UTEP Miners football vs. NMSU Aggies for Battle of I-10 at Sun Bowl: live updates
UTEP hosts rival New Mexico State in the final non-conference game the teams will play before the Aggies join Conference USA.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Saturday at the Sun Bowl and will stream on ESPN+. It will air on the radio on KLAQ 95.5 FM.
The Miners are a two-touchdown favorite, so this is supposed to be a win. Combined with the over-under of 46, UTEP is expected to win 30-16.
That's significant, as the favored team has won the last 12 games in this series.
More:New Mexico State Aggies at UTEP Miners: How they match up
NMSU vs UTEP live updates
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, final: UTEP gets a sack that will win the game. Tevita Tafuna with a sack that forced a fumble. UTEP recovered with 3 seconds left, though an Aggie recovery would have ended the game.
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, 0:40 4th: Aggies convert on an 8-yard slant to Brady. Aggies still alive.
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, 0:49 4th: Aggies have turned a second-and-25 into a fourth-and-5 on the UTEP 32 after a Pavia scramble. NMSU timeout.
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, 2:14 4th: Aggies get a touchdown on what was clearly an incomplete pass. Officials looked like they weren't going to review it but will now. A forward pass bounced to Thomas, who scooped it up and ran into the end zone. Overturned on review.
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, 4:00 4th: Here we go. Aggies get the three-and-out and has a chance, down a score with plenty of time, ball on the 27. Held Miners to 4 yards on third-and-7.
UTEP 20, NMSU 13, 5:43 4th: Aggies go 75 yards in 16 plays and are within a touchdown. Pavia scrambled in from 10 yards out. They converted three third downs and a fourth down on the drive. Pavia may have won the quarterback job with his second touchdown run.
UTEP 20, NMSU 6, 7:50 4th: Aggies move down the field on a string of third-down conversions and face a fourth-and-1 from the Miner 24 after calling their second timeout.
UTEP 20, NMSU 6, 0:05 3rd: Miners have their best drive of the second half but stall after getting to the Aggie 28. Baechle completes the 52-yard drive with a 46-yard field goal.
UTEP 17, NMSU 6, 4:06 3rd: Aggies use a big play and move to the UTEP 20 but miss a field goal. Opportunity knocked. Early in the possession, on second-and-25, Star Thomas turned a 3-yard loss into a 44-yard gain with a couple of broken tackles in the backfield, but it was squandered.
UTEP 17, NMSU 6, 7:46 3rd: Aggies get 8 yards on first down, minus-2 on second, incomplete on third. UTEP defense restored a little order. Flores was put in to field the punt, though he let it bounce out of bounds on the 23.
UTEP 17, NMSU 6, 9:12 3rd: NMSU gets the three-and-out it needed, capping it with a sack. Aggies can make this interesting with a good possession here.
UTEP 17, NMSU 6, 10:50 3rd: Pavia keeps, breaks one tackle and NMSU joins the battle. If those muffs go differently ... but they didn't. PAT blocked.
UTEP 17, NMSU 6, 10:50 3rd: Pavia keeps, breaks one tackle and NMSU joins the battle. If those muffs go differently ... but they didn't. PAT blocked.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, 10:57 3rd: Special teams disaster for the Miners when Bellon muffs a punt to give Aggies the ball on the 14. Two muffs, NMSU gets on both of them. Before that, UTEP gets the three-and-out but roughs the quarterback to keep the drive alive. Then UTEP gets another three-and-out and Aggies punt. But they did get their third first down on the rough.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, half: Miners dominate the first half and could have gone in up 24-0 with a better bounce on that last punt. Yards 217-53, first downs 15-2, time of possession 20:11 to 9:49. Hardison 8-16 for 115 yards. Awatt with 96 yards on 17 rushes. Brady had 50 yards on two rushes, rest of team has 3 yards on 19 plays.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, 0:59 2nd: NMSU dodges disaster when they recover a muff in their own end zone for a touchback. Could have been a Miner touchdown. UTEP looked to be trying to go to halftime. Three runs, clock used, no real hope of more.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, 3:38 2nd: Aggies rise up with a three-and-out, including a coverage sack, and they pick up some field position. Their best defensive series. Johnson and Seldon combined for the sack, which was 13 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Hardison had time but not as much as he wanted to use.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, 4:52 2nd: Aggies make a fairly predictable switch to Diego Pavia but it doesn't help. Aggies to three-and-out. Miners don't commit a penalty on the punt, which "only" nets 46 yards. Miner ball on the 25 looking to put the hammer down.
