Mustangs fall to UTEP Miners, 21-19

In the beginning, pony ears were flying, but in the end,Mustangs were left eyeing the scoreboard and sighing after anothertough loss, this time at the hands of the UTEP Miners, 21-19.

“It feels like we’re cursed. We’ve lost threegames by three points or less,” linebacker Jarrian Jamessaid.

The game started well with Jonas Rutledge returning the openingkickoff 83 yards to put the Mustangs instantly in the red zone, butthe Mustang offense started slowly, forcing the team to settle fora 33-yard field goal by kicker Chris McMurtray.

The Mustang defense seemed to be in the zone after coming upwith three defensive stops with the Miners on the SMU goal line.However, after these three stops, the Miners attempted a field goalunsuccessfully. After the defensive stop and the missed field goal,the Mustangs made it out of the first quarter in good shape.

With a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter, the Mustangoffense got moving thanks to great field position from a puntreturn by Blake Warren. Keylon Kincade scored on the drive with a9-yard touchdown run.

With the Mustangs now up 10-0 in the second, it seemed as ifthings were finally starting to click. But less than five minutesafter the Kincade touchdown, the Miners blocked a punt and took it31 yards for a touchdown.

With the score now 10-7, the Mustangs were back on offense andhad good field position after another return by Rutledge.

It seemed the Mustangs would score another touchdown asquarterback Richard Bartel’s screen pass to Kincade wascomplete. Kincade took the pass 55 yards to the Miners 1-yard line,but had the ball stripped by a UTEP defender. UTEP recovered andwas now in possession on its own 1-yard line.

On the next play, the Mustang defense forced a safety as UTEPquarterback Orlando Cruz stepped out of bounds in the back of theend zone.

With the score now 12-7 and the crowd back in the game, itlooked as if the Kincade fumble would not be all thatimportant.

But the Mustang offense struggled on the next set of downs andwas forced to punt.

Less than two minutes after the safety, Cruz redeemed himself bythrowing a 13-yard touchdown pass. This score gave UTEP a 14-12lead heading into halftime.

Early in the third quarter, the Miners gained more momentum onan 86-yard screen pass for a touchdown, making the score 21-12.

With the Mustang offense on the move again, Bartel’s passwas intercepted when a UTEP defender beat his man and caught theball inside the Miners’ 10-yard line.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Mustangs put together a greatoffensive drive concluded by Kincade running in from two yards outfor the Mustangs narrowing the margin to 21-19.

After the Mustang defense forced UTEP to punt the ball, itappeared that the Mustangs could score again. The Mustang offensefailed to make it past midfield. However, as on a keythird-and-five, Bartel’s pass to Kincade was incomplete andforced the Mustangs to punt the ball.

Hoping for a defensive stop and an opportunity to get the ballback, the Mustang defense had an opportunity, but an offside callagainst the Mustangs gave the Miners a fresh set of downs, allowingthem to run the clock out for a win.

“We’ve been up and down in the last five games anddefensively we haven’t been consistent,” defensivetackle Allan Adami said.

The Mustang defense gave up some key yardage to UTEP, allowingthe Miners to accumulate 422 total yards on offense, 232 yards onrushing and 190 on passing.

“We struggled defensively, and it makes me sick that wegave up more than 400 yards,” head coach Phil Bennettsaid.

Bennett blames the turnovers.

“Right now we have a negative seven turnover ratio, andwe’ve got to teach the players to protect the ball. RayCharles could see that turnovers are the difference,” hesaid.

Bennett also commended Rutledge for his outstanding performanceon special teams.

Rutledge’s 190 yards of kickoff returns marks a schoolrecord. It also boosted Rutledge past SMU’s all-time kickoffreturn leader, Arthur Whittington.

Rutledge’s career total of 1,736 return yards is 87 moreyards than Whittington 1,649.

On Monday, Rutledge was named WAC special teams player of theweek following his strong performance in Saturday’s game.

Although Rutledge left the game with cramps, he will playagainst San Jose State on Saturday.

Kincade rushed 31 times for 127 yards to make his career total2,287 yards and passed Whittington (2,213) for eighth place intotal career rushing yardage.

Bartel finished the game 14 for 30 with 195 yards and oneinterception.

The Mustangs’ next game is at San Jose State at 9 p.m. onSaturday.

For the upcoming game against San Jose State, the Mustangs arehoping to improve on a somewhat inconsistent effort.

“San Jose State throws the ball about 65 percent of thetime, so it’s going to be another test for oursecondary,” Adami said.

“The players attitude to get better is still there,”Bennett said. “We’re resilient. We can feel that we areclose.”

Hopefully, this time the Mustangs will be eyeing the scoreboardand sighing out of relief rather than disappointment this week.

Mustangs fall to UTEP Miners, 21-19