UTEP Miners football coach Scotty Walden on New Mexico State: 'This is our bowl game'
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UTEP coach Scotty Walden was in a situation few Miners coaches have been in when he addressed El Paso reporters for his news conference to kick off New Mexico State rivalry week.
Namely, he was talking about the last time these teams will play for the foreseeable future. There will be no UTEP-NMSU game next year and while both schools have expressed a desire to renew the rivalry at some point in the future, nothing along those lines has been set.
This is always a big game, but the uncertainty of the future makes it even more vital.
UTEP coach Scotty Walden: This year’s NMSU game has extra meaning
“It’s incredibly important,” Walden said. “It’s important to our fan base, it’s something the seniors have talked about, keeping the silver spade the brass spittoon at home where they belong, in El Paso.
“We don’t know the next time this game is going to be played. At the end of the day, it makes this game even more meaningful because we don’t know the next time we’re going to be able to line up and play for two trophies.
“This is our bowl game, that’s how we’re going to treat it: Just like a bowl game.”
As for what it means, “This is one of the most underrated rivalries in college football,” Walden said. “This is the 102nd edition of this game. I remember last year, looking in the stands, you would have thought both teams were 12-0.
“We had a history lesson with the guys, we went over the history. This is not a normal game. When you walk out of the Mineshaft on Saturday, it’s not going to feel like a normal game.
“This is about pride, this is about playing one of the best, most cherished rivals in college football.”
UTEP and NMSU didn’t play in 2020 when the Aggies didn’t play fall football because of COVID-19. Before that they didn’t play each other in 2003. The rivalry dates back to 1914.
Walden lobbies to renew rivalry
Walden said in very emphatic terms that he wants this game back on future schedules, though ultimately that will come down to decisions made by athletic directors.
“It’s incredibly important,” Walden said. UTEP athletic director “Jim Senter and I have bounced every idea know to man in terms of how we can get that done. This is not one of those things, ‘Well, it is what it is, I guess we’re just not playing those guys.’ We’re not taking no for an answer.
“We want to find a way to keep this game on the schedule. When you go through a conference transition these are some of the things that are unfortunate repercussions of that.
“This game is too important to this community, too important to this region. We need to do everything in our power to play this. Any time, any where, we’ll meet in a parking lot and figure out how to do this thing. When there’s a will there’s a way and we’ll keep working through that.”
Scouting the Aggies
As for Saturday’s game in front of them, Walden said UTEP will be challenged to contain New Mexico State’ offense.
“The biggest thing I’ve seen on tape, the difference from last year to this year, they have an absolute identity on offense,” Walden said. Quarterback Logan “Fife is very accurate, he’s tough as nails. (Receiver) TK Jing, the receiver, is arguably the fastest kid we’ve played all year, he’s a weapon. The kid who is the unsung hero if the (Donovan) Faupel kid. He’s a great possession receiver, he has great body control.
“They have great weapons on the outside, they have talent.”
On the other side of the ball New Mexico State has 14 interceptions as a team, tied for seventh nationally. Walden said that’s a tribute not only to its secondary but also to its pass rush.
“They have forced 22 turnovers as a defense,” Walden said. “They are good at taking the ball back. It’s always important, but even more important in this game we have great eyes from the quarterback, great protection.”
Walden on fixing UTEP’s defense
UTEP’s defense, meanwhile, is in the rare position this season of needing to bounce back from a subpar outing it had in the 38-24 loss to Missouri State. Walden said the fixes are technical in nature.
“The things I saw in the game, we didn’t have our best game in terms of leveraging the ball and playing with low pad level and tackling,” Walden said. “We kind of reverted back to some bad technical habits. But I love the way they responded in the third quarter, we got to our brand of ball.
“There are no major personnel or schematic changes, we just have to get back to the basics. It was more fundamentals.”
UTEP gets a chance to set all that right Saturday against their arch rivals from New Mexico State.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football coach Scotty Walden on NMSU: ‘This is our bowl game’
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