Freshman linebacker Loren Koehler already has proven that he can make an impact on UTSA's defense. The kinesiology major who aspires to go into corporate fitness, was a major part of Wednesday's scrimmage, as he recorded nine tackles and an interception. The Yorktown native spoke with goUTSA.com after the scrimmage to talk about how this year's workouts are helping the team and why the defense stepped up its play this past week.

Within the first drive, the defense already was showing the level of intensity that was drastically different from the previous scrimmage. How did the defense gain this intensity?
"Coach (Neal) Neathery has been telling us to play hard-hat defense with a lot of emotion. The first team definitely showed that and the second team went out and mirrored that intensity. Since we are not playing an actual game for another year, we have to work to keep our intensity up during these scrimmages."
 
Since you guys aren’t competing against other teams, does it feel like a Catch-22 when you are going up against your teammates during these scrimmages in that you want your offense to do well, but, at the same time, you have to perform at a high level?
"It’s definitely a good sign that our defense is picking up the tempo and doing a better job to stop our offense, but they are also working really hard to continue to get past us. We just want the best for both of us. It’s hard to say that we want to do better than the offense, but, right now, we have to work on making our defense better, which makes our offense better, so it comes out to a win-win situation in the end."

Can you talk a little bit about being an invited walk-on and why you decided to be part of UTSA's first-ever team?
"I grew up about two hours away from here, so my family came to San Antonio a lot and I knew I would like it here. I had some offers from Division II schools, but when I heard that Coach (Larry) Coker was going to be coaching here, I knew the potential for this program was big. At that point, I figured, 'Why not?' I knew I would have to sit out for a year and work hard to get better. Sitting out hasn’t been the most fun, but, now that I’ve learned the defense, this year is helping me become a better student and player for next year."

You had a strong performance of nine tackles and an interception, but what do you need to work on before the next scrimmage?
"I bite on play action a lot and am still not very good with man coverage out of the backfield, so those are two areas I need to work on. It’s really just recognition before the play. I need to understand what’s going on and then work to get the stop."