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EL PASO, Texas (Ticker) -- Rocky Perez threw three touchdown passes as Texas-El Paso pulled away early and held on for a 37-20 Western Athletic Conference victory over Southern Methodist. After losing their first six encounters with the Mustangs, the Miners (1-1, 1-0 WAC) pounded SMU, 42-28, in last year's Sun Bowl. Tonight, they wasted no time jumping out in front. Perez hit running back Chris Porter with a three-yard touchdown pass to cap the Miners' opening drive with 10:16 left in the first quarter. Perez completed 13-of-19 passes for 206 yards without an interception. He followed a pair of field goals by Ricky Bishop by finding Lee Mays with a 37-yard scoring strike to open a 20-0 bulge with 7:29 remaining in the first half. Josh McCown did his best to get the Mustangs (1-1, 0-1 WAC) back in it, firing a 15-yard TD pass to Chris Cunningham on the ensuing drive. But Perez again connected with Mays, this time from 34 yards, to make it 27-7 at the half. McCown was 22-of-46 for 420 yards with two interceptions. He threw a 38-yard TD pass to Johnnie Freeman midway through the fourth quarter and scored on a 15-yard run with just over three minutes to play as SMU closed to 30-20. UTEP freshman Rovann Cleveland capped the scoring on a 42-yard run with 1:58 remaining. Cleveland had 105 yards on 10 carries and Mays 143 on six.
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