SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 12, 2014
Texas-El Paso 42, Old Dominion 35: Autrey Golden hauled in a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes to help the host Miners capture their first Conference USA victory of the season.
Josh Bell had three scores on the ground and Nathan Jeffery added another for Texas-El Paso (3-3, 1-1 C-USA), which netted 334 yards rushing and held the ball for 41:26. Aaron Jones ran for 103 yards on 18 carries and Jameill Showers passed for 152 yards with two scores.
Taylor Heinicke threw for 196 yards and three touchdowns for Old Dominion (3-4, 1-3 C-USA), which lost its third straight game despite overcoming a 14-point deficit at the break. Ray Lawry paced the run game with 117 yards and two scores while Zach Pascal, David Washington and Marques Little had one receiving score apiece.
The Miners led 21-7 at intermission after Jeffery and Bell capped off a pair of 75-yard drives with rushing touchdowns in the second quarter. Lawry pulled the Monarchs within 28-21 after touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards in the third stanza, sandwiching Bell's last rushing score of the night.
An intentional grounding penalty by punter Mike Ruggles on fourth down gave Old Dominion the ball at the 1-yard line in enemy territory and Heinicke hit Washington with a short pass to even it up at 28 inside of three minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Miners bled the clock on a 16-play, 91-yard drive that lasted nearly 10 minutes before Showers connected with Golden for the go-ahead score and Golden added a second touchdown catch of 32 yards with 2:03 to go for good measure to fend off the upset-minded Monarchs.