Video: UTEP football set for fall camp Bret Bloomquist, Wochit


Given that the UTEP's football team's personnel and coaching staff are so similar to a season ago, Dana Dimel's second fall camp will look strikingly different.

Practices will open in El Paso, there will be six days of workouts in Ruidoso, and after consulting with the Dallas Cowboys on how to cut down on camp injuries — there were a lot last year — UTEP's practices will be less strenuous and with less contact.

What's going to look the same is the No. 1 item on the to-do list is setting the quarterback depth chart. Also, like a year ago, the team will be counting on the offensive line to make the rest of the offense look better, only this year they are hoping not to lose two starters before they break from Ruidoso.

Here are the themes of the next four weeks leading into the Aug. 31 Sun Bowl opener against Houston Baptist.

1. Quarterback, of course

This will be visited and revisited all August, so more on this later, starting Friday.

The quick version is that Brandon Jones enters as a clear No. 1, but backup is a wide-open scramble between returnees Mark Torrez and Calvin Brownholtz, junior college transfers Gavin Hardison and Isaiah Bravo, and the headliner of the incoming freshman class, TJ Goodwin.

Saving the detail for Friday, the rotation at the No. 2 spot will be spread around for the first 10 days or so, but UTEP is looking for the depth chart to take some definition by the midpoint of camp so whoever emerges as the No. 2 can get increased reps.

And if six of the last seven years are a good indication, either because of health or performance, UTEP will use multiple quarterbacks over the course of the year.

2. Can the o-line stay healthy and what will it look like?

Offensive line wasn't a question going into last August because with Greg Long at tackle and fifth-year senior Derron Gatewood at center, UTEP was all set.

Then Long and Gatewood got hurt — and they were the first of several linemen to go down — starting a revolving door. The good news is the Miners now return a lot of players with starting experience, and the better news is that the sixth-year graduate student Gatewood and Long start the year healthy with lots of healthy experience around them.

Given all the other questions on offense, this is where matters have to begin.

"That's who we are," Dimel said. "As good as our offensive line is is how good we're going to be. It starts with Gates at center."

The idea is that Long and Darta Lee will be the tackles, Ruben Guerra and Bobby Deharo will be the returning starting guards with returning starters Zuri Henry, Elijah Klein and Markos Lujan giving UTEP stunning depth and presumably interesting position battles to watch.

3. Receivers, again

This has been the perennial question since coach Mike Price retired (the first time) back in 2012 and the Miners will take another crack at it this fall.

"The receivers have taken such a bad rap, when I got here, it was like, 'Coach, you have no receivers,'" Dimel said. "Then I was here a year and they didn't have a very good year, but there were a lot of reasons why."

What he's hinting at is that if the two above questions are answered positively, the receivers will have a better chance of success.

The player Dimel said needs to emerge as a No. 1 is former walk-on, sophomore Tre'Shon Wolf, who had 10 catches last season.

"Our biggest surprise," Dimel said, noting that he graded out the highest at the position in every spring practice. "It all starts with him, he's our No. 1."

Having a set No. 1 going into fall represents a big step up for UTEP, which hasn't had one of those since Jordan Leslie left in 2014.

Typically UTEP has gone into camp with a bunch of bodies and the hopes that some would emerge, and that's now the case from No. 2 on down. The names to look for are senior redshirts Kavika Johnson and Walter Dawn, who spent last year learning the position, Alan Busey, Keynan Foster (actually the top returning pass catcher) and Justin Garrett.

4. How does the defense replace its playmakers?

The Miners have a majority of their two-deep back on the defense and add in several former starters who were hurt or ineligible last season, but what they lose is notable: their four top tacklers, including C-USA tackle leader AJ Hotchkins; 15 of their 20 sacks; and four of their five interceptions. And this from a team that was tied for 120th out of 129 teams in turnovers gained last year with 11.

Where they hope to make a huge step forward is on the defensive line, with Dedrick Simpson and Sani Buckingham returning from injury to join returning starter Denzel Chukwukelu and a host of other experienced players. Generating a rush with their front three could change the complexion of the entire defense.

There is also hope returning starting lineback Sione Tupou makes a big leap from his freshman to his sophomore year and makes up for a lot of what left with Hotchkins. Senior Justin Rogers, now a full-time safety, is the most proven returning playmaker.

5. What does cornerback look like?

From the moment five years ago when UTEP lined up freshmen Nik Needham and Kalon Beverly across from each other at corner, two things were obvious: This position was settled for four years; it would be a big issue in 2019.

UTEP knew that and recruited accordingly.

"We made a big effort to fill that void," Dimel said.

As a measure of how well they thought that went, Rogers, the most experienced corner on the roster and the player with the highest stock on the entire defense, is now at safety.

The plan is, like four years ago, the Miners will probably have two new players at corner, but this time they could be juniors. Transfers Robert Corner III and Duron Lowe stood out in spring, and two of the three players pushing them will also be new to playing Division I: transfer Miles Banks and redshirt freshman Ray Walters. Josh Caldwell is the one player at the position who has played a game for UTEP.

To be sure, this list leaves off a bunch of other questions, such as who will kick (it's a four-way battle between Brady Viles, Gavin Baechle, Andress alum Mark Ramos and Austin Rychlik), how quickly freshman tailback and El Paso's all-time rushing leaderDeion Hankins can come along (early indications: very, very quickly), what new faces will make a mark and how much better UTEP will be in the second year of Dimel's program.

This will be a busy camp for the Miners and it gets going Friday afternoon on Glory Field.


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UTEP football fall camp