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Much as anticipated, the Miners gameplan relied heavily on star tailback Aaron Jones, and while his 123 yards were enough to keep him the nation's leading rusher, it wasn't nearly enough to keep his team in this contest.
Following a UTEP three and out to start the game, Texas would quickly move the ball into Miner territory, and was seemingly headed for an early score before Chris Warren III coughed up the football just shy of the goal line, causing a touchback and keeping the game squared at zero following both teams' opening possessions.
The Miners would once again punt, but wouldn't be so lucky on their second defensive possession, seeing the longhorns go 60 yards in just three plays and 37 seconds to quickly take a 7-0 lead with 9:32 left in the first. That drive was capped by a 29 yard toss from freshman Shane Buechele to Jerrod Heard, the quarterback's first of four touchdown throws on the night.
A third straight three and out by the UTEP offense would put the defense right back out on the field, but that unit was just starting to settle in. The Miners' d would force a Texas punt on their next drive, and would give up just a pair of field goals over the teams' next four possessions.
UTEP would get on the board near the middle of the second quarter as Aaron Jones would bust off a run of 51 yards to the house, cutting the Longhorn lead to 10-7. However, that second field goal given up by the defense would come on the next UT drive, making the score 13-7 with 4:42 left in the half.
Texas would tack on one more touchdown before the half, and the Miners' offense would continue to sputter, giving the Longhorns a 20-7 lead as the teams headed for the locker rooms.
The UTEP defense would force a three and out to start the third quarter, but once again, the Miners' offense could not capitalize, giving the ball back to the Longhorns after three plays of their own.
A 12 play 52 yard drive, capped by a 1 yard Warren run would open the lead up to 20, and two more touchdowns on two of the three next Texas drives would open the flood gates, giving the Longhorns a 41-7 lead with 9:30 left to play.
Texas would seemingly let their foot off the gas from there, and despite a few bright spots from Ryan Metz, the Miners wouldn't be able to come up with anymore points, as the Longhorns came away with the 34 point win.
The Miners were led by Kavika Johnson at quarterback, who finished with just 42 yards on 9 of 15 passing. Metz, who came in late, finished 5 of 6 for 31 yards. Johnson also carried 13 times, but finished with a net of -2 yards.
Aaron Jones led the Miners on the ground, finishing with 123 and 1 touchdown on 18 carries. Quadraiz Wadley also carried 6 time for 13 yards, respectively. Walter Dawn led all Miner receivers with 3 catches for 19 yards.
The Longhorns were led by Shane Buechele who finished 22 of 27 for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns passing, while also rushing for another 34 yards on 11 carries.
Chris Warren III led the Texas rushing attack, going for 95 yards and a score on 20 carries, and Kyle Porter added another 33 yards on 8 rushes. Jacorey Warrick the Longhorn receivers with 7 catches for 73 yards and a score, and Jerrod Heard hauled in 6 catches for 43 yards and 2 touchdowns.
For the game, Texas finished with 23 first downs to just 10 for the Miners, while outgaining them 416 to 208, including 171 to 135 on the ground. UTEP did come away leading the time of possession battle 33:59 to 26:01.
The loss drops the Miners to 1-1 on the young season. They will now return home for a pair of contests in the coming weeks against Army and Southern Miss. First up are the 2-0 Black Knights of Army, who will enter off a convincing 31-14 win over Rice. That game is scheduled for a 5:00 pm MT kick.
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