First days of practice in this year-round athletic era are more nominal now than they were a decade ago, but they are still milestones filled with excitement.
The UTEP football team began a journey they hope leads to a better place under the lights at the Sun Bowl on Tuesday, Aug. 4, one of their few night practices in the run-up to their Sept. 4 opener at Oklahoma, and it was easy to tell this was a unique moment.
Jayden Wilson: ‘It was a good environment’
“We came out here and we have pads on again; that’s a good feeling,” said linebacker Jayden Wilson, an Austin High grad. “We’ve got helmets on, dudes are flying around. I don’t like looking at their faces too much, they aren’t good-looking dudes, so when they have the helmets on it’s a good feeling.
“We were super eager to get out there. It being a late practice, it was a different feeling for sure. We took it and ran with it. It was a good environment.”
The optimism around this team is hard to find in preseason polls that have them pegged ninth or 10th in the 10-team Mountain West, but that didn’t mean anything to a reloading team much healthier now than they were a season ago at this time and one that feels its third season under coach Scotty Walden will bring a turnaround.
Walden said this year feels different than his first “first day” of fall camp in 2024 when everything in his system was still new.
UTEP coach Scotty Walden: Focus is on ball security
“There are so many guys who have been in the program three years now,” Walden said. “It feels cleaner and the guys are playing faster, attacking things as opposed to waiting around. There are a lot of new guys and our captains have done a great job onboarding them. … It feels cleaner, those guys have done a great job of leading.”
Walden said a big theme of camp is ball security and the team has added a drill to that effect early in practice, a drill called ‘The Program,’ where players try to punch the ball out of a ball carrier. In this drill, the football is The Program.
For quarterback E.J. Colson, who has quickly become the leader of the offense, and running back Tavorus Jones, a Burges grad making his El Paso homecoming, this was their first “first day” of fall as Miners. Colson was at Incarnate Word last year while Jones was at Missouri.
QB1 EJ Colson takes the reigns
“It was good to get back out there and have fun,” Colson said. “We were explosive on offense and defense had some great plays. It’s building on that first practice, setting standards for the season to come. It was a great day. I’m ready to start stacking days.”
As to how UTEP does that, “It’s a coming in every day with a mindset of dominating,” Colson said. “Understanding when we get into the season we’re going to get everybody’s best, that’s how it is. Understanding that and being consistent each and every day with our execution and being detailed, making sure we get to the right depth, making sure I have the right footwork − once we do that, it gets us to the next level.”
As for Jones, he was juiced to be back in his hometown for a rare night practice.
Tavorus Jones happy to be home in El Paso
It’s good putting the pads on, the helmets back on, flying around, excited to be back out for the first day,” he said. “You can’t ask for a better atmosphere than playing under the lights. This is home for me, my family is here, my little brother plays at Pebble Hills.
“It’ a blessing God has brought me back here. I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
As for the practice, Walden said it was a typical first day. There was plenty of excitement and plenty of need for more conditioning, but that added up to a net positive.
“A lot of energy, a lot of hunger and I was really proud about that,” said Walden, who added that he went with a night practice to mirror the 7 p.m. Sept. 4 start at Oklahoma. “There’s a lot to clean up. You always think you have them in shape but you never have them in good enough shape.
“There were too many drill transitions I didn’t think were good, but I loved the fire. I love the fierceness. Overall it was a really good day 1.”
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football team opens camp for Scotty Walden’s third season
Reporting by Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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By Bret Bloomquist, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
