The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Notes For The Pittsburgh Game
11/26/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 26, 2001
THE GAME: UAB at Pittsburgh, Saturday, Dec. 1.
KICKOFF: Set for 1:30 pm EST at Heinz Field (65,000/Grass) in Pittsburgh, Pa.
WEATHER FORECAST: Scattered showers, 53? (high).
SCHEDULE NOTE: Saturday's game was originally scheduled for Sept. 15, but was postponed after the terrorist attacks on the United States on Sept. 11.
THE TEAMS: UAB is 6-4 (5-2 C-USA), the Blazers had an off week after a 43-21 Conference USA win at Houston on Nov. 17. Pittsburgh is 5-5 overall (4-3 Big East), the Panthers are coming off a 23-17 win over archrival West Virginia in Morgantown on Saturday (Nov. 24). Both teams have won four straight games and both are seeking an opportunity to play in a bowl game.
THE COACHES: Pittsburgh's Walt Harris is 25-31 in his fifth season as head coach of the Panthers and 36-55 overall in eight seasons as a head coach. UAB's Watson Brown is 37-39 in his seventh season as head coach of the Blazers (69-116-1 in his 17th season as a collegiate head coach).
THE SERIES: Saturday's game is the first meeting between UAB and Pittsburgh in football.
TELEVISION: None.
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. Saturday's broadcast will begin with the pre-game show at 12 Noon CST live from Heinz Field in Pittsburgh.
SPLIT CREW?:Not the officials (who are assigned by Conference USA for the Pittsburgh game, by the way), the broadcast crew. When the Pittsburgh game was rescheduled for Dec. 1, that created a dilemma for the UAB Blazers Radio Network crew, which was scheduled to broadcast the UAB Men's Basketball game at Murray State that evening. The solution? Split 'em up, play-by-play announcer Gary Sanders, producer/engineer Jon Gentile, and a guest-color-commentator-to-be-named-later will travel to Pittsburgh to broadcast the football game, while Matt Coulter - who is normally the color commentator on Blazer broadcasts - will go to Murray State and handle the play-by-play on the radio broadcast, with a special guest appearance by Dave "Big Mac" McDaniel on color commentary.
A FIRST: Saturday's game is the first ever for UAB in the month of December.
MORE CATS: The Blazers' last game was against a team called the Cougars (Houston), this week, the Panthers (Pittsburgh). UAB also played teams called the Bobcats (Montana State), Bearcats (Cincinnati) and Tigers (Memphis) this season.
UAB DEFENSE RANKED HIGH: The Blazer defense continues to be one of the nations best, UAB has the following NCAA Division I-A rankings this week:
Rushing Defense - 1st (allowing 47.80 yards per game)
Total Defense - 3rd (allowing 260.10 yards per game)
Scoring Defense - 14th (allowing 18.20 points per game)
Pass Efficiency Defense - 23rd (106.25 opponent rating)
BLAZERS ESPECIALLY TOUGH vs. THE RUN: The UAB Blazer defense has traditionally been very tough vs. the run, the Blazers currently lead the nation in rushing defense, allowing opponents an average of 47.80 yards per game. UAB opponents rushed for 100+ net 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 11 of its last 12 games (dating back to the 2000 season) and eight games in a row. 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 23 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 averaged 43.7 net rushing yards in the Blazers' seven league games this season (Army-46, Southern Miss-78, Cincinnati-66, Tulane-8, Memphis-94, TCU-20, Houston- -6).
"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.
"B.T." GETS THE RECORD: Senior defensive end Bryan Thomas' two sacks in the Tulane game (Oct. 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 leads the Blazers with 13 sacks this season and now has 34 for his career.
A NATIONAL LEADER: As of Nov. 17, Thomas was tied for second in NCAA Division I-A (with Louisville's DeWayne White) with 13 sacks.
COX DOES IT AGAIN (AND AGAIN): Redshirt junior Thomas Cox improved his career record as the Blazers' starting quarterback to 6-0 as he led UAB to a 43-21 victory at Houston on Nov. 17. Cox rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns and also passed for 128 yards and a score vs. the Cougars. Cox made his first start of the 2001 season vs. Tulane at Legion Field on Oct. 20, and has led UAB to four straight victories.
MORE ABOUT COX: In UAB's 38-17 win over TCU at Legion Field (Nov. 10), Cox set new career highs with 223 passing yards and two touchdown passes. 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 the Oct. 20 game vs.Tulane and led the Blazers to a 34-27 Homecoming victory. In the process, he set 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). Against Memphis (Oct. 27), Cox rushed for what turned out to be the game-winning touchdown, a two-yarder in the third quarter.
