2008 UTEP Miners football team
[2] In their first trip to the state of New York, UTEP rolled up 266 yards but had three turnovers while the Bulls' Drew Willy threw four touchdown passes to help Buffalo to a 42–17 victory over the Minders.
Sports analysts have speculated that the Miners' excitement for the game, the crowd noise, the distance traveled, and time may pose a problem for Texas.
With four minutes to go in the half, McCoy threw a touchdown pass to tight end Blaine Irby to make the score 28–6 with the extra point.
The Horns faked a wide receiver screen and scored on a McCoy pass to Jordan Shipley to extend the lead to 35–13.
On the next Miner possession, Emmanuel Acho forced a fumble and Roddrick Muckelroy returned it for a touchdown, making the score 42–13.
UTEP quarterback James Thomas II answered with a 44-yard scoring run, but NMSU went ahead 21–17 on a 27-yard touchdown reception by A.J.
The Aggies took a 28–27 lead into the fourth quarter, until Thomas stretched into the end zone from a yard out and put UTEP back up 33–28.
[11] Trevor Vittatoe threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns to lead UTEP to a 58–13 win over Central Florida on Saturday night, halting a streak of nine consecutive losses.
Cornelius Brown, who had two interceptions and blocked a punt, led the UTEP defense as it forced UCF (1–3, 0–1) into six turnovers, including two fumbles recovered for touchdowns.
[12] Trevor Vittatoe threw four touchdown passes, including the game winner in double overtime, as UTEP defeated Southern Mississippi 40–37 on Saturday night.
Vittatoe hit Chris Adams on a 7-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime, after Southern Miss' Britt Barefoot gave the Golden Eagles a 37–34 lead with a 28-yard field goal.
The loss overshadowed a career-high effort by Damion Fletcher, who had 34 carries for 260 yards, becoming the program's all-time leading rusher in the third quarter.
Justin Estes missed a pair of short field goals for the Golden Eagles in the first half, one after Fletcher ran 56 yards to the Miners' 13.
But Barefoot replaced Estes in the second half, and despite missing his first attempt, kicked a pair of short field goals in the fourth quarter.
The teams traded 4-yard scoring passes in the first overtime, as Vittatoe hit Terrell Jackson and USM's Austin Davis found DeAndre Brown.
Andre Anderson, who entered the game as the nation's ninth-leading rusher, carried the ball 29 times for 255 yards and two touchdowns for Tulane (2–4, 1–2).
Down 21–14 at halftime, UTEP inched back on a 28-yard field goal from Jose Martinez in the third quarter, then took the lead for good on a 68-yard bomb to Jeff Moturi with 4:22 remaining in the game.
UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe hit Jeff Moturi with a 6-yard pass, Kris Adams with a 22-yard strike and a 1-yarder to Jamar Hunt for a score.
By the second quarter, Tulsa had turned up the heat, rattling Vittatoe with a variety of blitzes and holding the Miners scoreless, while the Golden Hurricane scored 28 consecutive points.
Tarrion Adams, who finished with 115 yards, scored two touchdown in the third quarter that gave Tulsa a 63–35 advantage and UTEP lost all fight after that.
UTEP vs. Tulsa - College Football Game Recap - October 18, 2008 Chase Clement threw for 372 yards and accounted for six TDs, and Rice matched its best conference record in nearly a half-century with a 49–44 win over Texas-El Paso on Saturday night.
UTEP kept close, and a third touchdown pass from Trevor Vittatoe to Jeff Moturi with 1:23 left gave the Miners hope before their onside kick attempt failed.
Gerren Blount intercepted Vittatoe and returned it 55 yards for the opening score, but UTEP answered with 1:51 left in the first quarter on Jeff Moturi's fifth touchdown reception in the last three games.
By Halftime, The UTEP defense played perhaps its best half of the season, holding the Louisiana-Lafayette to three offensive points and the Miners led 16–10 at the intermission.
– The UTEP football team picked up its second road win of the year on Saturday with a 37–24 victory against Louisiana-Lafayette at Cajun Field.
Trevor Vittatoe threw for 410 yards and connected with Kris Adams for three touchdowns to lead UTEP to a 36–10 victory over SMU on Saturday night.
[15] As Conference USA foes, the Cougars held a 2–3 all-time record against the Miners, whereas both wins came consecutively during the 2006 and 2007 meetings of the teams.
