EL PASO, Texas (AP) — TK King caught the go-ahead touchdown pass for New Mexico State to win the 102nd Battle of I-10 with 21 seconds left, 34-31 over UTEP on Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale for both teams.
With just over a minute to play, on fourth-and-11, Skyler Locklear connected with Jaylan Brown for a 34-yard catch on the right sideline to put UTEP into field goal range. Kenny Odom scored on a 28-yard toss over his shoulder that he grabbed with one hand to take the lead, 31-27 with 56 seconds left.
Aggies quarterback Adam Damonte completed two passes to get New Mexico State from its own 25 to UTEP’s 44. Dijon Stanley rushed for 25 yards to set the offense up for King’s catch to win the program’s 40th Silver Spade Trophy.
Damonte, in his first start for New Mexico State, completed 29 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Stanley finished with 106 rushing yards.
UTEP (2-9, 1-6 Conference USA) scored 21 points in the first quarter. Locklear threw a 27-yard pass to Wondame Davis Jr. and rushed for a 1-yard score.
New Mexico State (4-7, 2-5) countered with a 21-point run of its own in the second quarter, off two touchdown throws by Damonte to Donovan Faupel and a 53-yard run up the middle by Stanley, keeping the game even going into halftime.
Both teams traded field goals to keep the game tied at 24. New Mexico State kicker David Barker drilled a kick from 24 yards out to take the lead, 27-24.
Locklear threw two touchdowns and set a single-season QB rushing touchdown record with his eighth touchdown of the season.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
