- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 421,813
- Reaction score
- 43
The UTEP football team began its first spring scrimmage with a stream of long runs from three different tailbacks.
The Miners closed it with a nifty touchdown pass from Skyler Locklear to Xavier Phipps. In between the defense flexed its muscles and kept the offense out of the end zone through the traditional move-the-ball periods.
That left the players happy with their performance and the coaches with a better idea of what needs to be worked on.
"Very competitive," coach Scotty Walden said after a scrimmage that approached 100 plays. "Early on it was lopsided, the offense was dominating the defense. Then the defense got two safeties. ...
"The offense dominated early, then it evened out, more of a back-and-forth battle."
Here are some takeaways from UTEP's first live scrimmage of spring 2025:
Not surprisingly nothing decisive happened in a quarterback competition that will be decided in late August, but Locklear looked like the incumbent he is.
He threw the only two touchdown passes of the scrimmage, which included a 95-yard swing pass to tailback Marquez Taylor, who caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and outran the defense. The other was late, to Xavier Phillips, who went up to get a strike over the middle on third and 8.
"Things went well," Locklear said. "As an offense we moved the ball fast, we had good ball security through the day. Our line and our running backs stepped up."
Shay Smith also had some nice moments and made some plays with his legs, particularly in the period where quarterbacks could be tackled. Malachi Nelson had some struggles, throwing two interceptions to Stratton Shufelt and Eastlake High grad Jaime Guerrero.
"Skyler did a great job," Walden said. "The completion rate was really high, that's a good sign. The quarterbacks were live in a period. We got to see how some guys reacted in the pocket when they are not just getting tagged off on. There were a couple of telling things there.
"Overall our eyes were in right spots. Decision-making in pressure areas is where I'm really going to look at the film. I don't think we were great there today."
Reps were split fairly evenly between the top four quarterbacks (Locklear, Smith, Nelson and JP Pickles).
Two of the first players Walden singled out defensively were the linebackers Shufelt and Austin High grad Jayden Wilson. They have been part of good linebacker play throughout camp.
This is an area UTEP is turning over, as at the moment the Miners are replacing every starter (returning starter Nate Dyman should be back with the team from injury in the fall), and so far it has gone well.
More: 'I love it here': Legacy Stratton Shufelt makes mark for UTEP football - like his father
Shufelt's interception was a highlight of the scrimmage, along with back-to-back safeties when UTEP was working on its coming-out drill (where the offense gets the ball on its own 1).
"We had some physical defense," Shufelt said. "The linebackers are the corps of this defense, we have to be able to communicate with the line what to do, the secondary. All around when we're gap sound we'll have a good defense."
The scrimmage began with short-yardage work and Marquez Taylor, Ashton Emery and Hahsean Wilson all broke long runs past the drawn-in defense.
Emery has generally been working with the first team, but at different times Walden has praised all three and was in that mood Saturday.
"They ran hard, really hard and we had multiple explosives," Walden said. "It was all three of them. There are things in protections and alignments we have to line up and execute, but in terms of running the ball, we were really physical.
"Our offensive line played physically. ... There were explosive plays we didn't have last year, 80-yard, 70-yard runs. That was impressive to see. I'm proud of that group of the explosiveness, we need to clean up the details."
UTEP can spend the next week doing that before its spring game, set for April 12.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at [email protected]; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football: Skyler Locklear, linebackers have strong scrimmage
Continue reading...
The Miners closed it with a nifty touchdown pass from Skyler Locklear to Xavier Phipps. In between the defense flexed its muscles and kept the offense out of the end zone through the traditional move-the-ball periods.
That left the players happy with their performance and the coaches with a better idea of what needs to be worked on.
You must be registered for see images attach
"Very competitive," coach Scotty Walden said after a scrimmage that approached 100 plays. "Early on it was lopsided, the offense was dominating the defense. Then the defense got two safeties. ...
"The offense dominated early, then it evened out, more of a back-and-forth battle."
Here are some takeaways from UTEP's first live scrimmage of spring 2025:
QB Skyler Locklear plays solidly
Not surprisingly nothing decisive happened in a quarterback competition that will be decided in late August, but Locklear looked like the incumbent he is.
He threw the only two touchdown passes of the scrimmage, which included a 95-yard swing pass to tailback Marquez Taylor, who caught the ball near the line of scrimmage and outran the defense. The other was late, to Xavier Phillips, who went up to get a strike over the middle on third and 8.
"Things went well," Locklear said. "As an offense we moved the ball fast, we had good ball security through the day. Our line and our running backs stepped up."
You must be registered for see images attach
Shay Smith also had some nice moments and made some plays with his legs, particularly in the period where quarterbacks could be tackled. Malachi Nelson had some struggles, throwing two interceptions to Stratton Shufelt and Eastlake High grad Jaime Guerrero.
"Skyler did a great job," Walden said. "The completion rate was really high, that's a good sign. The quarterbacks were live in a period. We got to see how some guys reacted in the pocket when they are not just getting tagged off on. There were a couple of telling things there.
"Overall our eyes were in right spots. Decision-making in pressure areas is where I'm really going to look at the film. I don't think we were great there today."
Reps were split fairly evenly between the top four quarterbacks (Locklear, Smith, Nelson and JP Pickles).
UTEP linebackers stand out
Two of the first players Walden singled out defensively were the linebackers Shufelt and Austin High grad Jayden Wilson. They have been part of good linebacker play throughout camp.
This is an area UTEP is turning over, as at the moment the Miners are replacing every starter (returning starter Nate Dyman should be back with the team from injury in the fall), and so far it has gone well.
More: 'I love it here': Legacy Stratton Shufelt makes mark for UTEP football - like his father
Shufelt's interception was a highlight of the scrimmage, along with back-to-back safeties when UTEP was working on its coming-out drill (where the offense gets the ball on its own 1).
"We had some physical defense," Shufelt said. "The linebackers are the corps of this defense, we have to be able to communicate with the line what to do, the secondary. All around when we're gap sound we'll have a good defense."
Running backs shine early
The scrimmage began with short-yardage work and Marquez Taylor, Ashton Emery and Hahsean Wilson all broke long runs past the drawn-in defense.
Emery has generally been working with the first team, but at different times Walden has praised all three and was in that mood Saturday.
"They ran hard, really hard and we had multiple explosives," Walden said. "It was all three of them. There are things in protections and alignments we have to line up and execute, but in terms of running the ball, we were really physical.
"Our offensive line played physically. ... There were explosive plays we didn't have last year, 80-yard, 70-yard runs. That was impressive to see. I'm proud of that group of the explosiveness, we need to clean up the details."
UTEP can spend the next week doing that before its spring game, set for April 12.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at [email protected]; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football: Skyler Locklear, linebackers have strong scrimmage
Continue reading...
