SMU claimed victory over UTEP, with a 28-17 win at Ford Stadium Saturday night.
The Mustangs opened up the scoring in Saturday’s game with a four play 60-yard drive finished off with a one yard run from halfback Zach Line.
UTEP answered with a touchdown of their own from their running back Leilyon Myers. Tied at 7-7, SMU was driving until McDermott completed a 27-yard pass to Keenan Holman and the Miners forced a fumble to take over possession.
UTEP proceeded to kick a field goal and scored 10 consecutive points. Enter quarterback Kyle Padron, after J.J. McDermott started the game and played nearly all the first quarter. Padron scored on his first play.
Padron kept the ball on a designed quarterback keeper off the left side of the offensive line for a highlight 12-yard touchdown and dramatic entry to the game.
SMU stalled the Miners at the start of the second quarter and forced UTEP to kick a long field goal that they missed. SMU took over and marched down the field. On the drive,
McDermott connected with Cole Beasley for a 24-yard gain and Line capped off the drive with his second score of the day on a seven yard run.
SMU started the third quarter forcing UTEP to punt. On the ensuing SMU drive, Beasley caught a pass and made two defenders miss. While fighting for extra yards, he fumbled and UTEP returned the ball to SMU’s 39-yard line.
On the play, Germard Reed of UTEP went down with an injury and had to be taken off the field in an ambulance.
According to Fox Sports, he was able to move his arms and legs after being taken off the field.
UTEP’s running back Leilyon Meyers then proceeded to score his second touchdown of the game from the SMU two yard line to make the score21-17, with SMU in the lead.
With nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, UTEP still trailed 21-17 when Ja’Gared Davis intercepted UTEP’s quarterback Nick Lamaison on a tipped pass. It was unclear who was going to make a play down the stretch to win the game until Davis forced and recovered a fumble for a touchdown. UTEP backed up in their own end zone to put the Mustangs up 28-17 and sealed SMU’s first win of the season.
