NORMAN - UTEP’s season opener ended in a 51-0 loss to No. 10 Oklahoma, but Scotty Walden came away sounding more encouraged than defeated.
The third-year Miners coach had plenty to gripe about after Friday’s trip to Norman, especially on special teams. Oklahoma scored on its opening drive, then stretched the lead with an 88-yard punt return touchdown after a UTEP punt. By the end of the first quarter, the Miners were already in a 21-0 hole and had also missed a field goal.
“When you give up 14 points that fast, it puts you on your heels,” Walden said. “I do think our kids responded and fought back, but definitely, it puts you more on your heels when you go down 14-0 that fast, specially special teams wise, it kind of splintered from there.
"That's no excuse to why we missed kicks tonight or anything else, but I think when you go down to a great team like this, you've got to keep it close early and that was something we were unable to do.”
UTEP had three real opportunities to put points on the board with field goal tries and missed all of them. The Miners’ punting also never settled in, including an 8-yard punt out of bounds from Brady Braun in the first half. Walden said the issues in the “wefence,” as he calls the special teams unit, were the biggest concern.
“Special teams is where I'm really concerned,” Walden said. “We gotta get better there.”
Even with the shutout, Walden said he liked enough of what he saw from the offense to believe there’s something to build on. UTEP is breaking in quarterback EJ Colson Jr. and nearly an entirely new starting offensive line, with only one returning starter up front. Colson left after the first half to be evaluated by the medical team, though Walden expects him to be ready next week.
“I did not feel like it was just missed-assignment galore,” Walden said. “I felt like running the ball, there were times we were getting movement.
I really hadn't seen that in a while. There's a lot of positive that I saw.
I think against OU is tough to move the ball along period, but I think for us moving forward, there's a lot of continuity, a lot of communication, guys were passing things off.
"I was actually impressed with these guys competing for the first time. We got a long way ... but I think those guys worked together better than I had anticipated.”
The schedule doesn’t get any softer. UTEP heads to Ann Arbor in a couple of weeks to face No.
16 Michigan, and Walden joked about calling Oklahoma coach Brent Venables for advice after seeing the Sooners up close. He said the film from Friday should still help his team prepare.
“I do think that will be a great film to watch for us,” Walden said. “Because we played OU, we know what we went against, and seeing that compared to Michigan, these games matched up. I think it will be a useful film, for sure.”
Before that next road trip, UTEP returns home to face Texas Southern and will also host Oregon State in El Paso shortly after. Walden knows the results against Oklahoma, Michigan and Oregon State may not look pretty, but he believes the lessons matter.
“We are going to be battle tested, going into the Mountain West Conference play after our non-conference schedule,” Walden said. “That's just how we like it. We want to be tested, we're gonna be tested by some of the best in the country and that's gonna allow us to be ready for conference play.”
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