SMU’s trip down to El Paso proved to be unsuccessful, as a lack of discipline and an inability to find rhythm offensively cost the Mustangs a crucial Conference-USA victory. The University of Texas at El Paso took advantage of their last home game of the year and gained bowl eligibility for the first time in five years by beating the Mustangs 28-14.
The Miners came to play with an early scoring drive, taking five minutes off the clock and which ended with Trevor Vittatoe connecting to Evan Davis down the sideline for a 20-yard passing touchdown.
After the touchdown, SMU was forced to punt the ball away. UTEP took advantage of SMU’s inability to put together a drive. Led by Vittatoe, UTEP drove the ball 85 yards on the Pony defense. Vittatoe concluded the drive by recording his second passing touchdown of the night, this time connecting to Pierce Hunter from six yards out. The first quarter came to an end, and SMU found themselves trailing their opponent on the road for the second straight week.
After most of the second quarter passed without scoring, SMU put together one of their most impressive scoring drives of the year. Starting at their own one yard line, quarterback Kyle Padron guided the offense 99 yards to the end zone. Padron looked for his favorite target, Aldrick Robinson, consistently throughout the drive. He and Robinson hooked up three times; the third reception was a 31-yard post pattern that capped off a Mustang drive, quieted the Miner crowd and pulled the Mustangs back to within one possession.
Unfortunately for the SMU defense, Vitattoe was not done. With four minutes left in the half, Vitattoe had no issue with carving up the Mustangs’ secondary and driving UTEP down the field. On the Pony 13-yard line, Vitattoe placed a ball over the outstretched arms of SMU linebacker Pete Fleps and into the hands of UTEP wide receiver Marlon McClure.
These late half heroics put UTEP back in the driver’s seat by giving them a two possession lead at 21-7. SMU ran out the clock for the remaining seconds of the half and utilized halftime to make some needed adjustments.
After the half, SMU’s offense failed to get moving, but the defense came up strong. When UTEP received their first possession of the second half, they were held to a short and quick three and out, which helped to put some of the momentum back into SMU’s corner and slowed down the Miner offense.
The SMU offense did not disappoint when they had their second chance of the half to put points on the board. Padron slowly guided the Mustangs down the field and managed to eat up over seven minutes of the clock in the process. Down on the one yard line, Padron called his own number and plunged behind center into the end zone to bring the Mustangs back into the game and make the score 21-14.
Again, SMU’s defense showed that its halftime adjustments had paid off as it held UTEP to another unsuccessful drive. After SMU received the punt, the offense began to methodically move the ball down field again, as Padron continued to find Robinson and Bradley Haynes. SMU began to work their way into the heart of UTEP territory when two costly clippings and personal foul penalties drove SMU backwards and halted the drive.
With 10 minutes left in the game, SMU turned to punter Matt Stone to pin the Miners up against their end zone and to rely on their defense to get the ball back with time left on the clock. Instead of pinning UTEP deep in their territory, Stone booted an 11-yard punt that was capped off by a personal foul by sophomore linebacker Taylor Reed. The 11-yard punt and costly penalty allowed UTEP to get the ball on the SMU 37-yard line.
This challenge proved to be too much for the SMU defense, as UTEP running back Leilyon Myers plunged into the end zone from two yards out to make the game a two possession game once again at 28-14. This final touchdown was just out of reach for for SMU, who could not manage to find the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.
Vittatoe took the final kneel, and the Miners celebrated as the clock wound down to zero. As for the Mustangs, their failure to win Saturday puts them back at the 500 mark once again.
Padron ended the day with 28 completions with 44 attempts for 255 yards. It is also the second week in a row in which Padron has rushed for a touchdown. Robinson continued to add on to his impressive statistical season with a nine-catch, 131-yard outing that included a touchdown catch. Combined, Zach Line and Chris Butler rushed for 18 carries for 98 yards.
The Mustangs have two games left to get their sixth win of the season and return to the promised land of the bowl season. SMU has a crucial game Nov. 20 at home against Marshall, in which they will try to clinch their second bowl berth under Coach June Jones’ third season at the helm. If the Mustangs do not win against Marshall, they will need to win on the road against East Carolina (5-4) in the last game of the season in order to be bowl game eligible.