UTEP 17, NMSU 0, 5:56 2nd: Game is moving faster than the blog. A play after dodging a bullet by recovering their own fumble, Aggies throw a backwards pass and Miners recover on the 22. James Neil with the recovery. Next snap Ronald Awatt with a highlight-reel run and dives across the end zone for the score. For a quarter the question is how UTEP wasn't winning by more. Now the Miners are. Yards are 222-42.
UTEP 10, NMSU 0, 7:07 2nd: Miners drive 65 yards and get the score on a 9-yard pass from Hardison to Smith, Smith's second catch on the drive and in the game. On third-and-5 from the 24, the play before the score, Flores drew a pass interference in the end zone to keep the drive alive.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 10:35 2nd: Aggies don't gain a yard on three plays and punt. Tyrice Knight with a third-down pass break up. Miners takeover on their 35 after a minus-5 yard return and a hold that obviously didn't help the return much. A 60-yard net on that punt. By far NMSU's best play when it has the ball.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 12:15: Yards are 147-69 UTEP, time of possession is 14:04-3:41 UTEP.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 12:15: UTEP drives into Aggie territory but NMSU stiffens and forces the punt. UTEP downs a beauty on the 5.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, end 1st: Miners close the quarter with a 12-yard pass to Rey Flores, Mr. Reliable. That NMSU punt ended up netting 63 yards, from the Aggie 14 to UTEP scrimmaging on its own 23.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 0:20 1st: UTEP defense holds the field position with a three-and-out, getting good pressure on second and third down after a 5-yard Aggie gain on first. Miners take over at their own 23 after a long punt and a hold on the fair catch.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 0:56 1st: Another Miner red-zone catastrophe. After needing just five plays to move from the Miner 21 to the Aggie 7, Deion Hankins can't handle a handoff and NMSU recovers on the 9-yard line. Earlier in the drive, Ronald Awatt's 36-yard run became the first rush by a tailback this year that covered more than 8 yards.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 3:37 1st: Led by freshman Gavin Frakes, NMSU drives to the UTEP 25, but on second-and-11 Miner Blake Thompson tips the ball at the line of scrimmage and Tyrice Knight, makes the interception. Aggie plays covered 3, 16, 31 and 14 yards before the interception. There was a minus-8 on a flat pass that was negated by a personal foul on NMSU that UTEP probably would have been better off declining, but it all worked out for the Miners.
UTEP 3, NMSU 0, 6:42 1st: UTEP goes on a 17-play, 63-yard drive taking 8:18 and settle for a 29-yard Gavin Baechle field goal. Miners convert a fourth-and-3 from the Aggie 25 with a 12-yard pass to Flores but stall in the red zone. Hardison had Flores open on a busted play on second down but had to throw off the back foot and it was short. Third down he had all day but no one came open until too late. UTEP 3-of-5 on third down and 1-1 on fourth and do get points.
UTEP 0, NMSU 0, 14:57 1st: UTEP throws incomplete and burns its first timeout three second in. Andrew Meyer is not starting, Robert Mervin is in his place.
2 minutes to kickoff: Aggies win the toss, defer, kick Miners will go north to south in the first quarter.
6 minutes to kickoff: New Mexico State has taken the field, UTEP about to do the same. Fans are being asked to download a "lights show" app on their phones. It's still daylight outside so not sure what that's supposed to do.
19 minutes to kickoff: Both teams have returned to the locker room and now the UTEP band will come out and play for a bit. This is a big recruiting weekend for the Miners, who have a number of prospects in attendance.
32 minutes to kickoff: UTEP center Andrew Meyer misses two days of practice this week with what appeared to be a minor injury, and indeed he is warming up and appears a go. Linebacker Jerome Wilson Jr. is out. Cal Wallerstedt will start in his place.
37 minutes to kickoff: UTEP's full team taking the field for warmups, Aggies are preparing to. Stadium still fairly empty, not unusual for this far ahead of kickoff. UTEP band lined up outside the stadium.
64 minutes to kickoff: UTEP wearing white helmets with blue jerseys and white pants. NMSU has purple helmets and an off-white jerseys and pants.
80 minutes to kickoff: Specialists from both teams were out warming up but have retreated to the locker room now. A few fans trickling into the stadium but the biggest continent is the Aggie band, which is filing in to their spot in the southeast corner of the stadium.
Already an eventful day of college football. Marshall won at Notre Dame, Appalachian State didn't get caught looking ahead to Marshall and took care of business at Texas A&M and Alabama held off the assembled might of Texas with a last-gasp field goal.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP Miners football vs NMSU Aggies at Sun Bowl: updates
