Former Hobbs QB leads UTEP to second victory of season

Former Hobbs record-setting quarterback Gavin Hardison threw for 195 yards and led UTEP on three scoring drives as the Miners upended Abilene Christian, 17-13, Saturday night at the Sun Bowl in El Paso. Hardison completed 15-of-25 passes as the Miners improved to 2-1 on the season for the first time since 2014. UTEP is 2-0 at home for the first time since 2010. Hardison started slowly, completing just one of his first seven passes. However, he completed 14-of-18 passes for 180 yards over the final three quarters, and rushed for career long 14 yards gain in the second quarter. Through the first three games, Hardison has completed 44-of-80 passes (55.0 percent) for 548 yards and one TD. He is averaging 182.67 passing yards per game. The Miners turned defense into offense in the second quarter following a fumble recovery by junior defensive back Dennis Barnes. Hardison unloaded a 51-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Jacob Cowing to set up senior running back Josh Fields for a touchdown – his first since 2017 – giving the Miners the lead for the first time in the game, 7-3. Cowing also set a career-high with eight receptions in his third career 100-yard game. A 13-play, 7:46 drive beginning at the end of the third quarter and extending into the fourth quarter was led by Hardison and a methodical Miner rushing attack. It set up redshirt junior Ronald Awatt for his first career rushing touchdown to make it 17-10. UTEP dominated the time of possession in the second half for 19:53 as opposed to just 10:04 in the first half. On that drive, Hardison was 5-7 passing for 64 yards including a 35-yard bomb to redshirt senior wide receiver Justin Garrett.  The UTEP defense stood tall in the red zone on the ensuing ACU drive with a sack from redshirt sophomore defensive end Praise Amaewhule which inevitably held the Wildcats to three points. Awatt and Fields traded rushing duties on the final drive, splitting seven carries between them to ice the game for the Miners Fields, who ran for a total of 78 yards on 17 carries, averaged 7.3 yards on his final six rushes for 44 yards in crunch time. Defensively, redshirt sophomore defensive end Praise Amaewhule picked up his first sack of the season. Linebacker Stephen Forester led the Miners with 7 tackles on the night (5 solo) and one tackle for loss. UTEP returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 26, as the Miners travel to Monroe, Louisiana, to take on ULM at Malone Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:30 p.m. MT on ESPNU. https://twitter.com/ConferenceUSA/status/1307531291810836481 https://twitter.com/UTEPFB/status/1307746073499316231