Camp Ruidoso: Competition at running back heats up

The big question heading into training camp for the UTEP Miners was who was going to fill the void left by the departure of Aaron Jones.

UTEP’s all-time leading rusher is now with the Green Bay Packers. Additionally, last year’s backup, Quardraiz Wadley, has been sidelined since spring with a shoulder injury.

UTEP head coach Sean Kugler now appears to be set on starting sophomore running back Kevin Dove in week one at Oklahoma.

“Kevin Dove is probably having the best camp of anybody,” Kugler said. “He’s a physical downhill back, and he’s finally gotten himself in shape. Probably, if I had a list, he would be the number one.”

Dove is confident he can be the guy to replace Jones.

“Aaron was a great player,” Dove said, “I hear this quite a bit, ‘Oh, you’re filling in Aaron’s shoes.’ Really, I try to do whatever I can for the team.”

Another running back turning heads at camp is freshman Joshua Fields.

Like Jones, who attended Burges High School, Fields is from El Paso.

The only difference is Fields went to Americas High School.

“It’s been going good,” Fields said. “I’ve been getting better, just learning the offense and getting rid of all the bad habits from high school.”

Coach Kugler has also been impressed by what he’s seen from Fields.

“He’s a physical kid,” Kugler said. “He’s not the biggest kid, but he’s a downhill runner, and he’s a between-the-tackles runner.”

While it’s going to be a tough task finding the next Aaron Jones, Dove is already setting his sights high.

“I know Aaron rushed for 1,700 yards, and I’m going to try to break all of his records,” Dove said. “But at this point in time, I just want to make sure that we win.”