner.
Content and Smith have proven to be willing tacklers from their secondary spots, each contributing 13 tackles each in addition to a quarterback hit by Smith and a tackle for loss by Content.
A year after losing two linebackers that were first and second on the team in tackles, the new faces in the linebacker room have stepped up, racking up 51 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 3.5 sacks this season. Any lingering preseason questions about the loss in tackle production have been answered by three transfer linebackers. Leading the team in tackles with 22 is redshirt senior Micah Davey while senior Joshua Rudolph is second with 16. Redshirt senior Udoka Ezeani has tallied two sacks and 13 tackles himself, good enough to tie for third on the team.
All three are in their first season at UTEP, but the group was decorated in previous stops, including a 2023 All-Southland Conference first team at McNeese State for Davey, an 11-game starter in 2023 at Austin Peay for Rudolph, and 2023 All-KJCCC second team at Butler CC for Ezeani. The linebacker group is fast and aggressive. They play downhill and make plays behind the line of scrimmage.
Like most of the team, the group up front is made up of a mix of veteran transfers and inexperienced Miners looking to make an impact. Leading the way is fifth-year senior KD Johnson, a leader for the entire defensive unit in his third season at UTEP after earning a 2024 All-Conference USA honorable mention last season. He’s joined by sophomore Ashton Coker, a defensive tackle that showed promise last season with four starts, and senior Ashaad Hall, a first-year Miner who racked up 18 tackles for loss in three seasons at South Carolina State.
The UTEP defense is in its first year with a new coordinator after some losing key pieces, but looks promising thus far. The front seven have wreaked havoc with sacks and tackles for loss thanks to good pressure, timely blitzes from the secondary, and a willingness from defensive backs to aid in run support.
Special Teams
Handling the punting and kickoff duties for UTEP is junior Noah Botsford, a recent addition to the Ray Guy Award Watch List after a standout performance in the season opener. Botsford booted his first punt as a Miner for 64 yards and has continued to shine, averaging 48.5 yards per punt with three 50+ yarders and four being downed inside the 20.
Field goals and extra points have been inconsistent for UTEP so far. Against UT Martin, the Miners had a field goal blocked and missed an extra point. Handling the place-kicking responsibilities is junior Carlos Arreola, an inexperienced transfer from Sul Ross State.
Conclusion
Despite the gap in talent on paper, both teams on Saturday will be seeking out a cleaner performance after mixed results around execution.
“We had holding penalties on the perimeter and at the line of scrimmage, we had false-start penalties, and so it’s kind of like two steps forward, one step back. It’s hard to find rhythm and consistency as an offense when you play that way,” Sarkisian said.
He’ll also be looking for improvements early in the chains.
“I think we had 12 third downs Saturday. Six of those were 3rd-and-9 or larger, and that’s not a winning formula for success when you’re trying to move the ball on a consistent basis. We’ve got to improve upon that.”
In all likelihood, the Miners come to Austin looking to improve their consistency across the board and build on last week’s victory against UT Martin more so than expecting to upset the Longhorns. This will be a great test for Walden and staff to assess which players can compete against an uber-talented Texas team.
