UTEP football recap: Marshall defeats UTEP 49-21

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our new UTEP Correspondent Robert Robles brings you a recap of the CUSA football game between UTEP and Marshall.

Disaster was spelled almost perfectly this past Saturday at Edwards Stadium for the Miners, losing in a spanking to the Thundering Herd 49-21.

Pass protection seemed to be too much to ask from the Miners young offensive line as they gave up 6 sacks; and as usual there was no running game. Defense was not the Miners' best friend as they gave up almost 400 yards of total offense to the Thundering Herd, including 261 yards on the ground. More than likely due to the lack of protection and offensive identity, the Miners had 5 giveaways and only 2 takeaways.

Ahmad Bradshaw was quite possibly even better than advertised against the Miner defense, being the Herds' workhorse going for 261 yards on 40 attempts, which was an amazing 6.5 yards per carry. Marshall won by a margin of 4 touchdowns despite the fact that they had only completed 5 of 15 passes for 135 yards and an interception. The Herd finished the game with 396 yards of total offense as Bradshaw now has 1,413 yards rushing on the year and 18 scores.

The Marshall defense forced 5 turnovers and had 6 sacks against the Miners, no doubt one of the better performances for the Herd so far this season.

Jordan Palmer had a decent game against the Herd, ignoring the 3 interceptions of course, going 33-of-47 with 376 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, one passing and the other rushing. Palmer has 26 total touchdowns on the year, 3,270 yards passing, and 14 interceptions. The Miners finished the game with 401 yards of total offense.

Johnny Lee Higgins Jr. had another 100+ yard receiving game, having 8 receptions for 119 yards and a score. Higgins total on receiving yards for the year is 1,222 yards and 13 scores.

The Herd basically closed out the game when it had a 28 point 2 nd Quarter, closing the first half with a 35-14 halftime score. Four Miner turnovers would be the teams' bane for the first half, and inevitably the game.

The Miners drop to 5-6 overall on the year and 3-4 in conference play. The Miners will face Memphis next week in their regular season schedule at the Sun Bowl to fight for the possibility of bowl-eligibility.