A 2-10 team welcomes an FCS program that just posted its first winning season in 25 years — and somehow the visitors might be the more stable operation walking in.
+Nearly 20 transfer additions restocking the roster
+Moving up to Mountain West signals momentum
+Coach donated part of salary to buy into roster
−Coming off a 2-10 season, worst since 2019
−All 11 offensive starters must be replaced
−Walden is 5-19 in two seasons, seat is warm
UTEP enters year one of its Mountain West move looking for answers, and the quarterback picture is the biggest one. Scotty Walden lost both signal-callers from a season ago to the transfer portal and is turning to EJ Colson, an FCS transfer who spent time at Incarnate Word and briefly at UCF, to run the offense. Texas Southern counters with its own new starter under center in Cam'Ron McCoy, a well-traveled passer with stops at Jackson State and Southern who reportedly impressed Cris Dishman with his leadership through spring ball.
Almost the entire supporting cast around Colson is new too — UTEP is replacing all 11 offensive starters, which is about as close to starting from scratch as a program can get. Walden is 5-19 across two seasons in El Paso and this one reads like a make-or-break year, even with a nearly 20-man transfer haul restocking the roster. Texas Southern isn't walking in as a pushover, either — Dishman's Tigers were tabbed the No. 2 team in the SWAC West in preseason media polls after their breakthrough 2025.
History says this one isn't close — UTEP has beaten Texas Southern by 40 points in both prior meetings, in 2001 and 2007. But this isn't the same UTEP program, and Texas Southern has real building blocks: a rising coach, a competent transfer QB, and a defense with a new coordinator in Scott Vestal trying to keep the SWAC surge going.
The gap in levels — FBS versus FCS — is still the biggest thing working against Texas Southern here, no matter how well-coached the Tigers are. UTEP gets a scholarship and depth advantage that usually shows up in the trenches, especially against a rebuilding Miners roster still figuring out its own identity under center.
Don't expect either quarterback competition to be fully settled by kickoff on Saturday, September 12. UTEP hasn't had a proven starter take a snap yet in this offense, and Texas Southern was still sorting through its own room in the spring game. That uncertainty is exactly why this one is worth a look even as a lopsided-on-paper matchup — nobody really knows what either offense looks like until the lights come on.
