EL PASO, TEXAS – Ray Lawry rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as Old Dominion University Football grinded out 261 yards of offense in the second half to defeat UTEP 31-21 Saturday night in El Paso.

UTEP (2-6, 1-4) took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove 75 yards in nearly nine minutes and scored on an Aaron Jones five-yard touchdown run to take a 13-7 lead. Rashaad Coward blocked the extra point.

Old Dominion (5-3, 3-1) followed with a seven play, 75-yard drive capped by a 15-yard touchdown pass from David Washington to Melvin Vaughn . On the play, Washington scrambled left and flipped a pass to Vaughn who broke two tackles and dove into the end zone to give ODU a 17-13 lead.

The Monarchs added to its lead as Lawry broke free for a 40-yard touchdown run. Lawry's run gave him his 31st career rushing touchdown, the ODU career record.

Early in the fourth quarter ODU padded its lead with another Lawry score, this from a yard out. The score was set up by a 77-yard catch and run from Washington to Jonathan Duhart , the longest play so far this season for ODU.

UTEP added a late Ryan Metz to Cole Freytag touchdown for the final margin.

ODU kicked off the scoring with an efficient 12 play, 75-yard drive capped by a David Washington to Travis Fulgham seven-yard touchdown reception. Washington hit Zach Pascal for a 22-yard first down on third and seven and Jeremy Cox converted a fourth and one a play before the touchdown.

Following a Sean Carter interception, ODU failed to pick up a first down but Brad Davis drilled a career long 43-yard field goal for a 10-0 ODU lead midway through the first quarter

UTEP closed the gap to 10-7 right before halftime, driving 91-yards in 13 plays as Aaron Jones hit Hayden Plinke for a three-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the half.

Washington completed 14-of-22 passes for 262 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Duhart had five catches for 155 yards while Fulgham had three receptions for 44 yards and Zach Pascal had three grabs for 42 yards.

Anthony Wilson , TJ Ricks , Sean Carter and Brandon Addison each had six tackles for the defense. Carter had an interception as Bunmi Rotimi had 1.5 sacks.