EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — UTEP football suffered a 14-10 loss to LA Tech at Joe Aillet Stadium in Ruston, Louisiana on Tuesday night.
LA Tech took a 14-10 lead after a one-yard rushing touchdown by Amani Givens with 6:28 left in the contest. UTEP’s next two drives on offense in the fourth quarter ended with turnover on downs, which led to UTEP falling short four points in its loss to LA Tech.
During UTEP’s last four drives of the contest, third string quarterback JP Pickles was leading the offense. Pickles came into the game after starting quarterback Skyler Locklear took a massive hit from LA Tech’s Zach Zimos in the third quarter. Zimos was called for targeting and Locklear left the game and did not return.
Pickles came into the game and had some good moments. The true freshman rushed for 53 yards on 12 attempts. Pickles did not throw the ball much, which made the Miners’ offense very one dimensional late in the game, as he threw just two passes in the contest.
UTEP’s offense recorded 251 total yards of offense (166 rushing, 85 passing). UTEP went 1-for-14 on 3rd downs and 2-for-4 on 4th downs. Not once did UTEP make an appearance in the red zone. This is the fifth game this season UTEP has scored less than 20 points.
UTEP’s Jevon Jackson rushed for 112 yards on 22 carries in the contest. That was the Austin Peay transfer’s second straight 100-yard game. Jackson’s 100-yard game was the third straight game in which a UTEP player hit the century mark in rushing, which hadn’t happened since the 2014 season.
On defense, UTEP’s Maurice Westmoreland tallied a season-high 2.0 sacks. The senior has 4.5 sacks in the last four games. Kory Chapman, after missing a few games with an injury, led the defense with eight tackles while collecting a career-high 3.5 tackles and a sack. The Miners registered four sacks as freshman Kyran Duhon was in on the sack party. UTEP added nine tackles for loss. The seven yards allowed rushing by the Miners’ defense was the lowest since yielding seven yards at ULM in 2020.
LA Tech recorded 255 yards of total offense. Quarterback Evan Bullock threw for 248 yards on 22-of-30 passing and a touchdown.
After giving up the first touchdown of the game, LA Tech’s defense only allowed UTEP to put together one scoring drive out of its next ten. UTEP’s Buzz Flabiano made a 44-yard field goal in the 3rd quarter with 2:02 to play to put the Miners up 10-7.
UP NEXT
UTEP (1-7, 1-4 CUSA) will enter its bye week. The Miners will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 2 when it hosts Middle Tennessee in a CUSA game at the Sun Bowl.
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