RUSTON, La. -- J'Mar Smith broke off a 43-yard touchdown sprint to give Louisiana Tech a late lead and the Bulldogs held off UTEP 31-24 on Saturday afternoon.
UTEP, which has lost 19 straight games, was close to victory for a second week in a row after the Miners lost to North Texas 27-24 last week.
Louisiana Tech (5-2, 3-1 Conference USA) took a 17-7 lead into halftime. But the Bulldogs could not shake the Miners as UTEP tied the score when Brandon Jones ran in from the 1 and Jason Filley booted a 36-yard field goal to make it 24-24 with 11:23 left in the game.