Recap: North Texas Mean Green stops UTEP in sold out Sun Bowl
The UTEP football team begins its 2022 season with one of the true toss-up games on the schedule when it hosts one of Conference USA's departing teams, North Texas, on Saturday night in a Sun Bowl that should be sold out or close to it.
This is Mean Green's first trip to El Paso since 2018 and the last one on the schedule for the foreseeable future. The biggest issue will be how the Miners handle the hype and pressure of playing in front of 45,000 fans.
The game against North Texas marks the earliest-ever opener for both schools and was revealed on March 30 when Conference USA issued a revised schedule following the announced departure of three schools for the Sun Belt Conference.
More:'Excitement breeds excitement': UTEP kicks off football season in front of packed house at Sun Bowl
Live UTEP football updates
UNT 31, UTEP 13, FINAL: The Mean Green spoil UTEP's sold out opener.
UNT 31, UTEP 13 3:13, 4th. A bomb from Hardison to Trevion Ballard for a touchdown is called back by a hold. Great catch by Ballard.
UNT 31, UTEP 13 5:03, 4th. Miners get their first stop of the second half, first stop on a "full" UNT possession since the first quarter.
UNT 31, UTEP 13 5:56, 4th. Miners drive to the UNT 32, run out of answers, turn it over on downs on 4th and 15.
UNT 31, UTEP 13 8:06, 4th. Miners drive fizzles, North Texas goes the length of the field, kicks a field goal.
UNT 28, UTEP 13 end 3rd. Miners driving on a half-to-have it possession, face third and 4 on the UNT 32. Need a touchdown here.
UNT 28, UTEP 13 4:32 3rd. UTEP drives to midfield but Hardison fumbles on third down after problems with the shotgun snap and UNT recovers. They go 50 yards, converting a third-and-goal fro the 11. UTEP crumbling.
UNT 21, UTEP 13 10:27. UNT finishes the 75-yard drive with a touchdown. Drive took 12 plays. Difference in this game is Mean Green taking advantage of UTEP mistakes. UTEP not doing the same.
UNT 14, UTEP 13 10:58. Disaster. After a 4th and 17 incompletion should have forced a punt, UNT given the ball on the Miner 26 after a targeting penalty on Justin Prince that did not lead to an ejection. Three plays later UNT converts 3rd and 5 to get a first down on the 12.
UNT 14, UTEP 13 11:47. UTEP has now announced a sellout of 45,971. They were close enough that I imagine they bought any unsold so they could say sold out.
UNT 14, UTEP 13 half Stats fairly even. UTEP 259-233 on yards, 13-13 on first downs. UNT running better, Miners hitting long ball in passing game. Miners averaging 3.3 yards per rush. Left 17 points on the field but gifted 6 points on UNT blunders. Mean Green finished both drives, something UTEP has only done once.
UNT 14, UTEP 13 half Weirdness. UNT calls a timeout to force a UTEP punt, takes over on its 12, tried a hanfoff with 32 seconds left and fumbles. Praise Amewhule outwrestles Mean Green QB Aune for the ball. Miners get three cracks from the 9, don't come close. Field goal. Three more points than they would have had if UNT had taken a knee.
UNT 14, UTEP 10 0:46 2nd: Smith can't haul in what would have been a scrambling 54-yard touchdown pass. Seven points left on the field there. UTEP punts.
UNT 14, UTEP 10 1:52 2nd: UNT goes 75 yards in nine plays without facing a third down. Miners defense buckled the last two drives. Will need to adjust at the half. Mean Green effective with quick passes.
UTEP 10, UNT 7, 4:34: UNT completes a 21-yard pass, but a targeting call on Dennis Barnes is overturned. So that's good news.
UTEP 10, UNT 7, 5:14: Miners go 64 yards in 10 plays to the 12, settle for a 30-yard FG. 45 of those yards came on North Texas personal fouls, including two roughing-the-passers. UTEP will feel like they left four points on the board but they were just gifted three points.
UTEP 7, UNT 7, 10:02: North Texas drives 88 yards in 12 plays, converting a third-and-10 and later a third-and-goal from the 7, both with quick slants. We're tied.
UTEP 7, UNT 0, 13:58: Tyrin Smith flips the field with a 49-yard catch. After Miners gain 9 yards on three plays, they go for it from the 32. A bomb to Smith, touchdown. Smith with 3 catches for 106 yards. This could be 17-0.
