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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Cowing
Ruben R. Ramirez
28
Rice RCE 3-8 , 2-5
38
Winner UTEP TEP 7-4 , 4-3
Rice RCE
3-8 , 2-5
28
Final
38
UTEP TEP
7-4 , 4-3
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
RCE Rice 0 21 0 7 28
TEP UTEP 7 7 10 14 38

Game Recap: Football |

Miners Explode for Three Second-Half TD’s, Fry Rice to Get to Seven Wins


Game Book | Post Game Notes

EL PASO – UTEP outscored Rice 24-7 in the second half to overcome a halftime deficit, en route to grounding the Owls, 38-28, on Saturday and posting seven victories in a season for only the seventh time in 53 years.
 
The Miners (7-4, 4-3 C-USA) stamped out a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion, as they got to four league victories for just the fourth time since joining Conference USA in 2005.   
 
Gavin Hardison passed for a career-high 366 yards, Jacob Cowing tied the school record for 100-yard receiving games, and Ronald Awatt racked up 184 all-purpose yards for the Miners.  UTEP compiled a season-high 488 yards of offense and tied its season high with 38 points.
 
"Gavin played his kind of game," UTEP coach Dana Dimel said.  "He was aggressive, we were attacking, he was making great plays, the receivers were making tremendous catches, [Gavin] was making really, really good throws and [we] just used a whole different element of our offense.  Tonight we put that out there and [we] were able to execute.  And we need to do that, because we've had some close, tough losses playing our brand of football.  This game we needed to be more aggressive, and the guys went out and played really aggressive and showed that they can have a different dimension to our offense."
 
Rice (3-8, 2-5 C-USA) suffered its fourth consecutive loss.
 
The Miners got off to a fast start offensively, scoring a touchdown on their opening drive for the fourth time this season.  UTEP moved 75 yards on nine plays and cashed in with a seven-yard TD pass from Hardison to Cowing. 
 
The Owls tied it up with 10:13 remaining in the second quarter on a one-yard rushing score by Ali Broussard.
 
UTEP regained the lead, 14-7, when Hardison hooked up with Justin Garrett for a 14-yard score with 8:22 left in the period.
 
But Rice scored the final 14 points of the half.  The Owls knotted the score, 14-14, on a six-yard pass from Jake Constantine to Jack Bradley with 1:03 left in the period.  Then, following an interception by Hardison, Rice got another opportunity with 30 seconds on the clock.  Two long passes later, the Owls had their first lead of the game, 21-14, when Constantine connected with Cedrick Patterson for a 33-yard TD.
 
The Miners, however, started the second half with a flurry – 24 unanswered points.
 
UTEP had a first and goal at the one-yard line midway through the third quarter but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Gavin Baechle to draw within four (21-17).
 
But the Miners struck pay dirt on their next three offensive possessions.  Calvin Brownholtz powered in for the one-yard rushing score to regain the lead, 24-21.  The key play of the drive was a 65-yard pass from Hardison to Ronald Awatt on third and long. 
 
Quardraiz Wadley got into the scoring act on "Senior Night" with a one-yard rushing TD, and Brownholtz added another short rushing score as the Miners built a 38-21 lead with 9:02 to go.
 
"I thought our defense, again, played really good throughout the whole game," Dimel said.  "You're going to give up a few plays.  The momentum kind of switched on the interception at the end of the second quarter when I was trying to be aggressive and get some points on the board because they got the ball to start the second half.  But again, even after all that, the defense comes out and plays a really good second half."  
 
Awatt was responsible for 119 of UTEP's 122 rushing yards.  Cowing finished with 11 catches for 170 yards for his 13th 100-yard performance as a Miner – duplicating a school record established by Chuck Hughes from 1964-66.
 
Constantine led Rice, throwing for 183 yards and two touchdowns.
 
The Owls had 390 yards of offense, with 207 coming in the first half.
 
The Miner defense produced six quarterback hurries, six pass breakups and four tackles for losses – as Tyrice Knight and Breon Hayward led the way with nine tackles each.  Knight and Jadrian Taylor each contributed two quarterback pressures. 
 
The Miners will wrap up the 2021 regular season at UAB next Friday (Nov. 26) at noon MT.  The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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