The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Notes For The Memphis Game
10/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 22, 2001
THE GAME: UAB at MEMPHIS, Saturday, Oct. 27.
KICKOFF: Set for 1:00 pm CDT at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (62,380/Grass) in Memphis, Tenn.
THE TEAMS: UAB is 3-4 (2-2 C-USA) and coming off a 34-27 Homecoming win over Tulane last Saturday (Oct. 20) at Legion Field. Memphis is 4-3 (2-2 C-USA) and coming off a 32-11 loss at East Carolina in Greenville, N.C. on Saturday (Oct. 20).
THE COACHES: Memphis' Tommy West is 4-3 in his first season as head coach of the Tigers (35-31 in his sixth season as a collegiate head coach). UAB's Watson Brown is 34-39 in his seventh season at UAB (66-116-1 in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach).
THE SERIES: Memphis leads 2-1. Last season, the Blazers held on for a 13-9 victory at Legion Field (Oct.14, 2000) in UAB quarterback Jeff Aaron's debut as a starter (Aaron threw for 144 yards and led two late scoring drives to seal the victory).
TELEVISION: Live telecast in the Birmingham area on WABM-TV 68, the game will also be part of Saturday's ESPN+ package. Chris Stewart will handle the play-by-play descriptions, with former Blazer quarterback John Whitcomb providing color commentary. Satelllite coordinates: (KU) Galaxy 11-K, Transponder 13 (Position-91? West, Polarization-Horizontal, Downlink Frequency-11960 MHZ, Audio-6.2/6.8).
RADIO: The game will be broadcast live on the UAB Blazers Radio Network on stations throughout the state of Alabama and in Birmingham on the Blazers' flagship station, WAPI AM 1070. Gary Sanders is in his 23rd season as the play-by-play voice of the Blazers (and his 11th broadcasting UAB football games). Sanders will be joined in the booth by color commentator Matt Coulter (now in his fifth season with the UAB Broadcast crew), as well as producer/engineer and jack-of-all-trades Jon Gentile (now in his fourth year with UAB) and spotter/sideline reporter/legal advisor Bill Lewis. Saturday's broadcast will begin with the pre-game show at 12:30 pm CDT live from the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
UAB FOOTBALL RADIO NETWORK Birmingham (Flagship): WAPI-AM 1070 Mobile: WKSJ AM 1270 Florence/Muscle Shoals: WZNN-AM 620 Roanoke: WELR-AM 1360 LaGrange, Ga.: WLAG-AM 1240
GREAT DEFENSE: The UAB defense, which held one of the nation's top offensive teams -- Tulane -- to 205 total yards last week (the Green Wave was averaging 462 yards per game), has the following national rankings this week: Total Defense - 3rd (allowing 246.0 yards per game) Rushing Defense - 4th (allowing 52.86 yards per game) Scoring Defense - 21st (allowing 18.57 ponts per game) Pass Efficiency Defense - 29th (opponents have a 105.45 rating) Pass Defense - 39th (allowing 193.14 yards per game)
MORE ABOUT THE MEMPHIS SERIES: UAB will make its second-ever appearance at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Saturday's game at Memphis. The Blazers played a non-conference game vs. the Tigers in Memphis in 1997 (UAB did not become a football member of Conference USA until 1999), losing 28-7 (9/6/97). Memphis won the first meeting between the two in Birmingham, spoiling UAB's Homecoming festivities with a 38-14 win on a rainy, gloomy night at Legion Field (10/9/99), and the Blazers held on for a 13-9 win in last season's slugfest at Legion Field (10/14/00).
COX DOES IT AGAIN: Redshirt junior Thomas Cox improved his record as the Blazers' starting quarterback to 3-0 in last week's game vs. Tulane. Cox, who started the 1999 upset victory over #17 East Carolina at Legion Field and the 2000 upset of LSU in Baton Rouge, filled in for the injured Jeff Aaron in last week's game and led the Blazers to a 34-27 Homecoming victory. In the process, he set a new UAB single-game marks for quarterback rushing yards (177) and attempts (26), and ran for two touchdowns, including a 45-yard scamper on an option play in the first quarter (Cox also scored two rushing TDs in the 1999 East Carolina win).
