UTEP squeaks by SMU

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA football coverage. Today, our UTEP Correspondent Carlos Silva Jr. brings you the Week Six football recap of SMU @ UTEP.

EL PASO, TX – Coach Mike Price was upset by the handling of the SMU media guide, but could the Miners pull out a win and gain SMU’s respect? Read on to find out.

The sun shined brightly on the Sun Bowl turf, but it was soon blocked out by the gray clouds that moved in with the oncoming rain. This was certainly a precursor to the game in which the Miners scored 17 quick points in the first quarter, and lost their potent offense after.

"It was a weird win tonight in weird weather" said UTEP Quarterback Jordan Palmer in a post game quote.

Palmer, who completed 25 of 34 passes for 271 yards with a touchdown, led the offense down the field on their first possession with a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive.

Senior WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, Jr. added his own touchdown via a 63-yard punt return. The last punt returned for a touchdown at the Sun Bowl occurred when Jahmal Fenner dazzled the crowd with a 56-yard runback against Rice in 2004. The Miner offense had no trouble scoring 17 points, but their offense stalled just like it had before in previous games and it may have been due to six penalties, most of which came on 3rd down.

"Some of the penalties were tough to get through; it's difficult when a 3rd and 2 turns into a 3rd and 7" said Palmer.

The Mustangs (3-3) (1-1) did not count themselves out of this game because last year they scored 24 third-quarter points to upset the Miners in Dallas. This sparked a second half explosion, which saw QB Corey Slater (10-20, 132 yards, 2 TDS 3 INTS) throw two touchdown to Bobby Chase and Emmanuel Sanders respectively. The Mustangs eventually took the lead, (21-14), with a fumble recovery by Jonathan Lindley. This would be the last lead for Mustangs because the Miner defense would shut them down.

Although Palmer and the Miners had their troubles on third down conversions, the SMU offense never converted on third down (0-11). These crucial stops can be attributed to the Miner defense, but Price will always credit the 41,000 fans that paid attendance. Although not all stayed throughout the rainstorm, those that stayed still created the crowd noise which the Sun Bowl is known for, and enjoyed the 24-21 Miner win.

"I appreciate the fans that stayed there to support us even though it was raining" said Head Coach Mike Price. "It was really a game of big plays tonight."

Big plays have been a staple for the Miner offensive trio of Jordan Palmer, Marcus Thomas and Johnnie Lee Higgins Jr. All were active in Saturday’s game, but Thomas threw the winning touchdown pass to Daniel Robinson with 8:28 left on the clock, which brought the crowd noise to an all time high, and gave the Miners the 24-21 win.

“I've been to every UTEP game this year, home and away” said UTEP fan Gabriel Ortega. “After watching the Miners make big plays in all three of their previous close games, I never doubted that they would do it again.”

UTEP (3-2, 1-0 C-USA) will play Tulane this Saturday in the Sun Bowl at 7 p.m. MST. The Green Wave (2-3, 1-2 C-USA) who beat Rice, 38-24, will be looking to improve their conference standing.