Final Score: Southern Mississippi 56, Texas-El Paso 30

El Paso, TX (Sports Network) - Damion Fletcher ran for 211 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to a commanding 56-30 win over the Miners of Texas-El Paso in Conference USA action at Sun Bowl Stadium.

Fletcher carried the ball 34 times for Southern Miss (6-5, 5-3 CUSA) as the squad finished with 363 yards rushing and six touchdowns on the ground overall. Jeremy Young added 205 yards and two touchdowns through the air on 10-of-22 passing for the visitors.

The Miners (4-7, 2-5) were paced by Trevor Vittatoe who converted 19-of-42 for 290 yards and two scores, but he was also picked off once and sacked three times in the setback.

UTEP put the first points on the board as Vittatoe connected with Jeff Moturi on a 13-yard scoring strike at the 10:24 mark of the first quarter.

The Golden Eagles then scored back to back one-yard touchdown runs by Marcus Raines and Fletcher to surge ahead, 14-7.

A 38-yard field goal by Miners kicker Jose Martinez closed the gap to 14-10 heading into the break.

Wideout Gerald Baptiste reeled in a 53-yard touchdown pass from Young to open the second half, and thanks to a three-yard TD run by Fletcher six minutes later USM had itself a comfortable 28-10 advantage.

However, moments later it was Vittatoe who struck with a 77-yard TD pass to Joe West, followed by a Marcus Thomas three-yard touchdown run. But in between Young hooked up with Torris Magee for a 55-yard scoring play.

With the score 35-23 in favor of Southern Miss heading into the final frame, the visiting squad began to pull away, courtesy of a 13-yard TD run by Fletcher, a one-yard scoring run by Tory Harrison and a two-yard effort by Harrison later in the frame after Thomas scored on a seven-yard run for UTEP.

USM generated 568 yards on 84 plays, converting 8-of-15 on third down in the process.