Why EJ Colson Could Be the Arm That Finally Gets UTEP to a Bowl Game

UTEP football has heard “quarterback of the future” before. Is it actually true this time?

The Miners enter their first season in the Mountain West with a new quarterback. After two straight offseasons where the quarterback battle has dragged into fall camp, head coach Scotty Walden made his call fast — naming Incarnate Word transfer EJ Colson the starter less than two weeks after spring ball wrapped.

The Production Is Real

Colson isn’t walking in on hype alone — he’s walking in with a résumé. At Incarnate Word in 2025, the 6-foot-1, 190-pound redshirt sophomore started the final eight games and completed 210 of 296 passes for 2,142 yards, 16 touchdowns against just 4 interceptions. Though he still must prove it against better competition, that is over a 70% completion rate.

He’s not just a pocket passer, either. Colson carried the ball 108 times for 287 yards and added three more scores on the ground, giving him 19 total touchdowns on the year between throwing and running. That dual-threat will matter against Mountain West defenses that will see a lot of quarterbacks who can only do one or the other.

His ceiling flashed too. He posted a season-high 339 passing yards against UT Rio Grande Valley, a sign he can take over a game when UTEP needs him to.

The Leadership Piece Nobody Talks About Enough

Stats get the headlines, but Walden’s reasoning for naming Colson the starter so early wasn’t just about arm talent. Walden said the locker room was craving “an alpha dog at quarterback,” and noted that unlike past transfers who waited to earn respect before taking over, Colson’s situation was different from day one. Colson led player-only workouts and meetings this spring — the kind of buy-in that doesn’t show up in a box score but shows up in November.

Colson himself has talked about wanting to be a role model for El Paso kids and about wanting to see the Sun Bowl packed out. That’s the right message for a fanbase that has waited a long time to believe in this program again.

The Reality Check

Let’s be honest about where this program is. Walden is 5-19 overall and 4-12 in conference play at UTEP heading into Year 3. A first-year quarterback stepping into a new league doesn’t erase that overnight.

And the schedule isn’t gentle. UTEP opens the season traveling to Oklahoma and Michigan, while also hosting Oregon State, all before the end of September. That’s about as tough a non-conference and early-season stretch as a Mountain West newcomer can draw. Colson will have to find rhythm fast, and there’s no easing into this one. Sports Illustrated

That’s the part that matters. If Colson survives September relatively unscathed — even a 1-2 or 2-1 stretch against that slate — UTEP hits its true Mountain West schedule with a quarterback who already has playmakers in the huddle believing in him.

What It Means for the Bowl Chase

Here’s the case for optimism: UTEP’s bowl drought hasn’t been about a lack of talent everywhere. It’s been about instability at the one position that dictates everything else. The Miners have cycled through big-name transfers at quarterback before, including former five-star recruit Malachi Nelson, without finding the answer. Colson isn’t the flashiest name to ever wear orange and blue, but he might be the steadiest.

A quarterback with a 70% completion rate, 19 total touchdowns, only four interceptions, and a locker room that’s already following him is exactly the profile that programs lean on to flip two wins into seven or eight. The Miners’ Mountain West debut also brings back a healthy Kam Thomas at running back, which only makes life easier for a quarterback who already showed he can create with his legs when the pocket breaks down.

UTEP doesn’t need Colson to be a Heisman contender. We need him to be efficient, agressive, and someone the offense rallies around. Early signs say that’s exactly what El Paso is getting.