# 2021 New Mexico Bowl

The 2021 New Mexico Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 18, 2021, with kickoff at 2:15 p.m. EST (12:15 p.m. local MST) on ESPN. It was the 16th edition of the New Mexico Bowl, and was one of the 2021–22 bowl games concluding the 2021 FBS football season. Due to sponsorship from video game PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds Mobile, the game was branded as the 2021 PUBG Mobile New Mexico Bowl.

## Teams

Consistent with conference tie-ins, the game will be played between teams from the Conference USA (C-USA) and Mountain West Conference (MWC). The bowl also has a tie-in with the American Athletic Conference (AAC).
This will be the thirteenth meeting between UTEP and Fresno State; the Bulldogs lead the all-time series 8-3-1. From 1992 until 2004, both teams were together as members of the Western Athletic Conference.

### UTEP Miners

The Miner started out their season at 2-0, after beating both New Mexico State and Bethune–Cookman (FCS). The program suffered its first loss against Boise State. Following the loss they won 4 games in a row against with a record of 6-1, New Mexico, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, and Louisiana Tech. After the 4 game winning streak, they followed up 3 straight losses to Florida Atlantic, UTSA and North Texas. The Miners ended their 4 game losing streak with a win over Rice. To end their season UTEP lost to UAB for a final record of 7-5.

### Fresno State Bulldogs
## Game summary

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| UTEP | 7 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 24 |
| Fresno State | 9 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 31 |
at Dreamstyle Stadium • Albuquerque, New Mexico
* Date: Saturday, December 18, 2021
* Game time: 2:15 p.m. EST (12:15 p.m. local MST)
* Game weather: Sunny • Temperature: 40 °F (4 °C) • Wind: S 6 mph
* Game attendance: 16,422
* Referee: David Siegle
* TV announcers (ESPN): John Schriffen (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst), and Stormy Buonantony (sideline)
* Box score
Scoring summary :
| Quarter | Time | Drive | Drive | Drive | Team | Scoring information | Score | Score |
| Quarter | Time | Plays | Yards | TOP | Team | Scoring information | UTEP | FRES |
| 1 | 12:44 | 5 | 75 | 2:16 | Fresno State | Jordan Mims 2-yard touchdown run, Cesar Silva kick failed | 0 | 6 |
| 1 | 9:03 | 7 | 80 | 3:36 | UTEP | Trent Thompson 1-yard touchdown reception from Gavin Hardison, Gavin Baechle kick good | 7 | 6 |
| 1 | 1:31 | 11 | 52 | 5:06 | Fresno State | 42-yard field goal by Cesar Silva | 7 | 9 |
| 2 | 14:49 | 6 | 54 | 1:42 | UTEP | 38-yard field goal by Gavin Baechle | 10 | 9 |
| 2 | 6:54 | 10 | 70 | 4:01 | UTEP | Ronald Awatt 1-yard touchdown run, Gavin Baechle kick good | 17 | 9 |
| 2 | 1:52 | 10 | 75 | 5:02 | Fresno State | Jordan Mims 1-yard touchdown run, Cesar Silva kick good | 17 | 16 |
| 2 | 0:04 | 7 | 43 | 0:38 | Fresno State | 45-yard field goal by Cesar Silva | 17 | 19 |
| 3 | 1:17 | 8 | 85 | 3:50 | Fresno State | Jordan Mims 22-yard touchdown reception from Jake Haener, Cesar Silva kick good | 17 | 26 |
| 4 | 14:10 | 5 | 75 | 2:07 | UTEP | Trent Thompson 51-yard touchdown reception from Calvin Brownholtz, Gavin Baechle kick good | 24 | 26 |
| 4 | 9:04 | 13 | 71 | 5:06 | Fresno State | 21-yard field goal by Cesar Silva | 24 | 29 |
| 4 | 7:05 | | | | Fresno State | UTEP fumble recovered in own end zone for a safety | 24 | 31 |
| "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. | 24 | 31 |

### Statistics

| Statistics | UTEP | FRES |
| First downs | 16 | 25 |
| Plays–yards | 57–398 | 76–467 |
| Rushes–yards | 28–95 | 35–181 |
| Passing yards | 303 | 286 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 13–29–1 | 26–41–0 |
| Time of possession | 25:17 | 34:43 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 12/27, 252 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT |
| UTEP | Rushing | Ronald Awatt | 14 carries, 40 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Receiving | Tyrin Smith | 3 receptions, 61 yards |
| Fresno State | Passing | Jake Haener | 26/41, 286 yards, 1 TD |
| Fresno State | Rushing | Jordan Mims | 29 carries, 165 yards, 2 TD |
| Fresno State | Receiving | Jalen Cropper | 9 receptions, 72 yards |