UTEP Miners football defeats Boise State Broncos at Sun Bowl Stadium: Recap

The UTEP football team makes an appearance on national television when it plays Boise State on Friday night at the Sun Bowl. This will be the 1-3 Miners' final non-conference game.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be on the CBS Sports Network and on KLAQ 95.5.

Boise, which leads UTEP 6-0 in the all-time series, is a 16-point favorite. Combined with an over-under of 46, Boise is expected to win 31-15. That would be an improvement for the Miners from last year, as they fell 54-13 to the Broncos.

More:UTEP's thrashing of Boise State shows how good it can be in all phases

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UTEP 27, Boise 10, Final

UTEP 27, Boise 10, 2:59 4th: UTEP gets another stop. Boise sitting on 151 yards for the game. As was the case a week ago, I'm heading to the field with the home team up 27-10. What a game for the Miners.

UTEP 27, Boise 10, 4:25 4th: UTEP goes on a screw-you drive the likes of which hasn't been seen in years in El Paso. 13 plays, 12 runs, Rey Flores gets his first touchdown on a 3-yard run. UTEP goes 80 yards and takes 9:10 off the clock. This is a drive they can hang their hat on all season. Wow.

UTEP 20, Boise 10, 9:12 4th: UTEP overcomes a first-and-20 on its first set of downs with a 17-yard strike from Hardison, which enables the Miners to get back to a ground game that is suddenly dominant. Three carries since have gone 7, 12 and 6 yards, mixing Hankins and Awatt (who has returned). UTEP has the ball on the Boise 40, second-and-4. UTEP appears determined to run it until the Broncos stop it.

UTEP 20, Boise 10, 13:35 4th: Boise gets to the UTEP 33 on a sustained drive, but Miners get a stop, and helped by a motion penalty, force a punt from the 38. Great pressure on the QB on that set of downs, two throw-aways to avoid sacks. Boise punts into the end zone.

UTEP 20, Boise 10, end 3rd: Miners have their first third-quarter touchdown, on a punt return of all things. Boise faces a third-and-2 from its 40 coming out of the break.

UTEP 20, Boise 10, 1:01 3rd: UTEP gets a three-and-out, stops Boise on its own 1, gets a linedrive punt and Marcus Bellon takes it to the house for a touchdown. Reviewed but it stands. UTEP should have declined a second-down holding, could have challenged a spot on a potential safety when they wasted a timeout anyway, then Bellon, recruited to do just this, takes it 47 yards and dives across the goal line.

UTEP 13, Boise 10, 10:39 3rd: The Miners march 65 yards in 13 plays - 11 runs, one pass and a 25-yard field goal from Baechle to take the lead. Ran it with Awatt until he got hurt (doesn't look serious) then with Hankins and Flores. On third-and-8 from the 26 Hankins ran for 8 yards, but couldn't duplicate that success on third-and-5 from the 9. That goes for 1 yard and Miners settle for a field goal. One pass was a successful screen to Awatt.

UTEP 10, Boise 10, 10:39 3rd: The Miner defense seems to have adjusted to Boise's hurry-up and gets a three-and-out. Miners take over on their 27.

UTEP 10, Boise 10, 11:20 3rd: A three-and-out ends with Hardison's first incompletion when he was hit as he threw. UTEP needs something to stop Boise's momentum.

UTEP 10, Boise 10, 13:01 3rd: Not the start to the half the Miners wanted, as Boise goes 75 yards on eight plays, getting a 15-yard TD pass from Bachmeier to Cobbs. UTEP had their chance with a third-and-10 on the Boise 38, but a 28-yard pass kick started a Boise team that had done nothing on offense before that. Boise went with a no huddle and that seemed to rattle the Miners.

UTEP 10, Boise 3, half: UTEP gets into Boise state territory but absorbs an intentional grounding and punts. Boise calls timeout with 15 seconds to make Miners punt, but it goes well enough and it's halftime. Yards 148-53 UTEP, first downs 8-5. UTEP with 19:07 time of possession. Hardison 8-8 or 98 yards.

UTEP 10, Boise 3, 1:14 2nd: Miners get a three-and-out and will have 74 seconds to navigate 57 yards. UTEP leads in yards 155-55.

UTEP 10, Boise 3, 2:10 2nd: Jeremiah Ballard with his first Miner TD, on a 42-yard strike from Hardison. Hardison now 7-7 for 90 yards, with a 61-yarder called back. A dream start for the Miners. Now need something from 2-minute defense. Eight plays, 72 yards, 3:50 off the clock.

UTEP 3, Boise 3, 6:00 2nd: Miners again give up one first down, then Boise loses three yards on its next three plays and punt. Miner defense has given up three points on a short field. Good start for them.

UTEP 3, Boise 3, 11:10 2nd: UTEP with a heartbreaking three-and-out. Hardison threw a perfect 61-yard touchdown pass to Rey Flores, but called back because of an illegal man downfield call on Justin Mayers. Would have been the first TD of Rey Flores' career.

Boise 3, UTEP 3, 13:35 2nd: Miners stall on two run plays and settle for a 35-yard Baechle FG. Drive covered 54 yards on 14 plays, taking 6:57. We are more than a minute into the second quarter and there have been two possessions. This is actually good football.

Boise 3, UTEP 0, end 1st: A very fast first quarter ends with UTEP facing a second-and-6 on the Boise State after moving 54 yards on 11 plays. Hardison with two effective runs and he's opened 5-5 passing. Good start for a beleaguered offense.

Boise 3, UTEP 0, 6:57 1st: Boise covers 33 yards on 11 plays and settles for a 24-yard field goal on yet another field position score against the Miners. On Boise's second set of downs, they had to get to the 19 but were stopped inches short on third down. Officials clearly put the ball down short of the 19 but awarded Boise a first down. Hate to put the chain gain to use. Another odd play on the drive: Miners appeared to have Boise QB Bachmeier dead for a sack, but facemasked him. He then threw the ball away and a grounding call led to offsetting penalties.

UTEP 0, Boise 0, 12:50 1st: After catching some grief for not running the ball, Miners open with two runs for one yard, then on third-and-9 throw for seven yards to Ballard. Punt on 4th and 2, Broncos take over on UTEP 40 after a 7-yard shanked punt.

2 minutes to kickoff: Boise wins the toss and defers. UTEP will receive into the wind. Boise's kick cover has been poor this season, but with the wind the game should open with a touchback.

8 minutes to kickoff: This is Boise's first trip to El Paso since 2004, though the Broncos were regulars to the Borderland until 2010. That year they beat New Mexico State in Las Cruces in the finale of what was an annual WAC series. Boise survived that game 59-0.

15 minutes to kickoff: Boise State could finish over .500 this year, giving UTEP a unique opportunity. The Miners' last home victory against a team that finished better than .500 was in 2009 against Houston. Last year, for example, UTEP went 0-1 in that situation, losing to a UTSA team that eventually won C-USA. No one else UTEP played at home finished better than .500.

45 minutes to kickoff: Both teams now about half assembled on the field for warmups. The line is up to Boise by 16.5, so more money is coming on on the Broncos than Miners. UTEP has opened the season with two good crowds but tonight, on national television and on a Friday, figures to be a hard sell.

60 minutes to kickoff: UTEP will be wearing all blue, from helmpet to pants, whilse Boise is in all white. Wind out of the south at about 10 miles per hour at the moment. First fans trickling in, most of them from Boise this far before kickoff.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP football vs Boise State at Sun Bowl Stadium: recap