In a season defined by change, the UTEP football team’s defense is in a slightly different spot than the offense going into 2024.
On the one hand, the defensive staff is filled by coaches who moved to El Paso from Austin Peay with Scotty Walden. On the other hand, there are more players back on the defensive side than on the offensive side.
In the new 3-3-5 system, the starting lineup could include nine returnees, including the team’s star, Maurice Westmoreland.
More: Meet UTEP’s new offensive coordinators, staff under head coach Scotty Walden
They’re dubbed the Orange Swarm, the compliment to the offense’s Blue Blaze.
Here are some notables.
Maurice Westmoreland, bandit
A first-team All-Conference USA player as a defensive end last year, Westmoreland is moving to the newly created bandit position, which is a cross between a linebacker and an end. His primary role will be edge rushing, similar to last year when he had 7.5 sacks to finish second in CUSA in that statistic.
Westmoreland is part of the big Kilgore College connection forged by the previous coaching staff. UTEP now has four Kilgore transfers, three of whom could be starters on defense.
AJ Odums, cornerback
Odums is the other 12-game starter returning on the defense. He was brought in as a transfer from New Mexico last year and immediately was slotted as a starter.
He had eight pass breakups last season to lead UTEP and rank third in CUSA.
Sione Tonga’uiha, nose tackle
Tonga’uiha worked his way into the starting lineup and eventually started five games at nosetackle. He’s in his fifth year in the program and stood out in the spring.
His primary role is run stopper. Tonga’uiha, who is originally from Tempe, Arizona, had eight tackles and a pass breakup last season.
Xavier Smith, linebacker
Smith is one of 11 transfers from Austin Peay, where he was one of the biggest stars on the defensive side of the ball as a freshman last year. He had 75 tackles in 2023 and broke up seven passes. He was mentioned on the FCS national all-freshmen teams.
He initially signed with Colorado and was there in 2022 but redshirted and did not see action.
Josiah Allen, safety
Allen worked his way into UTEP’s starting lineup last year and started in the final 10 games as a safety. He’s officially listed as “spur” this year, essentially a third safety.
He was fourth on the team last year with 41 tackles and he broke up five passes while forcing a fumble and recovering a fumble. As a sophomore in 2022, he started four games at cornerback.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Miners football defense notable players for 2024 season
