Jones has record-setting day against North Texas

Running back Aaron Jones rushed for 301 yards, the second-top total in UTEP football history, as the Miners closed out the 2016 season with a 52-24 beatdown of North Texas on Saturday afternoon in the Sun Bowl.

Jones ran for 1,773 yards in 2016, a UTEP single-season record and the fifth-most in Conference USA history.

Jones finished with 24 carries and four touchdowns on Saturday , while joining West Virginia’s Justin Crawford, Texas D’Onta Foreman and Utah’s Joe Williams as the only players in the FBS to gain 300 yards in a game this year.

The 301 rushing yards are the most by a UTEP player since All-American Fred Wendt compiled 326 yards against New Mexico State on Nov. 25, 1948.

Jones had scoring runs of 83, 48, 58 and three yards and ended the season with 17 rushing touchdowns, a number that ranks third on the all-time UTEP list.

The Miners ended the campaign with a 4-8 record and a 2-6 mark in Conference USA play, while thwarting the Mean Green’s pursuit of bowl eligibility. North Texas finished 5-7, 3-5 in league action.