UTEP Football: Scotty Walden Speaks Highly Of FIU Ahead of Week 8 Matchup

Head coach of the UTEP Miners spoke highly of FIU and some of the pieces they have on both sides of the ball.

UTEP head coach Scotty Walden reacts to a play during the Miners' home opener against Southern Utah at the Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. Walden is still chasing his first victory as the new coach after UTEP's overtime loss. / GABY VELASQUEZ/ EL PASO TIMES / USA TODAY NETWORK

UTEP head coach Scotty Walden is going through his first year with the Miners. It's been a rough season, going 0-6 on the year thus far, but it's a rebuild that will clearly take some time. Ahead of their Wednesday night matchup against FIU, he spoke highly of certain players.

"We gotta know where the Rivers kid is at," said Walden in regards to wide receiver Eric Rivers. "He's from Tennessee, went to McCallie School, a prominent high school in the state of Tennessee. He went to Memphis and now is at FIU, but the kid can run. He can fly. He's a deep threat. We gotta know where he's at number one. Whenever you play against an elite receiver, we gotta know where he's at and make sure that we have great eyes and leverage."

This season, Rivers has 24 receptions for 448 yards and three touchdowns. He has the third-most receiving yards in Conference USA.

Walden also spoke about sophomore quarterback Keyone Jenkins who is currently second in the conference in passing touchdowns and yards. Jenkins is coming off a game where he didn't throw for a touchdown, but threw for over 200 yards and ran for a score.

"You have got to pressure the quarterback," said Walden. "That's gonna be a big time challenge this week. We have to a great job of layering our rush and containing because Jenkins the quarterback does a phenomenal job extending the play. He's a stud. He's a heck of a player. Started as a true freshman and he can throw the deep ball real well and then he does a great job of extending the play and finding his receivers down field."

Jenkins has led FIU to having the fourth-best passing offense in Conference USA along with being the fifth-best scoring offense in the league.

This season, FIU has the fifth best defense in the conference and one thing Walden notes is the speed they have.

"Really good team speed," said Walden. " They are fast...I don't know if he (Mike MacIntyre) necessarily calls it or not, but it definetly seems like he has an influence on it, 100%. Him being a 4-2-5 guy. They do a great job mixing their coverages in the backend and they've kinda gone to some things to mitigate explosive passes."

The winless Miners host FIU at 9 PM ET on Wednesday, October 16 on CBS Sports Network.

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