Football Wraps Up Training Camp and Turns to Game Week Preparation as Kickoff Nears

Football
8/19/2025 4:30:00 PM

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RIO GRANDE VALLEY – With 17 of the 25 practices on the training camp schedule now complete, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley’s (UTRGV) football team is transitioning from camp mode to a mock game week as the August 30 kickoff nears. 
 
Head coach Travis Bush said Monday’s practice was “the last true training camp day,” with the team practicing in the morning and returning to the facility in the afternoon for meetings and walk-throughs. The rest of the week will be a mock game week of sorts, replicating the schedule the team will follow during the academic year with busy mornings and open afternoons so the student-athletes can go to class. 
 
“This week we’re wrapping up. We’re really just focusing on us and mocking our practices on a normal game week,” Bush said. “Everything is trending in the right direction. There’s still a lot of unknowns out there once we get in the game, and that’s where your culture will be tested, when adversity strikes. That’s stuff we’ve planned for. That’s where your chemistry has to be the strongest. We’ll face plenty of adversity, but we’re planning for it and preparing to be ready to attack it when it’s there.” 
 
When the team huddled together after Monday’s practice, Bush asked the Vaqueros who had a goal they set for camp they felt they met. Several student-athletes quickly raised their hands and spoke on their improvements, varying from performance on the field to recovering from injury to fixing their attitude. Bush validated each statement with some kind of direct praise to each player who spoke and went on to tell the team, “I love this group.” 
 
The unity and chemistry developed throughout the last three weeks is what Bush was proudest of as he reflected on his own goals for training camp. Every evening during team meetings, the players stood in front of the team and talked about themselves, telling their teammates about their families, their journeys, their goals. This gave student-athletes and coaches alike the chance to really know each other, and as connections strengthened in the locker room, it translated onto the field. 
 
“The biggest piece to me, the most important ingredient to any successful team, family, organization, staff, is unity, so we’ve done things every day as a staff to help manufacture that,” Bush said. “Really watching them jell together, watching the camaraderie, the chemistry, the leadership develop along with the battles, was important. For them to jell as one was really the main goal from Day 1 and we feel pleasantly surprised that they did it this quick.” 
 
During the final team meeting of camp on Monday, the coaching staff announced the “leadership council” for the 2025 season. Ian Box, Tavian Cord, Nathan Denney, Nathaniel Wallace-Dilling, Ismael Smith Flores, Marcus Heard Jr., Harlingen High alum Nathan Huerta, Sharyland Pioneer alum Eddie Lee Marburger, Gunner Naivar, TJ Neal, Alijah Prosser, Spencer Rich and Wes Thompson are the 13 Vaqueros selected to lead the team. 
 
Along with solidifying unity and leadership, training camp cleared up a lot in terms of position and depth chart battles. UTRGV competed in two closed scrimmages and saw good things in all three phases while identifying specific areas to work on. 
 
After the first scrimmage, Bush was pleased to see some explosive plays from the offense. During the second scrimmage, played under the lights at Robert and Janet Vackar Stadium, the defense shined, forcing four turnovers and coming up with big stops in the red zone. Both scrimmages were important learning opportunities and showed the good work the Vaqueros put in during camp. 
 
“We saw improvement from scrimmage No. 1 to scrimmage No. 2 defensively. We had some things we wanted to work on, and we did,” Bush said. “In the second scrimmage, definitely tackling was better, and that was a concern after the first scrimmage so tackling was good to see. Keeping the offense out of the end zone kind of worked itself out because we wanted to work on several different scenarios in the kicking game in the stadium at night with the wind and things like that, so it worked out. Overall, it was a good scrimmage. Offense moved the ball well, but defense was stingy.” 
 
As UTRGV transitioned into mock game week mode starting Tuesday morning, the emphasis became more situational. The staff and players are going through as many scenarios as possible, working on everything from subbing in a backup quickly if a player’s helmet pops off during a play to getting the PAT team off the bench and set up in a hurry after a defensive score. 
 
This week will wrap up with the team going over game day details at Vackar Stadium before experiencing them live on August 30. UTRGV is gearing up for kickoff on every level to ensure the best effort possible when the Vaqueros play in front of the Valley for the first time. 
 
“We won’t put pads on again until next week. Right now is the time to get them healthy and give their bodies a break,” Bush said. “We’re really going through everything and making sure we have it all covered. Just trying to make sure we’re organized and detailed, going through every scenario possible and that we’re repping for it to be mentally prepared on our end.” 

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