UTSA Dominates UTEP In Their First Ever Meeting

UTSA defeated UTEP 32-13 in their first ever meeting on Saturday night.  The Roadrunners literally ran all over the Miners in their C-USA opener.  

UTSA struck first in the game when Brandon Armstrong scored on a 29 yard touchdown run to put the Roadrunners up early in the contest.  UTEP came right back when Autrey Golden took the ensuing kickoff 102 yards for the Miners' touchdown.  Prior to the end of the first quarter UTEP took their only lead of the game at 10-7 when Jay Mattox made a 28 yard field goal.

By halftime UTEP was in a hole as the Roadrunners led 25-10, and accumulated 303 yards of offense.  In the second half UTEP made the necessary defensive adjustments and only enabled UTSA to tally 82 yards of offense.  The problem was that the Miners were only able to score a field goal throughout the remainder of the game as UTSA went on to get the easy victory.

UTSA's quarterback Eric Soza played brilliantly completing 18 of 34 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown.  The Roadrunners had success on the ground against the Miners and scored three rushing touchdowns as well.  UTEP's defense was exposed for a third consecutive game both on the ground and through the air.

The Miners fell to 1-2 on the season and will travel Fort Collins, Colorado next week to play Colorado State.  Following the game Coach Kugler had this to say about his team's performance.

Miners' quarterback Jamiell Showers had a mediocre performance completing 17 of 31 passes for 119 yards.  After the game he mentioned this when asked about what UTSA did to shut him down.

The Miners' ground game was shut down as well, they were only able to gain 99 yards all evening.  UTSA coach Larry Coker who most notably led Miami to a National Championship win over Nebraska in the 2001 the Rose Bowl had this to say when I asked him about the victory following the game.

The Miners will have to regroup in a big way if they want to salvage their 2013 season.  Their schedule will only get more difficult from here on out with their next three games consisting of Colorado State, Louisiana Tech, and Tulsa.