AARON'S ANKLE: Blazer quarterback Jeff Aaron's status is uncertain for Saturday's game at Memphis, Aaron sat out the Tulane game (10/20) with a high sprain of the left ankle (technically known as "syndesmosis"), suffered vs. Cincinnati (10/13). Aaron attended all practice sessions last week and worked out on his own, but did not participated in active drills and did not dress for the Tulane game.
"B.T." GETS THE RECORD: Senior defensive end Bryan Thomas' two sacks in the Tulane game (10/20) gave him 30 for his UAB career (1998- ), and made him the Blazers' all-time sack leader, breaking the previous mark of 29 set by Rodney Foster (1991-94). Thomas led UAB with 10 sacks in 2000, and leads the team again this season with nine.
GUYS NAMED 'NICK' STEP UP vs. TULANE: Redshirt freshman placekicker Nick Hayes kicked field goals of 46 and 47 yards, and was 4-4 on PATs, senior linebacker Nick Stewart had five tackles (three solo, two for loss), three pass breakups, and sealed the victory with an interception of a Patrick Ramsey pass on the Green Wave's final possession.
A RECORD HELD BY THREE: Nick Hayes' 47-yard field goal vs. Tulane (10/20) tied the UAB record for the team's Division I-A era, also held by Jake Arians and Rhett Gallego. The 47-yarder was Hayes' career long to date. The mark for longest field goal in UAB history -- 52 yards -- was set by Kevin Thomason vs. Mississippi Valley State in 1994.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT TEAMS FROM LOUISIANA?: The Blazers' 307 rushing yards vs. Tulane (10/20) is a season high and the most for the team since the Blazers had 317 vs. Louisiana-Monroe in a 47-0 win at Legion Field on Oct. 2, 1999.
FOUR SCORE: The Blazers rushed for four touchdowns in the Tulane game (10/20), that's the second time UAB has scored four times on the ground in a game this year -- the previous time was vs. Army on Sept. 22.
ALL-TIME AT LEGION FIELD: The Blazers are 41-17-1 (.703) in 11 seasons at Legion Field (1991- ). UAB is 21-10 (.677) at Legion Field in the school's NCAA Division I-A era (1996- ), and 4-5 (.444) all-time at home vs. C-USA opponents (including a 1996 non-league loss to Cincinnati).
BLAZERS STINGY vs. C-USA OPPONENTS: UAB has allowed four C-USA opponents an average of 16.0 points and 214.5 total yards per game this season.
BLAZERS ESPECIALLY TOUGH vs. THE RUN: The UAB Blazer defense has traditionally been very tough vs. the run. UAB opponents rushed for 100+ yards as a team only five times in 2000 and six times in 1999 and have done so once thus far in 2001 (Florida State's 135 net yards, Sept. 8), UAB has held opposing teams under 100 net rushing yards in eight of its last nine games, dating back to the 2000 season. No individual opposing player has broken the 100+-yard barrier since Louisville's Frank Moreau did so vs. the Blazers during the 1999 season (Oct. 30, 1999 in Louisville) -- that's 20 straight games. Southern Miss' Tim Blackwell came as close as anyone has since then, Blackwell finished the game with 97 net rushing yards on 24 carries (he actually had 100 yards but three negative yards brought him back to 97 for the game).
VERY TOUGH: C-USA opponents have averaged 49.5 net rushing yards in the Blazers' four league games this season.
"THE STEEL SHIELD": A nickname that originated with Coach Watson Brown, given to the team's defensive front four -- seniors Bryan Thomas (DE), Eddie Freeman (DT), Rodney Jones (NG) and Marlon Bush (DE). Of late, the nickname has also come to be used in reference to the entire defensive unit, which has been brilliant this season.
FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTE: Although the Blazers can generally be considered a veteran team, there are several true freshmen who have worked their way into roles as either starters or significant backups. They incude running backs Theron Dudley and Kendal Gibson, tight ends Sam Dudley and Chico Cleveland, receiver Roddy White and defensive back Carlos Hendricks.
"MR. TOUCHDOWN": Running back Kendal Gibson has seen most of his playing time in the team's short-yardage package, that makes sense, considering the fact that Gibson, who rushed for over 3,000 yards and 38 touchdowns at Aliceville (Ala.) High School as a senior (2000), weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 240 pounds (a conservative estimate) and has a running style reminiscent of a Mack truck that has lost its brakes. Gibson has scored three rushing touchdowns in five games (20 carries) -- twice on one-yard runs (vs. Central Florida and Tulane -- both on fourth-and-goal) and once on a seven-yard run (vs. Army).
