UTEP Football: Miners start spring practice

UTEP got the 2017 season off to a sharp start with a crisp hour and a half workout in shorts on Monday at Glory Road Field to start spring ball.

Plenty of attention was spent in individual work, and the practice ended with a team session in where UTEP’s quarterbacks looked sharp for the most part.

Hard to fully gauge things from a workout in just shorts, but Tyler Batson, David Lucero, and Walter Dawn all stood out in the team portion of practice as UTEP mostly threw the ball around during the drill.

Batson appears to be fully healthy, and was exploding off the line making a few catches with some newly developed speed. Lucero’s size is very welcoming, but he can also get going down field in a hurry, and Dawn made a nice diving catch on an out route from Zack Greenlee.

Sean Kugler said there is a competition for backup quarterback, and El Paso’s Mark Torrez looked sharp in the team drill, dotting a tight end across the middle for a big gain in one sequence. Metz took first team reps, and Greenlee and Torrez split second and third team reps.

Of note, former Montwood High School head coach Chuck Veliz was working with the wideouts during practice.

UTEP will practice on Wednesday, then will strap on the pads for the first time Friday before taking next week off for spring break.

Check out interviews from the Miners first day of spring practices….

Kalaii Griffin

Kevin Dove

UTEP running backs coach Cornell Jackson