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.