EL PASO, Texas (KFOX 14, CBS4) \u2014 TK King scored the go-ahead touchdown with 0:21 remaining to give the New Mexico State Aggies the 34-31 victory over UTEP at the Sun Bowl in the 102nd Battle of I-10. <\/p>\n
NMSU moves to 4-7. UTEP falls to 2-9. <\/p>\n
UTEP came out of the gates firing. The Miners scored on their first three possessions and forced two turnovers to jump out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. In the second quarter, NMSU battled back and tied the game at 21 going into halftime. In the fourth quarter, the Aggies took a 27-24 lead from a David Barker field goal. With 0:56 remaining, Kenny Odom made an incredible touchdown catch to put UTEP on top 31-27. However, the Aggies drove down the field and with 0:21, King made the unbelievable toe tap catch to win it for NMSU. <\/p>\n
“I know our guys are tough and have a lot of grit to them,” NMSU head coach Tony Sanchez said after the game. “I didn’t worry about them going home and folding the tent. They are tougher than that, and they showed it.”<\/p>\n
“[This win] means everything to me,” NMSU wide receiver Donovan Faupel said. “Last year, they did to us what we just did. It means a lot, especially since we won’t play them for a while, so it was good to beat up on them.” <\/p>\n
This loss now makes it four straight losses to UTEP and the Miners drop to 1-6 in C-USA play. <\/p>\n
“In the first quarter, we were on point,” UTEP head coach Scotty Walden said. “To go from such a high to such a low is disappointing. Loved the start, but we are just too inconsistent.” <\/p>\n
With UTEP’s move to the Mountain West next year, the future of this rivalry is in question. College football out-of-conference schedules are made years in advance, so it is unclear when the next time these two rivals will clash on the gridiron. Despite Saturday’s disappointment, Walden emphasized the need to keep the rivalry alive in the future. <\/p>\n
“We have to find a way to keep this thing going,” Walden said. “It is too good for the communities. What makes this special is proximity and these two institutions have played 102 times.” <\/p>\n
The Aggies will finish up their 2025 season at home on Saturday against Middle Tennessee State. UTEP will travel to the East Coast to face Delaware. <\/p>\n
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