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Nov. 21, 2009
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Donald Buckram ran for 147 yards to shatter a UTEP single-season rushing record that had stood for 61 years, but the Miners lost at Rice, 30-29, on Saturday afternoon.
Buckram has 1,569 yards rushing this year, eclipsing the 1,546 gained by Fred Wendt during an All-American season in 1948.
He missed a chance to supplant Fresno State's Ryan Mathews as the nation's leading rusher, however. Buckram is averaging 142.6 yards per game to Mathews' 149.1.
For a while, it looked like Buckram was on the way to his fourth 200-yard game of the season. He had 115 yards on 18 carries by halftime, but was limited to 32 yards on 16 attempts after the break.
The game followed an all-too-familiar script for the Miners (3-8, 2-5 C-USA), who dropped their fifth game by a touchdown or less this season to set a school record.
It was a familiar refrain for UTEP in the city of Houston, too. The Miners, who were ahead 29-17 with less than 10 minutes to play, blew a big fourth quarter lead for the third straight time in "H-Town." UTEP was ahead 48-28 at Rice in the fourth quarter in 2007 before losing 56-48, and the Miners led 35-23 in the final period at Houston in 2008 before falling 42-37.
UTEP shot itself in the foot time and time again in the second half of this game, losing four fumbles, including three in the fourth quarter. The Miners had lost just three fumbles all year coming into the contest.
"A friend of mine said we invent ways to lose, and that's the way it has been, particularly this month," UTEP coach Mike Price said. "We just couldn't do anything right in the second half. Too many errors in the kicking game and fumbles."
The Miners ran 35 plays for 158 yards in the second half, and had a particularly woeful third quarter with four drives of 10 yards or fewer.
"I think their defensive linemen, particularly their ends, just whipped us (in the second half)," Price said. "They came underneath us, they knocked us down, they rushed the passer and they tackled the quarterback. It was just really poor. It looked like we were playing Texas."
The UTEP defense did its part, holding Rice to 227 yards, the fewest by a Miner opponent in 2009.
The Miners will close out the season with a home game versus Marshall next Saturday (Nov. 28) at 1 p.m.
 
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