Texas-El Paso 41, Charlotte 35
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Gavin Hardison threw three touchdown passes, including two to Tyrin Smith, Tyrice Knight and Jadrian Taylor each returned a fumble for a score and UTEP beat Charlotte 41-35.
UTEP (3-3, 1-1 Conference USA) won in the Eastern time zone for the first time in program history (1-26-1).
Chris Reynolds threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Grant DuBose that capped the game's opening drive and gave Charlotte (1-5, 0-2) a 7-0 lead with 9:48 left in the first quarter. UTEP answered with a 15-play, 75-yard drive that culminated when Smith caught his first TD, a 17-yarder, and Gavin Baechle kicked a 22-yard field goal to give the Miners the lead for good midway through the second quarter. Hardison hit Trent Thompson for a 26-yard score with 33 seconds left in the half and Knight's 13-yard fumble return for a touchdown 13 seconds later gave UTEP 24-7 lead at the break.
Reynolds threw third-quarter TD passes of 23 yards to Elijah Spencer and 2 yards to DuBose to pull the 49ers to 24-21 but Smith scored on a 58-yard catch-and-run and Baechle kicked a 23-yard field goal to make it a three-point game going into the fourth quarter.
Charlotte, on its next drive, had a first-and-goal from the 2 but, after an incomplete pass, ChaVon McEachern fumbled near the goal line and Taylor scooped and scored on a 100-yard return to make it 41-21 with 13:36 to play.
Reynolds completed 21 of 37 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns with an interception for Charlotte.
Scoring Summary |
First Quarter |
UTEP | Char |
Char |
TD |
9:48 |
Grant DuBose 23 yd pass from Chris Reynolds (Antonio Zita kick) |
0 |
7 |
UTEP |
TD |
2:01 |
Tyrin Smith 17 yd pass from Gavin Hardison (Gavin Baechle kick) |
7 |
7 |
Second Quarter |
UTEP | Char |
UTEP |
FG |
8:03 |
Gavin Baechle 22 yd FG |
10 |
7 |
UTEP |
TD |
0:33 |
Trent Thompson 26 yd pass from Gavin Hardison (Gavin Baechle kick) |
17 |
7 |
UTEP |
TD |
0:20 |
Tyrice Knight 13 yd fumble return (Gavin Baechle kick) |
24 |
7 |
Third Quarter |
UTEP | Char |
Char |
TD |
11:37 |
Elijah Spencer 23 yd pass from Chris Reynolds (Antonio Zita kick) |
24 |
14 |
Char |
TD |
11:03 |
Grant DuBose 2 yd pass from Chris Reynolds (Antonio Zita kick) |
24 |
21 |
UTEP |
TD |
8:34 |
Tyrin Smith 58 yd pass from Gavin Hardison (Gavin Baechle kick) |
31 |
21 |
UTEP |
FG |
0:36 |
Gavin Baechle 29 yd FG |
34 |
21 |
Fourth Quarter |
UTEP | Char |
UTEP |
TD |
13:46 |
Jadrian Taylor 100 yd fumble return (Gavin Baechle kick) |
41 |
21 |
Char |
TD |
9:27 |
Victor Tucker 6 yd pass from Chris Reynolds (Antonio Zita kick) |
41 |
28 |
Char |
TD |
3:11 |
Shadrick Byrd 13 yd run (Antonio Zita kick) |
41 |
35 |
Team Stats |
|
UTEP |
Charlotte |
First downs |
20 |
27 |
Rushing |
14 |
8 |
Passing |
6 |
15 |
Penalty |
0 |
4 |
3rd Down Efficiency |
3-11, 27% |
5-11, 45% |
4th down efficiency |
3-3, 100% |
2-2, 100% |
Rushes-Yards |
45-252 |
27-96 |
Passing Yards |
173 |
346 |
Return Yards |
42 |
86 |
Completions-Attempts-Int |
10-14-0 |
22-39-1 |
Sacks-Yards Lost |
1--4 |
5--40 |
Punts |
3 |
3 |
Punts-Average |
46 |
41 |
Fumbles Lost |
3-1 |
3-2 |
Penalties - Yards |
10-99 |
8-74 |
Time of Possession |
33:40 |
26:20 |
UTEP Passing |
Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
G. Hardison |
10 |
14 |
173 |
3 |
0 |
Charlotte Passing |
Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
C. Reynolds |
22 |
38 |
346 |
4 |
1 |
J. Foster |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
UTEP Rushing |
Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
D. Hankins |
20 |
112 |
5.6 |
0 |
R. Awatt |
13 |
88 |
6.8 |
0 |
G. Hardison |
5 |
50 |
10.0 |
0 |
C. Brownholtz |
3 |
4 |
1.3 |
0 |
R. Flores |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
Charlotte Rushing |
Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
S. Byrd |
13 |
80 |
6.2 |
1 |
H. Rutledge |
3 |
35 |
11.7 |
0 |
V. Tucker |
1 |
11 |
11.0 |
0 |
C. McEachern |
5 |
10 |
2.0 |
0 |
J. Foster |
1 |
-7 |
-7.0 |
0 |
C. Reynolds |
4 |
-33 |
-8.3 |
0 |
UTEP Receiving |
Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
T. Smith |
4 |
106 |
26.5 |
2 |
R. Flores |
3 |
31 |
10.3 |
0 |
T. Thompson |
1 |
26 |
26.0 |
1 |
K. Akharaiyi |
1 |
6 |
6.0 |
0 |
D. Hankins |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
Charlotte Receiving |
Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
E. Spencer |
7 |
160 |
22.9 |
1 |
G. DuBose |
6 |
55 |
9.2 |
2 |
E. Minter Jr. |
2 |
44 |
22.0 |
0 |
H. Rutledge |
1 |
38 |
38.0 |
0 |
S. Byrd |
3 |
30 |
10.0 |
0 |
V. Tucker |
3 |
19 |
6.3 |
1 |
UTEP Interceptions |
Player |
Int |
Yards |
I. Johnson |
1 |
0 |
Charlotte Interceptions |
Player |
Int |
Yards |
UTEP Punting |
Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
J. Sloan |
3 |
138 |
46.0 |
Charlotte Punting |
Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
B. Rice |
3 |
123 |
41.0 |
UTEP Punt Returns |
Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
M. Bellon |
2 |
1 |
0.5 |
Charlotte Punt Returns |
Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
G. DuBose |
2 |
11 |
5.5 |
UTEP Kick Returns |
Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
R. Flores |
1 |
18 |
18.0 |
W. Dawn Jr. |
1 |
14 |
14.0 |
T. Smith |
1 |
9 |
9.0 |
Charlotte Kick Returns |
Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
S. Byrd |
4 |
75 |
18.8 |
UTEP Missed FG |
Player |
Length |
Charlotte Missed FG |
Player |
Length |