UTEP football holds first scrimmage of 2024 spring season
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — The UTEP football team held its first spring scrimmage under new head coach Scotty Walden early Friday morning at Glory Field.
UTEP football just finished up their first scrimmage of the spring season at Glory Field. The Miners still have 6 more practices and one more scrimmage before their Spring Game on the 20th of April. pic.twitter.com/OyekGL7yTE
— Kelly Horyczun (@kellyhoryczun) April 5, 2024
The Miners went 11-on-11, offense vs. defense, full gear, and full contact.
Eleven on eleven reps with full contact is vital for a program like UTEP who is currently in a rebuild year. The team contains players who are true freshman learning the speed of college ball, returning players who are learning a new scheme under a new coaching staff and players who followed Walden to El Paso from Austin Peay. The Miners roster is a melting pot.
UTEP football held its first scrimmage of its spring season on Friday morning. The scrimmage portion of the session was closed to the public & media. It seems it was a competitive battle between the two sides but there's still work to do.#PicksUp | #UTEP | @KTSMtv pic.twitter.com/Q25163PH9U
— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) April 5, 2024
The spring season has allowed the team to work out any kind of kinks and to find their tempo prior to in season competition which has been a main focus of Walden. Playing as a unified team at a fast pace on both sides of the ball.
“It’s just a learning process and we have to continue that process-there’s always room for growth,” said Walden. “But I think we’re starting to understand how to play Miner fast and with UTEP tempo. The thing I love about this team is that they want to win. They want to win, they want to fight, they want to do it right.”
With only six practices left until the end of spring ball, it seems the players are responding well to Walden’s style of coaching and are buying into the Miners new era.
“Coach [Walden] talked about it, the back and forth on both offense and defense,” said Trey Goodman, senior wide receiver. “Making plays, pick sixes, fumble recoveries and then we have guys who are scoring break away touchdowns. We’ve got guys flying around on both sides of the ball. Just that healthy competition of really understanding that the team doesn’t get better if just one side of the team is dominant. Going back and forth gives us a good idea of how were going to look.”
“I like this team,” said Nate Dyman, redshirt junior linebacker. “Our offense has been putting in work. You see our quarterbacks, throwing a bad ball and then coming back and throwing a dime. We’ve got guys on both sides stepping up making plays. It’s fighting back and forth that makes a good team.”
The Miners next scrimmage will be on Saturday, April 13th before closing out spring ball at the Sun Bowl on April 20th with its spring game.
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