The Miners showcased a new look Saturday evening -- donning long-awaited pickax helmets -- but came away with a familiar result in front of 30,119 Sun Bowl fans.

Aaron Jones rushed for the third-most yards in school history with a career high 249 (2 TDs), while newcomer Zack Greenlee threw for 3 touchdowns off 229 yards passing, as UTEP outmatched NMSU 38-22 for its eighth consecutive football Battle of I-10 victory.

The game's first three drives started out with three consecutive punts -- two from the Aggies and another from the Miners.

On UTEP's second possession of the game, Aaron Jones took a 37-yard scamper to the house with the drive's first carry -- giving UTEP the early 7-0 lead, 10:18 in the first.

After a punt from each team and an NMSU field goal ended the quarter, the second quarter started with an Aaron Jones 18-yard run and UTEP leading 7-3.

The Miners then continued their conservative play calling, and Jay Mattox put them back up by a touchdown with 11:11 in the half.

With UTEP continuing to deliver on defense, the Miners finally opened up the playbook following the Aggies' fourth punt of the game.

Zack Greenlee threw up a deep ball to Cole Freytag, and the former El Paso Coronado Thunderbird hauled it in for a 46-yard touchdown -- putting the Miners up 17-3 with 7:34 in the half.

UTEP forced a fifth NMSU punt on the ensuing possession, and the Miners drove 87 yards on their next drive -- finishing with a 3-yard Greenlee pass to former El Paso Montwood Ram Warren Redix with 0:09 on the clock: 24-3 Miner lead.

The teams then went scoreless through the first seven minutes of the third quarter.

After the Miners downed the Aggies at their own 1-yard line with 7:57 on the clock, NMSU drove the ball 99 yards to make it 24-10.

UTEP quickly answered with a 75-yard drive of its own -- capped by an 11-yard connection from Greenlee to Hayden Plinke -- and the Miners led 31-10 with 1:12 in the third quarter.

The Aggies answered back with a 75-yard drive to end the third quarter down 31-16 (failed extra point).

To start the fourth quarter, Aaron Jones captured the play of the game with a 75-yard sprint to the end zone in 13 seconds -- seemingly putting an end to all hopes of an Aggie comeback: 38-16 UTEP.

NMSU punted again, and the next Miner possession put some hope back in the eyes of Aggie fans.

On the fourth play of the drive, NMSU's DeMarcus Owens recovered a UTEP fumble and returned it 50 yards as the clock read 12:18. After a failed Aggie two-point conversion attempt, NMSU trailed just by 16.

That turned out to be the game, however. UTEP punted on its next drive after 2 minutes, 7 seconds, NMSU then took 3:35 off the clock with a drive that resulted in a failed fourth-down conversion attempt, and the Miners ran out the final 6:36 -- marching from their own 29-yard line to the NMSU 11.

The Miners now take their new look to Austin for the game of the year: the Texas Longhorns Sep. 10.