UTEP Football Feature - Dy’vonne Inyang

By Drew Bonney

Dy’vonne Inyang is returning for his third season in a UTEP uniform. The senior safety is part of the deepest position on the team as 23 defensive backs are listed on the 2021 roster. Inyang has played in 19 games since transferring to UTEP prior to the 2019 season.

Inyang played two years at Kilgore College. He played in 19 games, tallying 83 tackles during those two seasons.

Inyang started to play football at a young age and hasn’t looked back. “I started playing football when I was five,” Inyang said. “It was my junior year in high school when I knew I wanted to play college football. I was out there balling and making plays. Then Kilgore came calling. I didn’t have the grades, so Kilgore was the home for me.”

Inyang was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and then moved to the Houston area prior to his freshman season at Fort Bend Willowridge High School. In fact, his nickname is ‘Ten’ since coming from the Volunteer State. Inyang’s efforts in 2018 helped lead Kilgore College to a 10-2 overall mark. He registered 52 tackles, 2.0 sacks, five pass break-ups, one fumble recovery, one interception and a blocked kick. Inyang balled out in a win over Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, tallying a collegiate-best 12 tackles.

Following his success at KC, Inyang took his talents to the Sun City where UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel sought out the experienced safety. “Inyang likes to fly around on the field,” Dimel said. “He’s a very emotional player and I really like the way he’s matured and practicing with consistency. He’s providing great leadership to his teammates and they’re looking up to him and feeding off what he’s doing. He plays with great aggression and covers a ton of ground because he’s so long in the backfield.”

Inyang recalls his initial contact with Coach Dimel. “[The visit] went really smooth,” Inyang said. “As soon as he brought me out [to El Paso] for the visit, I loved UTEP, and I felt like this was the place for me.”

Inyang, in his first season, contributed 14 tackles while playing in all 12 games. The 6-foot-1, 180-pound safety upped his tackles to 32 in all seven starts during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, while adding a pair of fumble recoveries. Inyang registered six tackles in three separate games. He opened last season with six stops and a forced fumble during the Miners’ win against Stephen F. Austin, while going for the same total at LA Tech and at Charlotte.

Despite Inyang’s increased numbers, the 2020 season was a mental grind. UTEP played eight of the 12 scheduled games. UTEP, along with other schools throughout the nation, canceled or moved games to different days. Sometimes the team would practice all week only to be notified that a contest had been canceled.

“I felt like [last season] messed a lot of people up mentally,” Inyang said. “Because COVID was an issue, we weren’t playing. Some days we’d be practicing and thinking we’re going to play that Saturday, but then we’d find out that we’re not playing anymore. It was rough at times.”

But on a positive note, the 2020 season did see the defense makeimpr ovements from the year prior. The highlight of the season was the Miners defeating Louisiana-Monroe 31-6 on Sept. 26, allowing only six first downs and 193 yards of total offense. UTEP came out the next game at LA Tech with a solid defensive performance, tallying 4.0 sacks. Inyang contributed a pair of tackles for losses.

With new defensive coordinator Bradley Dale Peveto, the Miners are looking to carry over their success from last year to 2021. “We have to make sure we’re getting our plays down, especially with our new D coordinator coach P. He’s a great coach. He came in with a new defense and we’re getting it down well,” Inyang said. “We need to execute and make plays.”