EL PASO, Texas — Gavin Hardison threw for a touchdown and ran for another TD and Gavin Baechle kicked a 27-yard field goal — his program-record 51st career made field goal — as time expired and UTEP beat Florida Atlantic 24-21 Saturday night.
Baechle made field goals of 29 to open the second early in the second quarter and 32 yards with 30 seconds left in the period and FAU took a 7-6 lead into halftime. The senior finished the day 3 for 3 when he made his 15th consecutive field-goal attempt to cap the scoring.
Deion Hankins ran for 138 yards on 17 carries for UTEP (4-4, 2-2 Conference USA). Hardison was 16-of-26 passing for 178 yards with an interception.
Hardison scored on a 5-yard run, and then hit Trent Thompson for the 2-point conversion, late in the third quarter and added a 4-yard TD pass to Reynaldo Flores early in the fourth that gave the Miners a 21-14 lead.
FAU's N'Kosi Perry threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Austin Evans about 8 minutes later. Morgan Suarez's PAT attempt was blocked and the Miners returned it for a 2-point conversion but a UTEP penalty gave Florida Atlantic (3-5, 2-2) a second chance at the kick, which Suarez made to tie the score at 21-all.