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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Buzz
37
Winner UTEP TEP 3-6 , 2-3
34
Sam Houston SAM 0-8 , 0-5
Winner
UTEP TEP
3-6 , 2-3
37
Final
34
Sam Houston SAM
0-8 , 0-5
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
TEP UTEP 0 13 7 17 37
SAM Sam Houston 7 14 6 7 34

Game Recap: Football |

Miners Rally from 14 Down, as Buzz Beats Bearkats 37-34 on FG in Final Seconds

GAME BOOK | POSTGAME NOTES

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – Freshman kicker Buzz Flabiano hit a 32-yard field goal with three seconds left as UTEP rallied back from 14 points down to defeat Sam Houston 37-34 on Wednesday night in Elliott T. Bowers Stadium.
 
"It was an exciting game for us to keep battling and make the kind of plays we did," UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel said. "And then to come from behind to take the lead and all of a sudden, we turn the ball over and let [Sam Houston] back into the game. But then responded with a stop and then the score." 
 
Cade McConnell completed a 37-yard pass to Jeremiah Ballard to the SH 19 to set up Flabiano's career-best third field goal with just under minute remaining.
 
McConnell made his third consecutive start, throwing for 206 yards including a 25-yard score to Kelly Akharaiyi to tie the game at 27 early in the fourth quarter. Akharaiyi finished with 126 yards on six receptions. Backup QB Kevin Hurley added a one-yard score that gave the Miners a 34-27 lead early in the fourth. 
 
The Miners (3-6, 2-3 Conference USA) kept their bowl hopes alive after gaining 222 yards on the ground led by Deion Hankins's game-high 117 yards with a touchdown. Hankins hit back-to-back 100-yard performances for the first time in his career after going for 120 last week.
 
The last time UTEP rallied from 14 points down on the road came at UTSA on Oct. 22, 2016 when the Miners won 52-48 in quadruple overtime. The Miners also won consecutive road games in the same season for the first time since posting three straight road victories in 2004. 
 
"We celebrated everyone's efforts that they gave, obviously to come back on the road like that," Dimel said. "We celebrated everyone who made big plays and it ended with the freshman kicker hitting some big kicks tonight. Cade [McConnell] had a good game and did some good things for a guy with limited experience. The second-half adjustments  by the defense were tremendous and was really good on third-down plays down the stretch which was huge for us. And then JB (Jeremiah Ballard) made a huge catch at the end there."
 
The Bearkats (0-8, 0-5 CUSA) stayed winless on the season after taking a 27-13 lead. SH gained 354 yards, but most of that came during the first half. The UTEP defense, after allowing 7-for-11 on third down conversions, allowed only 1-of-5 during the fourth quarter. UTEP outscored the Bearkats 17-7 in the fourth, and 24-7 overall.
 
Tyrice Knight, after a slow start in the first half, led the Miners with 12 tackles, while Maurice Westmoreland recorded a sack and 2.5 tackles for loss. Westmoreland now has a team-best 5.5 sacks on the season. Josiah Allen recorded six tackles, while AJ Odums chipped in with a career-high five stops. 
 
Sam Houston, on its second possession of the game, took a 7-0 lead on a John Gentry 28-yard touchdown run. The Bearkats drove the ball 65 yards on a 11 plays. 
 
UTEP answered after Sam Houston kicked the ball out of bounds, giving the Miners the ball at the 35. Torrance Burgess Jr. got the Miners within striking distance of the end zone when he took a 17-yard rush on a second-and-10 to the SH 24. The Miners then found themselves on a fourth-and-1 situation in which Hankins got the first down on a five-yard gain to the SH 10. Hankins followed with an eight-yard rush to the two-yard line and capped the 65-yard, 13-play drive with a two-yard rushing score to open the second quarter.
 
For Hankins, it was his third rushing touchdown of the season and 21st in his career. He now ranks tied seventh on the program's all-time touchdowns rushing list with Donald Buckram and Owen Price. 
 
