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UTEP Miners

UTEP Miners
Skyler Locklear
19
Winner Liberty LIB 2-4 , 1-1
8
UTEP TEP 1-5 , 0-2
Winner
Liberty LIB
2-4 , 1-1
19
Final
8
UTEP TEP
1-5 , 0-2
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
LIB Liberty 7 6 6 0 19
TEP UTEP 0 0 0 8 8

Game Recap: Football |

Liberty Holds on to Defeat UTEP, 19-8, Wednesday Night


GAME BOOK | POSTGAME NOTES

EL PASO – UTEP's Jayden Wilson (16), Neil Campbell (14) and Micah Davey (12) hit double figures in tackles, but Liberty put up over 400 yards of total offense as the Flames defeated the Miners, 19-8, on Wednesday night's "Weekday CUSA". 
 
UTEP (1-5, 0-2 Conference USA) mustered up only 167 yards of total offense. Skyler Locklear, who got the nod to start under center, ran for a team-high 58 yards and a touchdown, while throwing for 90 (9-17) and a pair of interceptions. The Miners struggled with nine first downs and finished 3-of-15 on third-down conversions. 
 
Liberty (2-4, 1-1 CUSA) snapped a four-game losing streak as Ethan Vasko threw for 243 yards (19-33) and rushed for 31 and a score. Vaughn Blue had a game-high 75 yards rushing on 17 carries. Jay Billingsley connected on 4-of-5 field goals, including a long make of 50 yards. The Flames ran 83 plays to the Miners' 52. 
 
The Miners finished their home stand 0-3. 
 
"We had a phenomenal opportunity with three straight home games and couldn't capitalize on them," UTEP Head Coach Scotty Walden said. "I am extremely disappointed offensively. It starts with me and I'm at a loss. I felt like we had a good week of practice and had a really good plan. We had a really good week of practice. We were practicing physical and the guys were excited about practice. I need to get this offense to a point where it can execute at a high level and we haven't done that."
 
The "Orange Swarm" defense yielded the Flames to only 3-of-18 on third-down conversions. However, they allowed 4-of-5 fourth-down conversions. Wilson and Campbell each racked up career-highs in tackles. For Campbell, it's his third consecutive double-digit tackle effort. Wilson recorded a collegiate career best in tackles, while Davey posted 12 for the second straight game and has a team-best 63 on the season. 
 
"Defensively, I thought we started slow. We started at the six-yard line on that first drive, gave up some explosive plays, but then we settled in," Walden said. "We played stout defense. It's amazing we played that way with the lopsided time of possession and the amount of plays we had to defend and to hold [Liberty] to one touchdown and nothing but field goals after that, I'm very proud of the effort there."
 
Liberty got on the board first, following a 94-yard, 12-play drive that resulted in a Vasko two-yard touchdown, followed by the PAT to go up 7-0 at the 6:21 mark. The drive took over six minutes. 
 
The Flames extended their lead to 10-0 after a Billingsley 27-yard field goal at the 14:53 mark of the second quarter. Billingsley hit his second field goal in the quarter – a 29-yard make at the 8:25 mark to take a 13-0 advantage. 
 
Billingsley would go on to hit a 50-yarder (11:18) and a 41-yarder (7:27) in the third quarter to extend the lead to 19-0. 
 
Locklear got the Miners on the board on an impressive 13-yard scramble into the end zone while Shay Smith completed a two-point conversion pass to Josh Schuchts to get within 11 points (19-8) with just over 11 minutes remaining in the game. 
 
UTEP struggled to get into Liberty territory during the first half, going over the 50 once to the LU 41-yard line. 
 
Noah Botsford kept busy on the night, booting eight punts for 366 yards (45.8 avg.) with a long of 57 yards and three placed inside the 20. Malachi Nelson saw action, throwing for 21 yards (4-10). Kenny Odom tallied 53 yards on three catches with a long reception of 44 yards. 
 
UP NEXT
UTEP will play its first road game in over a month when the Miners face Sam Houston on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. The Miners and Bearkats are set to kick off at 5 p.m. MDT/6 CT on CBSSN. 
 
  
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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