EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — UTEP (0-5, 0-2 Conference USA) suffered a 41-21 loss to Sam Houston (5-1, 2-0 Conference USA) at the Sun Bowl on Thursday night. FINAL: SHSU 41, UTEP 21Sam Houston too hot to stop tonight. Bearkats improve to 5-1 on the season.UTEP falls to 0-5 on the year.— Sam Guzman (@SamGuzmanTV) October 4, 2024 The Sam Houston offense was too hot to stop in the Conference USA contest. SHSU collected a total of 517 yards. SHSU rushed for 293 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns. DJ McKinney led SHSU in rushing in the game with 138 yards on 14 carries and scored two touchdowns. Jay Ducker scored the Bearkats' other rushing touchdown. 39 of his 70 yards came off of a 39-yard rushing touchdown in the first quarter to give his team a 7-0 lead over UTEP. McKinney is just... gone!📺 | Watch live on @CBSSportsNet#EatEmUpKats pic.twitter.com/boFOEfSsc0— Sam Houston Football (@BearkatsFB) October 4, 2024 SHSU quarterback Hunter Watson accounted for all 224 of the team's passing yards. Watson completed 19-of-29 passes and threw two touchdown passes. Qua’Vez Humphreys (@_qmoneyyy_) and Hunter Watson (@hunterkwatson) are really good at football.📺 - @CBSSportsNet@BearkatsFB | #NoHayLimites pic.twitter.com/PXmMhjYzQ4— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) October 4, 2024 UTEP's offense struggled to move the ball in Thursday night's contest. UTEP had 70 total yards of offense after the first half of play. UTEP's offense picked it up in the second half, recording 253 yards of total offense to end the game with 323 total yards. Penalties continued to be a problem for UTEP's offense. UTEP recorded 12 penalties for 120 yards in the game. That was the most penalties since the Miners collected 14 penalties for 122 yards against Southern Utah on Sept. 7. at the Sun Bowl. UTEP had a season-high four turnovers (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions). "Our kids are playing hard, there's no question about that. At some point, we have to stop killing ourselves," UTEP head coach Scotty Walden said postgame. "I felt we stopped ourselves more than they stopped us." Cade McConnell took every snap of the game in his first start at quarterback at the season. McConnell completed 15-of-28 passes for 204 yards, had one touchdown pass, and an interception. Marcus Vinson with the 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 !!!📺 - CBS#PicksUp pic.twitter.com/ToESrHdzCO— UTEP Football (@UTEPFB) October 4, 2024 Ezell Jolly, a redshirt freshman UTEP head coach Scotty Walden has been high on, had a breakout game. Jolly set a season-high in rushing yards (76) and scored his first career rushing touchdown at UTEP. 🚨🚨𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐄𝐙𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐉𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐘🚨🚨📺 - CBS#PicksUp pic.twitter.com/YVQZWRlY4H— UTEP Football (@UTEPFB) October 4, 2024 UP NEXT UTEP will face off against Western Kentucky at L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Kentucky on Thursday, Oct. 10. Sam Houston will enter its bye week.