The Oklahoma Sooners will play football this Friday night in Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The time for talking will soon give way to football. The Sooners have high expectations for this season, but it starts with the UTEP Miners.
UTEP is in its first year of play in the Mountain West Conference and is entering its third season under Scotty Walden. They'll also have a new quarterback leading the offense, former Incarnate Word and UCF quarterback E.J. Colson.
Incarnate Word helped pave the way for Cam Ward to earn an opportunity at Washington State before moving on to Miami and winning the Heisman.
Colson played in 10 games for Incarnate Word, starting eight of them, and put together a strong season. Last year, he completed 70 percent
of his passes for 2,140 yards, 16 touchdowns, and just four interceptions. According to Pro Football Focus, he also ran the ball 86 times for 458 yards and three touchdowns. 314 of those yards came on scrambles.
He's an athletic and opportunistic quarterback who will take off and run if there isn't anything available down the field.
Colson will push the ball down the field. 50 of his 300 attempts (16.6%) went 20 or more yards down the field. 83 went 10 or more yards down the field. For reference, 55 of Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza's 383 passing attempts went 20 or more yards down the field, or just 14.3%.
So what kind of quarterback will Oklahoma be facing in Week 1? I went back and watched his game against UTSA last season, Incarnate Word's only game against an FBS opponent in 2025. Colson took over at quarterback in the second half and on his first drive in the game, led his team to a touchdown. Against the Roadrunners, Colson completed 70.8% of his passes for 213 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions. He only finished with 15 yards rushing.
Film Notes
- Will stand in the pocket and deliver the ball with defenders in his face.
- On his first touchdown, he's pressured immediately up the middle and escapes to his left, making an accurate throw on the move 34 yards in the air.
- On his second drive of the game, he shows the ability to work to his right and throw on the move.
- Colson's a decisive player. When he decides to throw, there's no second-guessing. Same when Colson wants to run. He pulls it down and goes to pick up what yardage he can.
- He plays on time in the offense, showing the ability to throw to the sideline with accuracy.
- Colson shows toughness and comfortability under pressure. He's a patient quarterback, willing to move the offense 5-10 yards at a time.
- On his second touchdown throw, Colson recognizes man-to-man coverage and throws a beautiful ball to the corner of the end zone on a wheel route. It couldn't have been placed more perfectly. A little short and it's a 50-50 ball. A little long and the wide receiver is likely running out of bounds.
E.J. Colson has a lot of upside. He's a quarterback who can hurt you with his precision, timing, athleticism, and intangibles like pocket awareness and toughness.
The Oklahoma Sooners have the speed on defense and should be able to put pressure on Colson throughout the game, but he certainly has some tools in his bag that can create plays against the Sooners' defense.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Scouting Report: Oklahoma faces tough, athletic QB E.J. Colson
