UTEP is walking into Week 1 with a quarterback who has seen a little bit of everything, but the opener still comes with a brutal assignment. E.J. Colson, who spent time at UCF in 2024 before starting eight games for Incarnate Word in 2025, will be the one trying to steer the Miners through a matchup with an Oklahoma defensive front that has already drawn big praise from his own head coach.
Scotty Walden didn’t hold back when he sized up the Sooners’ line during his weekly news conference to open Oklahoma week.
"If they aren't the best d-line in the country, I'd like to see who is," UTEP coach Scotty Walden said at his weekly news conference to kick off Oklahoma week. "If they aren't No. 1, they are top three. They are an unbelievable defensive line so it's going to be a great challenge."
That challenge is obvious. Oklahoma is bringing future NFL Draft picks David Stone, Jayden Jackson, and Taylor Wein to the table, and that kind of talent can overwhelm just about anybody. It’s a particularly steep test for a UTEP offense that was one of the worst in college football last year.
Still, this is not a unit that’s walking in blind. UTEP’s offensive line has experience, with four of its five starters in their third year or beyond. Walden pointed to that continuity as a major factor in how the Miners will try to survive up front.
"How awesome is it for our offensive line to have that type of competition out of the gate, to be able to gauge where we're at? The continuity, the trust and the belief has to be there because they are so intricate up front. You're going to have to believe in your buddy to come help you in the A gap or B gap and work together to negate those elite pass rushers."
The backdrop only raises the temperature. UTEP showed it could hang around against Texas last year, taking a 7-3 halftime lead before eventually falling 27-10 in Austin. That kind of effort will be the standard the Miners are hoping to chase again.
Oklahoma, meanwhile, enters with a defense expected to be among the best in college football. But that reputation will have to be backed up every week if the Sooners want to stay on track as contenders in 2026.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Just Got Dragged Into An SEC Fight Fans Need To See
A federal judges preliminary injunction has suddenly put roster rules back at the center of the college football conversation, and the SEC is not happy about it. The ruling blocks conferences from punishing teams simply for carrying former professional players, which opened the door for LSU to add former NFL players DaeQuan Wright and Zxavian Harris ahead of its season opener against Clemson.
The conference is opposing the decision and could appeal, while Louisiana officials have voiced support for the ruling, setting up a familiar kind of late-summer legal standoff with real football consequences. For Oklahoma and the rest of the SEC, it is one more reminder that the leagues path to opening weekend may still run through a courtroom before anyone gets to the field. [Read more 🡒]
Sooners Face A Looming 2026 Problem In Ben Arbuckles Offense
Ben Arbuckles first Oklahoma offense offered enough clues this fall to make the long view worth taking seriously. A look at his play-by-play tendencies, compared with what he ran at Washington State in 2024 and then with John Mateer directing the Sooners in 2025, shows an offense that leaned more heavily on the pass in key spots, especially on third down, while the ground game never gave it much balance. When the run game isnt threatening, the sequencing gets easier to read, and the data from this season suggested Oklahoma spent too much time in that exact trap.
The bigger concern is what that means when the Sooners eventually move past Mateer and into 2026. Arbuckles scheme still has the shape of something dangerous, but the numbers point to fewer explosive passing plays than he produced before, dropping from 35% to 25% in the comparison the article examined. If the running game remains ineffective, the offense could become increasingly predictable at the very moment Oklahoma needs it to stay ahead of defenses that will have a full year of tape on how Arbuckle wants to build drives. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma May Be Closer To Another Proven Defensive Line Boost
Oklahomas defensive line for 2026 may be gaining another proven piece, with former Boise State tackle Braxton Fely cleared by a Cleveland County District Court order to enter the transfer portal and potentially suit up for the Sooners next season. Fely spent four seasons at Boise State and finished with back-to-back All-Mountain West Second Team nods in 2024 and 2025, which makes him the kind of experienced interior presence Oklahoma has been looking to stack around its returning talent.
Braxton Felys situation also adds another layer to a defensive front that already looks like one of the more promising parts of Oklahomas roster outlook. The Sooners were already expecting a strong 2026 line, and Felys availability now comes alongside the possibility of fifth-year lineman Danny Saili, who is dealing with eligibility issues, giving Oklahoma a chance to deepen a unit that could shape the defense for next season. [Read more 🡒]