COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: UTPB coming off scrimmage

With less than 10 days to go before the start of college football season, the UTPB Falcons are feeling good.

The Falcons held a scrimmage this past Saturday at Astound Broadband Stadium and second-year head coach Kris McCullough liked what he saw, particularly from his offensive and defensive lines.

“I thought the ones on both sides of the ball did really well,” McCullough said at Monday’s press conference at the D. Kirk Edwards Family Human Performance Center. “We didn’t have a ton of reps for those guys. We’re still trying stay healthy, but those guys that were out there; they performed pretty well. I thought bright spots were our offensive and defensive lines. That’s where we put a lot of focus … this offseason. We’ve tried to get to where we need to be for the playoffs so that we can face the Bemidjis and the Hardings and those types of teams. We got to have the big offensive and defensive lines. That’s where we have to improve to have a shot in the playoffs.”

The Falcons are coming off a 10-2 overall, 8-0 conference record.

UTPB is hoping to get further in the playoffs after having lost to Bemidji State in the first round last year.

The Falcons will open the season with a home conference game against Western New Mexico at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 at Ratliff Stadium.

“It’s good to finally be back and be 11 days away from kickoff,” McCullough said. “It’s right around the corner. We’ve been going through fall camp the last few weeks. We’re trying to get back on the healthy side of things. We’re going to tone it back the next few weeks and get ready for Western New Mexico on Aug. 31.”

>> GETTING EVERYONE UP TO SPEED: UTPB’s biggest concern during the first few weeks of fall camp has been getting all the backups up to speed with the starters.

“I thought offensively, our ones did really well,” McCullough said. “We did have an interception but every other time, they scored on every possession. The twos and threes are still trying to get to where the ones are but it takes a little bit of time. We still have over a week to get those guys up to speed. We talk all the time about our mid-tiers. Our top tiers are the best in the country but how good can our mid-tiers be? Can we get them up to our top tiers? I think we’re close. Offensively, I feel good. Defensively, we’re a step ahead.”

>> RANKINGS: UTPB enters the 2024 season ranked No. 21 in the preseason AFCA poll.

It’s the first time the Falcons go into the season ranked in the top 25.

UTPB is one of three Lone Star Conference schools to be ranked in the top-25 in the preseason poll including Central Washington (No. 8) and Angelo State (No. 24).

Defending national champion Harding University is ranked No. 1 in the preseason poll.