EL PASO — The Sam Houston Bearkats fought through the short-week blues to roll to a 41-21 win over UTEP on Thursday night at the Sun Bowl.
Sam Houston (5-1, 2-0 CUSA) won its fourth straight game and first ever against the Miners (0-5, 0-2 CUSA), despite not finding its footing until midway through the second quarter.
The Kats scored on their opening possession of the game before coming up empty on five consecutive possessions; however, they responded with scores on five of their next six possessions to bury the Miners by the middle of the third period.
After rushing for better than 200 yards in each of their last three games, Thursday saw the Bearkats balanced on offense with much of their offensive coming through the air with Hunter Watson completing 19 of 29 passes for 224 yards and a pair of touchdowns, spreading the ball around to eight different receivers before leaving the game in the third quarter.
On the ground the Kats finished with 293 yards, led by DJ McKinney's 138 yards on 14 carries, including his first two career touchdowns on runs of 23 and 59 yards. Jay Ducker also added 65 yards and a score while Watson had 32 on the ground as well.
Defensively, the Bearkats were stellar, forcing four UTEP turnovers and holding the Miner offense off the scoreboard until late in the third quarter. UTEP finished with 323 total yards, but only 70 in the first half. Kavian Gaither led the way with a season-high 11 stops, one shy of his career high, while Caleb Weaver and Jaylon Jimmerson each had interceptions.
The Kats took the opening kickoff and immediately took the lead when Jay Ducker raced 39 yards into the end zone just 2:15 into the game. Sam Houston went on to outgain the Miners 105-21 in the opening quarter and 263-70 in the half, but came up empty on five consecutive possessions before getting on the board again.
The 7-0 lead held until midway through the second quarter when Sam Houston marched 81 yards in 10 plays with a drive which ended in a 23-yard touchdown sprint from McKinney to up the lead to 14-0.
But the Kats gave the score back on the next possession when Watson and Ducker mishandled a handoff with Sam Houston backed up against its own end zone, resulting in a fumble recovered by UTEP's Kory Chapman to cut the lead to 14-7.
Sam Houston used 13 plays on its next drive to set up a 19-yard field goal by Christian Pavon to go up 17-7 at the half. The Kats then quickly made a statement early in the second half with a defensive stop and a 33-yard scoring strike from Watson to Qua'Vez Humphreys to go up 24-7.
The scoring did not stop there. Da'Veawn Armstead put an end to the ensuing Miner drive with a forced fumble at the 10-yard line and the Kats went 90 yards the other way with a scoring drive which ended in a 34-yard touchdown from Watson to Michael Phoenix II. One drive later McKinney broke loose again with a 59-yard touchdown run to give the Kats a commanding 38-7 lead.
UTEP responded with a pair of touchdowns to make it interesting at 38-21 with plenty of time remaining before Sam Houston ran 7:12 off the clock to set up a 42-yard field goal by Christian Pavon to cap the scoring.
The Kats will now have 13 days off before hitting the field again on October 16 when they host WKU at Bowers Stadium. The game will air on ESPN2.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The win was the first for the Bearkats in its all-time series vs UTEP; the Kats were previously 0-3 vs the Miners
- Sam Houston finished with 519 yards of total offense, surpassing 500 yards of offense for the first time since going for 556 yards vs UIW in the 2021 FCS Playoffs
- The Kats also totaled 295 yards on the ground to become the first CUSA program with 250+ rushing yards in 4 straight games since FAU in 2018
- Sam Houston forced a season-high four turnovers and won the turnover battle for the fifth time this season. The Kats had a pair of interceptions and recovered two fumbles
- Chris Murray had a career-high three TFLs, including a strip sack late in the fourth quarter to end the Miners' final possession
- Caleb Weaver intercepted a pass thrown by a Miner wide receiver in the first quarter, his team-leading third interception of the season
- Ife Adeyi has now caught a pass in 30 consecutive games, and Noah Smith 25 straight games; the Bearkats and Utah are the only two schools in the country to boast a pair of receivers with catch streaks of 25 games or more
- DJ McKinney turned in the biggest game of his career with 150 yards of total offense. He was key on the Kats' second scoring drive of the game. He had three touches on the drive, accounting for 47 total yards and capped it with his first career touchdown on a 23-yard run