UTEP 0, UNT 0, 0:03 1st: North Texas marches 54 yards but UTEP gets the stop as UNT crosses midfield. UTEP will feel like it should be up 10-0, but they escaped the quarter going into the wind.
UTEP 0, UNT 0, 4:02 1st: A killer. UTEP marches 87 yards in 13 plays. The 13th is 4th and goal from the 1, Hardison can't handle a snap, gets on it but can't complete a pass under impossible circumstances. Turnover on downs.
UTEP 0, UNT 0, 10:55 1st: North Texas gets a first down but UTEP gets the stop. UNT misses a wide open tight end on 1st down and UTEP shuts the door after that. Miners fair catch on its 12-yard line.
UTEP 0, UNT 0, 12:46 1st: Miners move 51 yards in eight plays, with a spectacular 38-yard catch by Reynaldo Flores on a free play as the highlight but Gavin Baechle misses a 42-yard field goal into a stiff wind. North Texas has a big advantage with the wind this first quarter.
0 minutes to kickoff: North Teas wins and defers the toss. UTEP and seventh-year senior Walter Dawn to return the kickoff.
2 minutes to kickoff: Disjointed "start." In the hurry to get this thing going, the band started playing the national anthem when players were still on the field warming up and the color guard was standing on the sidelines. So the players scrambled off while the color guard marched on during the first half of the world's fastest anthem rendition.
9 minutes to kickoff: Still no word on if there are tickets available. UTEP said its next update will be when it announced official attendance in the third quarter, though presumably they will post on social media when the last ticket is sold.
22 minutes to kickoff: This was fairly obvious long ago, but listed starters linebacker Breon Hayward and cornerback Torey Richardson are not suited up. Look for Jerome Wilson Jr. and Latrez Shelton to start in their place.
34 minutes to kickoff: The rescheduled 7:57 p.m. kick is official. Could change with one more lightning strike, but players are already on the field warming up.
Stadium is open (7:14 p.m.): Progress! People are now taking their seats. Still no teams, but the scoreboard is back on. There will be football tonight. Cheerleaders coming out.
Still lightning (6:53 p.m.): Big strike nearby. Reset the 30 minute clock. We are now officially in a delay. Word is wafting around that there is an 8 p.m. start, but that is not official, and frankly, seems optimistic. But if you want to see a bunch of players who can play on Sunday, come on out. It may be this Sunday, but hey.
Still lightning (6:39 p.m.): Wait, there is an update. Concourse is now overflow and the stadium is re-closing.
Still lightning (6:36 p.m.): We are officially delayed. Stadium is open, people can hang out in the concourse with a bunch of other people. At the moment there is no word on when there will be word, dependent on the lightning stopping.
Still a while until kickoff (6:08 p.m.): No new official updates, but a lightning strike just went off. That would seem to mean 6:39 p.m. until warmups, which means this game isn't starting on time. Stadium is officially closed because of the lightning.
A while until kickoff: A lighting strike somewhere within five miles of the stadium has delayed warmups until 6:20 p.m. Game is not officially delayed but we'll see. Coaches may decide together more time is needed for warmups. There is almost no one in the stadium right now.
2 hours, 30 minutes until kickoff: About 500 tickets left as UTEP chases its first sellout of the new-look Sun Bowl. The Miners like late kickoffs, they are one of the few programs that opts for 7 p.m. starts on home games. The reason is simple. They polled their season-ticket holders and this is what they said they wanted. UTEP is also one of the only programs in the country that has Saturday night home basketball games when TV doesn't dictate it.
3 hours, 30 minutes until kickoff: Quite a while before the teams take the field for warmups, but when they do what to watch for is if Breon Hayward (No 17) is on the field. The all-conference linebacker, who was listed as a senior last year, is officially on the top of the depth chart for this game for the Miners, but it would seem unlikely that he will be suited up. UTEP has appealed for an extra year of eligibility for him (it concerns how the 2019 season is counted, when he was at Marshall but didn't play) but hasn't gotten final word from the NCAA. Concealing Hayward's status is why UTEP took the rare step of closing practice for the last 10 days.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Recap: UTEP Miners vs. North Texas Mean Green updates
