New Mexico State Aggies second half surge dooms UTEP Miners
For such an exceptional banner number, the 100th Battle of I-10, which turned into a 28-7 New Mexico State thumping of outmatched UTEP, didn't invoke any rivalry clichés.
There was no "you can throw out the records," or "anything can happen when these teams meet" or "expect the unexpected."
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A superior Aggie team on its way to 5-3 and presumably a bowl soon enough, whipped 2-6 UTEP in a definitive second half.
Tied 7-7 at halftime because it missed two field goals, NMSU scored on its first three possessions of the second half without much resistance and held the Miner offense to one big first-half play.
"In retrospect as I look back on it ... we could have been a little more aggressive in trying to take some shots," UTEP coach Dana Dimel said after a first-half when his team threw the ball five times. "When we're at our best is when we're creating big plays in our offense.
"We probably shouldn't have run the ball as much there and taken some shots and take a lead. In this game, whoever took the lead later in the game would have a great chance of winning the football game because it makes the other team play outside the element of how they want to play."
New Mexico State looked much more comfortable than UTEP quickly enough. The Aggies first three plays of the second half went 25, 18 and 32 yards, as NMSU eventually rushed for 253 yards on 35 attempts. The Aggies scored on their first three possessions of the second half on drives of 69, 80 and 53 yards.
Monte Watkins rushed for 109 yards and quarterback Diego Pavia had 96. The Miners' seven tackles for loss didn't phase New Mexico State, which overcame every bad down and distance it faces in the pivotal start to the second half.
"What made us uncomfortable in the second half was we fell behind," Dimel said. "We had to make big plays against a defense that's not conducive to making big plays.
"In retrospect we should have been more aggressive in the first half."
The Miners didn't give quarterback Cade McConnell much of a chance, as a 54-yard run from Deion Hankins accounted for more than a quarter of UTEP's yards by the middle of the fourth quarter and set up the only touchdown.
After going 4-of-5 for 48 yards in the field half, UTEP quickly found itself having to throw much more in the second half and that did not go well. McConnell finished 15-of-32 for 179 yards and his top receiver last week, Kelly Akharaiyi, was ejected in the final two minutes of the game for a punch that will keep him out of the first half against Sam Houston.
He ended up with one catch for eight yards.
"This game means everything to us and to come out with a loss, that stinks," McConnell said. "They got the better of us in the second half. Obviously we wanted to be more explosive, we wanted to control the game better and we need to do a better job from that.
"Last week was great, we knew we had to turn the page and this week was completely different. When the highs are high, the lows are low and obviously this was one of the lows and it doesn't feel good. ...
"There were some plays I could have made for our team and opportunities to make big plays I could have taken advantage of. That's on me and I have to get that done."
On this night, the Miners mostly looked like a speed bump on New Mexico State's charge to a special season.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: New Mexico State Aggies thump UTEP Miners in second half
