UTEP comes up short in Boca Raton; Miners fall to Florida Atlantic 28-25

BOCA RATON, Florida - UTEP came close, but in the end it was simply too little too late for the Miners.

Saturday in Boca Raton, Florida, the Miners fell to the Florida Atlantic Owls by a final score of 28-25.

It was UTEP's second loss of the season and only their first loss in conference play, UTEP is now 6-2 overall, 3-1 in C-USA.

The Miners struggled on the offensive side of the ball as they we unable to find any consistency.

UTEP had a 3-0 lead in the first quarter until FAU would score the first touchdown of the game off a 27 yard touchdown run by running back Johnny Ford.

FAU would go up 7-3 at the end of the first.

UTEP would retake the lead in the second quarter when quarterback Gavin Hardison would throw a touchdown pass to Trent Thompson for 23 yard touchdown.

UTEP was up 10-7 in the closing seconds of the second half when FAU would get a touchdown off a 39 yard touchdown pass from quarterback N'Kosi Perry to wide receiver LaJohntay Wester.

FAU would go into the half up 14-10.

UTEP's offense sputtered in the third quarter unable to put up any points.

FAU would score another touchdown to extend their lead to 21-10 at the end of the third.

The Owls started pulling further away in the 4th quarter when Owls running back James Charles would score on a one yard touchdown run to extend FAU's lead to 28-10.

But a credit to the Miners, as the offense put together some good drives to get within striking distance to retake the lead.

With 3:13 left in the game, UTEP running back Ronald Awatt would score on a 5 yard touchdown run.

The Miners would then convert on a 2-point conversion to cut FAU's lead to 28-18.

Then with just 2:10 left in the game and on UTEP's next possession Hardison would throw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyrin Smith.

After making the extra point UTEP only trailed by three points, 28-25, but time wasn't on their side.

UTEP's defense would hold FAU's offense to give UTEP a chance to either tie the game or take the lead.

However, with only 30 seconds to work with and with no timeouts left, UTEP just couldn't put themselves in a position to attempt a field goal to tie the game.

The Miners would go 4 and out to turn the ball back over to FAU in the closing seconds of the game.

Hardison would end his night with 339 passing yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.

Despite their struggles at certain parts of the game UTEP led the way in offensive production with 454 total yards to FAU's 279 total yards.

The Miners just have to be more consistent on offense, and they can't afford to get the offense going in the closing minutes of a game.

UTEP now looks ahead to next Saturday's big conference matchup at home against undefeated UT-San Antonio.

UTSA is currently in first place of the C-USA West division standings, but a win for the Miners next week would put UTEP and UTSA in a tie for the first place spot.

Despite the loss at FAU, the Miners are still in contention at winning a conference championship, so they'll have to start fresh next week and put the FAU loss behind them as they prepare for the Roadrunners.

Kickoff for next week's game against UTSA is at 8:15 p.m. from the Sun Bowl.

The game will be televised on ESPN 2.