"THE TIGHT END OPTION": Sam Dudley was part of a very unusual play in the Tulane game (10/20), late in the third quarter, with the score tied 24-24, UAB faced a third-and-seven situation at its own 23-yardline. Quarterback Thomas Cox took the snap and rolled to his right, looking to set up running back Jegil Dugger for a possible pitch on the option play. A Tulane defender forced the action a bit sooner than the Blazer quarterback expected, and Cox pitched the ball to the first available Blazer -- tight end Dudley, who had lined up in the backfield and was the lead blocker on the play. The 6-4, 260-pound Dudley calmly took the pitch and barreled ahead for nine yards and a UAB first down, extending a drive that later resulted in a Kendal Gibson touchdown.
RODDY GETS ONE: Receiver Sharod "Roddy" White caught his first career touchdown pass as a collegiate player in the Cincinnati game (Oct. 13), a 24-yarder from Jeff Aaron in the third quarter.
BIG NUMBERS: UAB's 55 points vs. Army (Sept. 22) is the most ever by the Blazers vs. an NCAA Division I-A opponent. The UAB all-time record is 61 points vs. Knoxville College in a I-AA game at Legion Field in 1995, the previous scoring high in the I-A era for the Blazers was 48 vs. Tennesssee-Martin (at the Hoover Met, 1998).
DUGGER WATCH: Senior running back Jegil Dugger has 534 net rushing yards this season on 138 carries (3.9 average) and 1,674 career rushing yards (he's UAB's career leader in the Division I-A era) on 373 carries (4.5 average). Dugger, who is UAB's all-time rushing leader in the school's Division I-A era (1996- ) and second on the Blazers' all-time list (Pat Green leads with 2,817 yards, 1991-94) , scored two TDs vs. Army, giving him 11 for his career (ranking him second in the UAB Division I-A era and third all-time in Blazer football history).
A NOSE FOR THE BALL: Senior linebacker Rod Taylor was credited with 20 tackles in the Southern Miss game (including 17 solo), that is a UAB Division I-A era record, and ties for second all-time in Blazer history. The feat was even more remarkable considering the fact that Taylor played the game (and has done so three times in all) on a sore ankle that was badly sprained in the Florida State game (Sept.8). Taylor leads UAB with 67 total tackles this season (40 solos), three sacks, and an interception.
HUMPHRIES BACK: Speaking of linebackers playing hurt, John Humphries, who backs up Taylor at the "mike" linebacker position, is back on the team's depth chart and ready for action. Humphries, who suffered a broken arm vs. Florida State (Sept. 8), dressed but did not play vs. UCF (Oct. 6) and saw limited action in the Cincinnati game (Oct. 13). He served as a game captain and played vs. Tulane (Oct. 20).
SPEAKING OF LINEBACKERS NAMED TAYLOR: Walk-on linebacker Darrius Taylor (Cherokee, Ala./Cherokee HS) has developed into a terror on special teams. Watch for no. 40 on kickoff and punt coverage, he's usually the one putting a big hit on the ballcarrier. Taylor has 12 total tackles this season (7 solo), virtually all on special teams.
SOUTHALL IN THE RECORD BOOK: Jason Southall's 93-yard kickoff return at UCF (Oct. 6) is the longest in UAB history, scoring or not. Here is a partial list of the top Blazer returns: 93 - Jason Southall at UCF (2001) 85 - Cedric Thatch at Wake Forest (1999) 82 - Darrin Reaves at Hampden-Sydney (1991) 70 - Cedrick Buchannon vs. Southwestern Louisiana (1995) 59 - Jason Southall vs. Tulane (2001) 54 - Cedric Thatch vs. Louisville (2000) 54 - Cedric Thatch at Northeast Louisiana (1998) 52 - Omar Parker vs. Jacksonville State (1997)
SOUTHALL, cont.: The former Midfield High School star has nearly broken two kickoff returns for touchdowns this season (93 yards at UCF, 59 vs. Tulane), as of Oct. 14, he was ranked 11th nationally in kickoff return yards, averaging 29.27 yards per return.
STEWART SHINES: Redshirt junior punter Ross Stewart had his finest game as a Blazer vs. Florida State (Sept. 8), the Blountsville, Ala. native punted six times for 285 yards (a 47.5 average), and had a long kick of 68 yards -- a personal best. Stewart's season average is currently 43.22 yards per punt, good enough to rank him 26th nationally. Nine of Stewart's 32 punts this season have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yardline -- three of those came vs. Tulane (10/20), including one on the Blazers' final offensive possession.
