Sept. 5, 2009
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Sophomore quarterback Zach Maynard threw for 159 yards in his first career start, leading Buffalo to a 23-17 win over UTEP in the season opener for both schools on Saturday in the Sun Bowl.
Maynard's 42-yard pass to Naaman Roosevelt with 12:13 remaining in the third quarter gave the Bulls a 23-7 lead that the Miners couldn't overcome - although they did come close.
UTEP chipped away, cutting the deficit to 23-14 on a 17-yard scoring run by James Thomas with 7:37 remaining in the third period, then 23-17 on a 31-yard field goal by Logan Barrett with 5:45 to play.
The Miners got the ball back following a defensive stop and drove 60 yards to the Buffalo 20-yard line with under a half-minute remaining. Trevor Vittatoe hooked up with Thomas for the apparent tying score with 14 seconds left, but the play was nullified due to a holding penalty on offensive lineman Rod Huntley. Making matters worse, offensive lineman Lance Evbuomwan was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating the touchdown, backing up the Miners to the 42-yard line. Vittatoe's final two pass attempts - both intended for Kris Adams - fell incomplete and the Bulls escaped El Paso with a victory.
"I was proud of the way our guys played at the end of the game," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "Guys were focused and didn't make a lot of mistakes. The defense made some plays to stop them and the offense started to click.
"I don't want to dwell on the negative things that we did. I want to find some positives. It doesn't make or break our season. There's still a lot of football to be played."
In a twist of fate, UTEP's defense - much maligned over the last three seasons - kept the Miners in the game on a night when the offense struggled. The Bulls were held to only 309 yards on 61 plays.
But the Miners weren't sharp offensively - particularly in the first half - and were whistled for 12 penalties totaling 101 yards. Dropped balls, bad exchanges and a botched catch on a kickoff were among the culprits that did in the Miners.
"I think we played so poorly in the first half when we could've salted it away and put them on the defensive, where they had to throw the ball more in the second half," Price said. "We made so many basic errors. We were off kilter at the beginning of the game on offense and special teams."
The Miners, however, can gain some solace in knowing that despite their sluggish play in the first half, they were in position to beat the defending MAC champion Bulls in the end.
Trevor Vittatoe completed 27 of 45 passes for 233 yards for the Miners, but did not throw a touchdown pass for just the third time in his college career. Adams fell two yards shy of 100 receiving, and Donald Buckram gained a career-high 108 yards on 14 rushes.
UTEP looks to rebound in its second home game of the year on Saturday (Sept. 12) versus Kansas. The Jayhawks, 25th in this week's Associated Press poll, kicked off the campaign with a 49-3 rout of Northern Colorado on Saturday in Lawrence.
