When Scotty Walden was hired 10 months ago to rebuild UTEP football, the promise was a high-flying offense that would light up scoreboards.
He got his first win, a 30-21 upset of Florida International Wednesday night in front of 11,373 people, behind a dominant four-interception defense and the entire Miner program will most happily take it.
An 84-yard interception return from Dorian Hopkins in the first quarter reversed the flow of the game, and the rest of the night, a Miner defense that had shown flashes of potential before getting worn down in the first six games, just got stronger.
That all added up to UTEP snapping the nation’s second-longest losing streak after a nine-game slide, and the formula looked like one the Miners could duplicate.
The offense took advantage of short fields for three quarters. After an ugly interception gifted the Panthers a fourth-quarter lead, UTEP and relief quarterback Skyler Locklear went 76 yards in 10 plays to move back ahead with 11:29 to play.
The defense was superlative on third down (FIU was 3-of-13 on that down), and two of FIU’s touchdowns were on a short field after the fourth-quarter interception and a first-quarter blocked punt.
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After UTEP went back ahead in a game it led for most of the second half, the defense made three more stops, including its third and fourth interceptions of the night, to close out the game.
For two months, Walden has preached that the Miners need to stay the course, and everything will get better. On this Wednesday night, the party line became a party.
UTEP leads 17-14 at half
Seemingly on the verge of falling behind two scores in the first quarter, an 84-yard interception return from Dorian Hopkins changed the complexion of the game and allowed the Miners to take a 17-14 halftime lead.
At that point, with 32 seconds to play in the first quarter, FIU led 7-3 and had the ball on the UTEP 12, but Hopkins jumped a route, picked off the ball, and had a big return before he stiff-armed the quarterback out of his way and kept rumbling to the 10.
UTEP’s path to covering those final yards got easier when Locklear’s helmet was ripped off on a facemask. A play later, he took a keeper 3 yards for UTEP’s first lead since Week 3.
The Miners fell back behind 14-10, but in the final 2:06 of the first half, UTEP pinned the Panthers with a punt, who then had trouble with back-to-back shotgun snaps, and soon enough, the Miners forced a punt into the wind that gave them the ball back on the FIU 42.
Four plays later, Locklear found Jevon Jackson for a 22-yard touchdown pass for a rare lead.
It was earned, as the Miners won first-half yards 200-174 and Locklear was 11-of-15 passing for 134 yards.
Up next
UTEP has another six-day turnaround as it plays its final mid-week game of the year, Tuesday night at Louisiana Tech. The 6 p.m. Mountain time kickoff, the last night game of the season, will be on CSB Sports Network. FIU has the same six-day turnaround and hosts Sam Houston at Pitbull Stadium at 5:30 p.m. Mountain time on ESPNU.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP snaps 9-game losing streak with 30-21 win over FIU at Sun Bowl