The Bearkats then took a 14-7 advantage on the ensuing possession. SH drove the ball 75 yards on 12 plays (5:02) that was capped by another Gentry TD, this time on an 18-yard reception from Keegan Shoemaker with just over nine minutes left in the second half. Initially Colby Sessums hit a 44-yard field goal, but Logologo Va'a ran into the kicker. The penalty continued the drive that led to the eventual touchdown. 
 
UTEP got within four points on a Buzz Flabiano 23-yard field goal at the 2:45 mark. The Miners used an 83-yard, 13-play drive that took 7:07 off the clock that resulted in Flabiano's first field goal of the night. 
 
The Bearkats, following a bad kickoff by Flabiano out of bounds, drove 65 yards on eight plays that resulted in a Malik Phillips six-yard touchdown reception from Shoemaker, his second TD toss of the half. 
 
The Miners, down 21-10 right before the half, went 49 yards on five plays that resulted in a career-long 43-yard field goal as time expired in the first half. Emari White played a major role on the drive, hauling in a career-long 32-yard reception to the SH 43 with 44 seconds remaining. White then followed with his first career rush, a play that went for 17 yards to the SH 26. 
 
Sam Houston led UTEP 21-13 going into the locker room. 
 
UTEP received the ball to start the second half, but went three and out, losing three yards on the drive. 
 
SH followed with a 22-yard field by Sessums with 10:45 left in the third to make the score 24-13. The Bearkats, after an Emon Allen 21-yard punt return, led to another Sessums's field goal, a 31-yarder to give SH a 27-13 lead with 6:14 left in the third. 
 
The Miners would go on the score the next 14 points to tie the game at 27-27.
 
UTEP answered with a 68-yard, 10-play drive that was capped by a Mike Franklin three-yard touchdown run to make the count 27-20 with 1:07 left in the third. Hankins set up the score with a 28-yard run to the SH 3. Earlier in the drive, the Miners converted a fourth-and-3 with a McConnell 13-yard pass to Akharaiyi to the SH 36.
 
The UTEP defense forced a Sam Houston punt after allowing only 21 yards on five plays. McConnell then engineered an 80-yard, five play drive that resulted in a 25-yard Akharaiyi touchdown to tie the game with 11:25 left in the contest. 
 
Following that excitement, James Neal intercepted his first career pass and returned it to the SH 1 that led to backup QB Kevin Hurley's one-yard touchdown to give the Miners a 34-27 lead with 9:57 left in the contest. 
 
McConnell recorded his first turnover of the season, an interception at the midway point of the fourth at the UTEP 36. The turnover led to Sam Houston tying the game at 34 with 6:02 left. Noah Smith ran four yards to the end zone. 
 
Flabiano went a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal makes, a career best for the redshirt freshman. Burgess Jr. tallied a team-high 134 all-purpose yards (52 rush, 5 rec., 71 KR). Ballard added 48 yards on three catches. 
 
Gentry led SH with 71 yards and scored multiple touchdowns for the first time in his career. Shoemaker threw for 202 yards (22-39) and two scores, while Smith tallied 67 yards on seven receptions. Da'Marcus Crosby led the defense with 10 tackles. 
                           
UP NEXT
UTEP will return to the 915 to host WKU in the 91st Homecoming Game on Saturday, Nov. 4. The Miners and Hilltoppers are set for a 7 p.m. kick in the Sun Bowl Stadium. It's the first meeting since the 2018 season, while it's the first trip back to El Paso for WKU since the 2017 campaign. 
 
 
Help Support UTEP student-athletes by making a gift to the Miner Athletic Club. Visit https://givingto.utep.edu/mac today!
 
UTEP football is celebrating 60 years in the historic Sun Bowl. You're invited to pledge to support the Miners' success during the 2023 season. You can pledge to support each Miner win, bowl eligibility and even a CUSA Championship. Personalize your support of the Miners! https://caringcent.org/utep/football23
 
For complete coverage of UTEP Football, be sure to follow the Miners on social media at @UTEPFB (Twitter/Instagram/Facebook) or visit the official home of UTEP Athletics at UTEPMiners.com.  
 
 
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