UTEP Miners

No. 11 Texas rolls past UTEP for 2-0 start to season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Texas football got off to a bit of a slow start against UTEP in Week 2. But the Horns figured it out and poured it on in the second half, finishing the night with a 41-7 win over the Miners.

The Texas Longhorns returned to the AP Top 25 with a huge season opening win over Notre Dame last weekend. After a strong second half in Week 2, it looked like the Longhorns were on a mission to prove doubters wrong.

After a shaky first half, the Longhorns opened up the floodgates in the second half. Chris Warren capped off a 12 play 52 yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run to push the Longhorns lead to 20 early in the third quarter.

The Longhorns would then score on their next three trips down the field to balloon their lead to 41-7. Shane Buechele led Texas with 22-of-27 passing for 244 yards passing and four touchdowns. He also ran the ball 11 times for 34 yards.

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Warren led the Longhorns on the ground, rushing for 95 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. He stepped into the starting lineup with D’Onta Freeman sidelined with a minor injury.

Texas’ defense was solid in the third quarter, allowing just 15 total yards from the Miners. UTEP’s lone touchdown came in the opening quarter when Aaron Jones ran for a score as part of his total 123 yards rushing on 18 carries.

The dominating win made up for the unusual first half for the Longhorns. The team took uncharacteristically careless penalties. There were some breakdowns on the offensive line, but those were due to injuries. Overall, it was a disjointed and disappointing effort in the first half, despite their 20-7 advantage at the break.

The real tests for the team will be in the coming weeks when they play at Cal, at Oklahoma State, and against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Up next: Texas is now 2-0 on the season. They return to the field next Saturday against Cal in their first road game of the season.