North Texas pummels UTEP 41-7

Published Nov. 9, 2013 8:13 p.m. ET

foxsports

Brandin Byrd rushed for 202 yards and a pair of touchdowns as North Texas walloped UTEP 41-7 on Saturday.

The win keeps North Texas (7-3, 5-1 Conference USA) atop the C-USA West Division standings, a half-game ahead of Rice. The Mean Green defeated Rice a week ago.

Mean Green defense smothered UTEP (1-9, 0-5), blocking a punt and a field goal, tying the school record of eight sacks and allowing a season-low 184 yards of total offense.

North Texas piled up 471 yards of total offense, including 317 on the ground. Byrd scored TD runs of 2 and 82 yards and his 202-yard total is a career-best.

UTEP's Mack Leftwich, despite the eight sacks, completed 14 of 20 passes for 128 yards and a 22-yard TD to Jordan Leslie. Five North Texas defenders registered sacks, including Zach Orr who had a game-high 12 tackles.