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EL PASO, Texas – After getting shut out in the first half, WKU Football scored three touchdowns in the second half to come away with a 21-13 victory over UTEP on Saturday at Sun Bowl Stadium.
WKU improved to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in Conference USA play this season with the win.
"Really proud of our football team tonight, especially our defense," WKU Head Coach Tyson Helton said. "They battled so hard, they had so many fourth-down stops, and came up with critical turnovers when we needed them.
"Really happy for our offense in the second half. In the first half, we kind of were treading uphill with the passing game – they were playing a lot of two-man and they made it really hard on the passing game. We got a good game plan together at halftime and tried to establish the run. We did that the second half and were able to put some drives together. It just was a good team win. We wanted to be 1-0 in November and we were able to do that, accomplish that, and still get to control our destiny."
The WKU defense held the Miners (3-7, 2-4) to just a 22-yard field goal over the first two quarters, and gave the team momentum entering the break by halting the hosts on fourth down in the final minute of the second quarter after reaching the WKU 3-yard line.
The Hilltoppers forced another turnover on downs out of the break, and on their second offensive play of the second half, Elijah Young broke free for a 64-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3.
"Really, I just seen where the backers were pulling," Young said. "They were flowing heavy to that side, so I seen my crease, my one-on-one with their safety, and ended up getting loose off that and just off with the burners."
It was the start of a big half from the junior running back. Young finished with 139 yards and two touchdowns on 12 rushing attempts – an average of 11.6 yards per run. WKU rushed for 178 yards on 32 attempts in total, and the Hilltoppers recorded 280 yards in the game.
WKU got the ball back with an interception from Davion Williams and put together a long 16-play, 54-yard scoring drive capped off by a reverse play to Malachi Corley, who found the end zone from 3 yards out to give the Hilltoppers a 14-3 lead with 14 seconds left in the third quarter.
"That fourth-down stop (after halftime) was very important," Williams said. "It just gave us a lot of momentum. The interception I got, I just feel like I made a great play for my teammate and God did his justice."
UTEP responded with a quick strike – a 62- yard touchdown pass on the second play of the fourth quarter – to make it 14-10.
On the next possession, Young reached across the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown to cap off a 10-play, 53-yard drive. He set up the play with a 22-yard run the play before.
UTEP added a 31-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining and attempted an onside kick, but Young recovered it and WKU ran out the clock in the 21-13 victory.
WKU will return home for its next two games, starting with a 2:30 p.m. CT homecoming game against New Mexico State on Saturday, Nov. 11.
For all the latest on WKU Football, follow @WKUFootball on Twitter and Instagram, and like the WKU Football Facebook page.
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