Aggies fall to Miners in Battle of I-10

By Zack Ponce

The Battle of I-10 was won after only one quarter of play.

UTEP defeated New Mexico State 41-28 Saturday night at the Sun Bowl.  The Miners scored on their first four possessions of the game and never relinquished the momentum and lead.

“I’m not ready to say that we’re not a very good football team, but for four quarters we’re not very good right now,” NMSU head coach Dwayne Walker said.  “If it’s not one thing, it’s another.  First the third quarter (in reference to the loss to Ohio) and now it was the first half.”

The Aggies struggled to move the ball on offense in the first half while the defense couldn’t stop the UTEP passing game.

“They were just pitch and catching [the ball] which wasn’t killing us but it was moving the sticks,” Walker said.

New Mexico State played a soft-zone coverage throughout the first half, allowing UTEP quarterback Nick Lamaison to pass for 204 first-half yards and two touchdowns.

Offensively, New Mexico State managed only two first downs through the middle of the second quarter before quarterback Andrew Manley threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to receiver Austin Franklin off a play-action pass.

The Aggies entered halftime trailing the Miners 27-7; and tallied just four rushing yards on 11 carries.

“I thought it got better as the game went on, but again we can’t get off to a start like that and expect to win against a good football team,” Walker said in reference to the running game.

The Aggies began the second half with two consecutive defensive stops and pulled within 13 points of UTEP by the middle of the third quarter – trailing 27-14.

“We came out in the second half and tried to make the adjustment to press [UTEP’s receivers] a little bit and I think it worked out quite well,” cornerback Darien Johnson said.

However New Mexico State was never able to fully curb UTEP’s momentum. 

Another Miner touchdown to start the fourth quarter gave UTEP a 41-14 lead, all but sealing the Aggies’ fate.

“We got a lot of work to do, but the good part about it is it’s only three games,” Walker said.  “Maybe this is where we should be anyway but we have some games left, and we just have to continue to get better as a football team.”

The loss drops New Mexico State to 1-2 on the season.  The Aggies have now lost the last 13 out of 14 games played at the Sun Bowl; and have dropped four consecutive games to the Miners.  The Aggies’ lone win in El Paso came in 2008.

New Mexico State won’t have any time to rest however as they host in-state rival New Mexico (1-3) in the Battle of I-25 on Saturday at 6 p.m.