UTEP drops fifth straight on the year to FIU
It was another rough outing for the UTEP Miners as FIU quarterback Alex McGough threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns as FIU improved to 2-0 with a 35-21 victory over UTEP on Saturday in the Sun Bowl.
Trailing 7-3 heading into the second quarter, the Panthers (2-4, 2-0 C-USA) scored the next 17 points to send the Miners (1-5, 0-3 C-USA) to their fifth consecutive loss.
“We missed some tackles in the second half. It was clear to see,” UTEP coach Sean Kugler said after his team gave up 499 yards (258 rushing, 241 passing). “We had them wrapped up in the backfield a few times, especially third downs, third and two, third and three, we didn’t finish the tackles and didn’t finish plays.”
McGough threw touchdown passes to A.J. Branisel (one yard) and Thomas Owens (eight yards) during the 17-point spurt. Owens had a big game with 125 yards on seven catches and two scores.
UTEP made it a one possession game (20-14) when Aaron Jones plowed one yard into the end zone with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter. But FIU answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive and a 23-yard touchdown pass from McGough to Owens. The Panthers converted a third and six and third and 11 during the drive. They were 8-for-15 on third down conversions on the night while UTEP was 4-for-14.
FIU put the game away on a nine-yard TD run by Alex Gardner early in the fourth quarter. Gardner (141 yards) and Anthony Jones (128) combined for 269 rushing yards.
Greenlee completed 17-of-39 passes for 191 yards for UTEP. The banged-up Jones rushed eight times for 73 yards and two scores, including a 49-yard run in the first quarter. Cole Freytag and Eddie Sinegal contributed 68 and 49 yards receiving, respectively.
Coach Kugler said to put the blame completely on himself.
“This has got to be fixed by myself and the staff,” Kugler said. “I assume full responsibility and I always will, and I’ll never give up on these kids. I hope they stick together and stick with each other and I hope they stick by me because I want a team of fighters and right now I acknowledge we’re not a good team. We’re 1-5. We have half a season left. There’s a lot still to play for. It’s my responsibility to get the most out of the players and I’ve got to evaluate myself because right now I’m not getting the most out of the players. That falls on me and I understand that.”
The Miners enter their bye week and will prepare for an Oct. 22 matchup at UTSA.
