UTEP survives against Charlotte to keep hopes alive

UTEP is always going to make everything harder than it has to be, and so it was for Saturday's 41-35 victory against Charlotte, when the Miners huffed and puffed but didn't quite blow their second-half lead.

After twice scoring 17 consecutive points, UTEP needed an Ilijah Johnson interception with 1:19 to avoid a collapse for the ages, and in the process, improve to 1-26-1 in the Eastern time zone.

The path there was so much like the rest of their season — all over the place — but here's the bottom line: If the Miners had lost this, there was no way this season was going to end up as a success. In that sense, UTEP survived and advanced in terms of keeping its season competitive.

"I like where we are right now," coach Dana Dimel said after the Miners leveled their record at 3-3. "We're a team with momentum. I'm really proud of them, proud of accomplishing things like that. It's not an easy trip out here. Proud but humble."

What the Miners can feel great about is they found a way to win the type of game they've lost so many times in the past. They responded after a collapse to start the third quarter, rebuild a 20-point lead with their second defensive touchdown and then needed to make one more play to end the Eastern time zone hex.

That took a while. UTEP appeared to make the winner with 3:30 remaining when, after back-to-back sacks forced Charlotte into a fourth-and-30 from the 31, the Miners forced an incomplete pass. Instead there was a targeting call on Ty'Reke James, and when Charlotte scored to make the score 41-35, UTEP looked like it was playing with its hands wrapped around its throat.

That looked even more true after a three-and-out, but this time, facing a Charlotte offense that had 86 seconds to cover 64 yards, the freshman Johnson bailed everything out. The Eastern time zone curse, which every player on the team was quite aware of, is over.

As for where UTEP goes from here, the key will be becoming more consistent everywhere.

The defense looked great when it scored two touchdowns, forced three turnovers and sacked Chris Reynolds, an elite Conference USA quarterback, five times. It looked dubious giving up 417 yards and a number of big plays (four for more than 20, including a 36-yard gain on second-and-33).

Giving up 35 points while scoring 14 will usually be a winning number, but not always.

"Defensively in certain areas we have to clean things up," said Cal Wallerstedt, who continues to be a revelation after forcing a fumble that was returned 100 yards by Jadrian Taylor — a 14-point play in a six-point game. "Highs and lows, you have to stick with it and go through the adversity. We won."

Taylor will be a candidate for C-USA defensive player of the week after getting the 100-yard defensive score and three sacks.

There's talent to work with on defense, the Miners show that a bunch, they just have to get more consistent.

Same with the offense.

Despite having two fewer possessions because of the defensive scores, the UTEP offense scored 27 points on its first six possessions, with three touchdowns and two field goals. Once the game reached the point where UTEP needed one more play to win, the offense punted twice.

"It was ridiculous we didn't get a first down there, we needed to," Dimel said of the three-and-out that gave Charlotte it's final chance. "Our defense made a huge play. Those last two drives we needed some first downs but you need to be smart. They didn't stop our run game all night until those last two drives."

Indeed, Deion Hankins ran for 112 yards, Ronald Awatt added 88 and Hardison had 50 rushing yards to go with a 10-of-14 passing game that included three touchdowns. This came against the nation's 131st-ranked defense, but that's who was on the schedule and UTEP's offense earned a good grade.

The 41 points (albeit only 27 on offense) were the most since Aaron Jones left for Green Bay.

Going forward matters get tougher. The only team left on the schedule as poor as Charlotte is Florida International, though UTEP at its best can beat anyone left except maybe UTSA.

The Miners were at their best against Charlotte just long enough to move to 3-3. That was enough to keep hope alive and now they can continue to work to improve.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached t 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Bloomquist: UTEP survives against Charlotte to keep hopes alive