MULTIPLE INTERCEPTIONS: UAB's (four) interceptions in the Army game equals the school's I-A era record, set vs. LSU last season (Sept. 23, 2000) when the Blazers picked off four Tiger passes en route to a 13-10 victory in Baton Rouge. The all-time UAB mark for interceptions in a single game is five (5), set vs. Morehead State in a I-AA game at Legion Field in 1993.
IT'S A FACT: UAB has intercepted at least one pass in 23 of its last 29 games (and in five of seven games this season).
ODDLY ENOUGH: There were two blocked kicks (both field goal attempts) in the UAB-Southern Miss game 9/ 29), but both were apparently inadvertently blocked by the kicking teams, not the defenders.
PITTSBURGH GAME RESCHEDULED: UAB will make up the game at Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 1 at Heinz Field (1:30 pm EST).
STRONG SCHEDULES: The Blazers have ambitious non-conference schedules over the next few seasons that include dates at Florida (2002), at South Carolina (2003), at Florida State (2004), and Tennessee (2005), as well as a home game vs. Pittsburgh (2002), and home-and-home series with Baylor (2003 in Waco, 2004 in Birmingham) and UNLV (2005 in Las Vegas, 2006 in Birmingham).
THOMAS PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTION: Senior defensive end Bryan Thomas was named to the Preseason All-Conference USA Team in July.
AARON, GALLEGO RECEIVE C-USA HONORS: UAB quarterback Jeff Aaron and placekicker Rhett Gallego were honored by Conference USA for their performances in last Saturday's 55-3 win over Army at Legion Field. Aaron, who completed 17 of 23 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score - all in just over one half of play - was named C-USA Offensive Player of The Week. The senior from Montgomery, Ala. (Jeff Davis HS) led scoring drives on all six UAB possessions in the first half. Gallego, a senior from Birmingham (Hueytown HS), earned C-USA Special Teams Player of The Week honors. He made both of his field goal attempts (from 45 and 34 yards) and hit six of six PAT attempts for 11 points in the game. Gallego was named C-USA Player of The Week three times during the 2000 season.
TEAM CAPTAINS: UAB Head Coach Watson Brown selects game captains -- always seniors -- shortly before kickoff each week. Permanent captains are designated following the season.
BROTHERS: The 2001 Blazer team has no less than three (3) sets of brothers on the roster. The most high profile are freshman twins Kendal and Randal Gibson (Aliceville, Ala.). The Gibsons are not, however, the first set of twins to play for the Blazers, Terry and Perry Collier (Munday, Texas) were members of Coach Watson Brown's first UAB team in 1995. Other brothers on the 2001 team include redshirt sophomore offensive tackle Artavious Williams and redshirt freshman noseguard Tony Williams (Montgomery, Ala.), and sophomore receiver Lynorse and sophomore defensive back Anthony Garrett (Cottonwood, Ala.). There was almost another set of brothers on the 2001 team, freshman defensive lineman Ernest Repress (Barnesville, Ga.) and brother Clarence (also a lineman) both signed with the Blazers last spring, but Clarence did not enroll this fall.
CURRENTLY ON NFL ROSTERS (as of Oct. 21): Seven former Blazers, including: Josh Evans (DT) * Tennessee Titans Dainon Sidney (DB) * Tennessee Titans (injured reserve) Izell Reese (DB) * Dallas Cowboys Otis Leverette (DE) * Washington Redskins Rodregis Brooks (DB) * Indianapolis Colts Jake Arians (PK) * Buffalo Bills Carl Fair (RB) * Cleveland Browns (practice squad)
UNIFORM CHANGES: The 2001 Blazers took the field for the Montana State game (Aug. 30) in re-designed uniforms. In addition to style changes on the green game jerseys, the team wore white pants for the first time during the Watson Brown era (1995- ), and also sported green stockings. The new jerseys and pants (as well as the team's shoes) are made by adidas. UAB still has its traditional gold helmet with green stripe and "Dragon Shield" logos (a white helmet was developed but did not make it past the prototype stage). UAB will wear the green jerseys and white pants at home and its traditional white jersey and gold pants (both made by Alabama-based Russell Corp.) in road games.
