EVANSTON, Illinois (KTSM) – Despite scoring the game’s first touchdown and going into halftime with a 7-7 scoreline, UTEP (1-2, 0-1 CUSA) was unable to handle Northwestern’s (1-1) second half dominance and suffered a 38-7 loss at Ryan Field on Saturday.

Tied at 7, Northwestern began the second half with a 13 play, 79-yard drive, that ate up 6:36 of clock, and ended it with a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 14-7 lead. After that, the Wildcats scored 24 more unanswered points and outscored UTEP, 31-0, in the second half alone.

“[Northwestern] came out with a really good drive at the start of the second half – a nice physical drive and finish it the way they needed to,” UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel said. “Then we got the turnover on the first drive of the second half and gave them really good field position. I think that really hurt us from there. It was a hard-fought game and before you know it, one good drive form them and a bad play on offense, then it’s a 21-7 game.”

That win was Northwestern’s first since a hazing and abuse scandal rocked the athletic department and its first in the United States since beating Rutgers at Ryan Field back on Oct. 16, 2021.

Meanwhile, the feat of beating a power five program for the first time in its program’s history will have to wait. UTEP is now 0-37 versus power five programs in the modern era of college football. UTEP’s last win over a Power 5 program came back in the 1967 Sun Bowl when the Miners beat Ole Miss.

UTEP’s offense struggled to get going after the opening drive of the game. UTEP quarterback Gavin Hardison threw two interceptions while recording 192 yards and a touchdown.

UTEP only collected 104 rushing yards in Saturday’s game. This was a massive dip in performance from UTEP’s run game after the team posted a season-high 329 rushing yards versus FCS program Incarnate Word on Sept. 2.

$1.2 millions dollars richer, UTEP will have another chance to get that long awaited win over a power five program when the Miners travel to Tuscon to take on Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 16. This is the first time since 2015 that UTEP will play back-to-back power five programs.

GAME NOTES (Courtesy: UTEP Athletics)

EVANSTON, Ill. – UTEP battled Big Ten opponent Northwestern, going into the locker room tied at the half, but the Wildcats (1-1) outscored the Miners (1-2) 31-0 in the second at Ryan Field on Saturday afternoon. 

With the count 7-7, Northwestern opened the second half with a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took over six minutes off the clock. Thomas Gordon was wide open the scoring play, walking into the end zone on an 18-yard reception.

Gavin Hardison followed with his second interception of the game as NU’s Xander Mueller returned the pick to the UTEP three-yard line. The Wildcats capitalized, as Ben Bryant scored on a one-yard QB keeper three plays later at the 6:03 mark of the third quarter to go up 21-7 and the Wildcats never looked back.

“[Northwestern] came out with a really good drive at the start of the second half – a nice physical drive and finish it the way they needed to,” UTEP Head Coach Dana Dimel said. “Then we got the turnover on the first drive of the second half and gave them really good field position. I think that really hurt us from there. It was a hard-fought game and before you know it, one good drive form them and a bad play on offense, then it’s a 21-7 game.”

NU won its first game on American soil since defeating Rutgers in Evanston on Oct. 16, 2021, and first win since the 2022 opener in Dublin, Ireland.

Hardison started the game 7-for-8 and finished 17-of-25 for 192 yards, a passing score and two interceptions. Jeremiah Ballard tallied a career-high 92 yards on four receptions.

A pair of freshmen saw action on Ryan Field in the fourth. Redshirt freshman Jake McNamara saw action in the fourth quarter, throwing for 23 yards (2-5) and an interception. True freshman RB Ezell Jolly tallied 10 yards on five rushes.

Northwestern outgained UTEP 391 yards to 319. The Wildcats ran up 268 yards of total offense in the dominant second half to the Miners’ 116 yards. The NU defense yielded UTEP’s rushing attack to 104 yards on 35 carries (3.0 avg.).

UTEP finished 3-for-13 on third down conversions, while NU was 6-11.

The Miners opened the contest with the ball and engineered an eight-play, 70-yard scoring drive that was capped by Zach Fryar’s first career touchdown at the 3:52. Hardison finished 3-of-3 for 40 yards on the drive. Hardison added a 16-yard run on a second-and-12 to the NU 48.

The Wildcats answered with their own eight-play, 71-yard drive that resulted in a Jack Lausch six-yard TD rush.

UTEP outgained NU 203 yards to 123 in the first half. The Miners had a chance to take a three-point lead going into the locker room, but redshirt freshman Buzz Flabiano missed on a 44-yard field goal attempt with nine seconds remaining in the first half.

Maurice Westmoreland registered his first career sack during the second quarter on a third-down play, while Josiah Allen also recorded his first, a half sack with Tyrice Knight also during the second. 

Knight led the defense with 14 more tackles, making it three consecutive games with double-digit tackles and 15th overall in his career. James Neal finished with eight tackles while McKel Broussard tallied a career-high seven stops and a TFL.

Ron Heard II and Mueller each tallied seven tackles to lead NU defensively. The Wildcats’ rushing attack ran for 184 yards on 39 attempts and scored three times. Cam Porter led the way with 90 yards on 17 carries (5.3 avg.) and

UP NEXT

UTEP will hit the road for the second of back-to-back road games versus Power Five opponents as it will play at Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 16 with kickoff set for 9:00 p.m. MT/8 PT on the Pac-12 Network. The Miners and Wildcats can also be heard on 95.5 KLAQ. It will mark the 53rd meeting and first since 2017 when the Miners and Wildcats played in the Sun Bowl.