Nov 20 | Football
EL PASO, Texas (Ticker) -- Jordan Palmer continued his hot passing for No. 24 Texas-El Paso. Palmer threw for a season-high 339 yards and five touchdowns as the Miners won their seventh straight game by defeating SMU, 57-27, in a Western Athletic Conference game.
UTEP (8-2, 6-1 WAC) gained 528 yards and scored 45 consecutive points after falling behind, 20-10, in the second quarter.
Palmer, the younger brother of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, has thrown for 1,323 yards and 19 touchdowns in his last five games. He completed 20-of-27 passes against the Mustangs.
Palmer hit Casey Mauch and Chris Marrow with TD passes just before halftime to give UTEP a 24-20 lead at intermission.
The Miners scored all 28 points in the third quarter. Palmer tossed a pair of touchdowns to Johnnie Lee Higgins and one to Jason Boyd, who had six receptions for 122 yards.
Defensive back Quintin Demps intercepted Tony Eckert in the third quarter and raced 43 yards to the end zone to make it 45-20.
Eckert was 7-of-13 for 76 yards and shared time with Jerad Romo, who was 14-of-20 for 158 yards and was sacked five times.
SMU (3-8, 3-5) lost in its bid for its first three-game win streak since 1999.