AARON'S STATUS: Senior quarterback Jeff Aaron sat out the Tulane and Memphis games with a high sprain of the left ankle (technically known as "syndesmosis"), suffered vs. Cincinnati (Oct. 13). Aaron did not dress out vs. Tulane, but did dress for the Memphis game. In the TCU game, Aaron dressed and took one snap after Thomas Cox left the game for one play after being shaken up (Cox returned and threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White on the next play). Aaron also dressed but did not play at Houston (Nov. 17).
NICK KICKS: Redshirt freshman place kicker Nick Hayes continues to perform well after being elevated to the starting role in mid-season. He is 8-12 overall on field goal attempts and 17-17 on PATs. In the Houston game (Nov. 17), Hayes made a career-high three of four attempts (also a career high), hitting from 27, 20, and 42 yards and just missing what would have been a new UAB all-time record 53-yarder on the final play of the first half. Hayes also made four of four PAT attempts vs. the Cougars.
MORE ABOUT HAYES: In the TCU game (Nov. 10), Hayes set a new UAB Division I-A era record with a 50-yard field goal, breaking his own previous mark of 48, set two weeks earlier at Memphis (Oct. 27). The mark for longest field goal in UAB history -- 52 yards -- was set by Kevin Thomason vs. Mississippi Valley State in 1994.
FOUR SCORE: The Blazers rushed for four touchdowns in the Tulane game (Oct. 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 TCU game (Nov. 10) marked the completion of UAB's 11th season of play at Legion Field. The Blazers are 42-17-1 (.708) all-time at Legion Field (1991- ). UAB is 22-10 (.688) at Legion Field in the school's NCAA Division I-A era (1996- ), and 5-5 (.500) all-time at home vs. C-USA opponents (including a 1996 non-league loss to Cincinnati).
SCHEDULE MORE HOME GAMES!: The Blazers were 4-1 at home in 2001, averaging 37 points and 386 total yards per game.
BLAZERS STINGY vs. C-USA OPPONENTS: UAB allowed seven C-USA opponents an average of 16.6 points and 248.1 total yards per game this season.
FRESHMEN CONTRIBUTE: Although the Blazers can generally be considered a veteran team, there are several true freshmen that have worked their way into roles as either starters or significant backups. They include running backs Theron Dudley and Kendal Gibson, tight end Sam Dudley, receivers Roddy White and Chico Cleveland and defensive back Carlos Hendricks.
"SHORT YARDAGE SPECIALIST": Freshman 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 six rushing touchdowns in eight games (28 carries, one TD every 4.7 carries) -- three times on one-yard runs (vs. Central Florida and Tulane -- both on fourth-and-goal and at Houston -- that one on third-and-goal), once on a two-yard run (on third-and-one vs. Memphis), once on a three-yard run (vs. TCU), and once on a seven-yard run (vs. Army).
A PATTERN?: UAB is 5-1 in games in which Kendal Gibson has scored a touchdown this season. Gibson has scored one touchdown in each of the games in the Blazers' current four-game win streak (and in five of the team's last six games overall).
WHAT'S THE UAB FRESHMAN RUSHING TOUCHDOWN RECORD?: The Blazers' all-time mark is nine (9), by Pat Green in 1991.
MORE ABOUT RUSHING TDs: The UAB season mark for touchdowns by a "fullback" (terminology is everything here) is six (6), set by Keith Roland in 1996. Although Gibson is not called a "fullback" in the current UAB offensive scheme, he certainly qualifies in terms of his role in the offense and with his six touchdowns in 2001.
DUGGER WATCH: Senior running back Jegil Dugger has 797 net rushing yards this season on 203 carries (3.9 average) and 1,937 career rushing yards (he's UAB's career leader in the Division I-A era) on 438 carries (4.4 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), has 13 career rushing touchdowns -tying him for first in the UAB Division I-A era (with former QB Daniel Dixon and second all-time in Blazer football history (also with Dixon).
"2K CLUB": With 37 yards in Saturday's Pittsburgh game, Dugger would become only the second UAB player ever to rush for 2,000 career yards, and the first in the program's NCAA Division I-A era (1996- ). The only Blazer currently with 2,000+ career yards is -- Pat Green (2,817 from 1991-94).
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 most of the 2001 season) on a sore ankle that was badly sprained in the Florida State game (Sept.8). Taylor leads UAB with 101 total tackles this season (59 solos), he also has three sacks and two interceptions. Taylor's interception in the Memphis game (10/27) set up what proved to be the winning touchdown, a two-yarder by quarterback Thomas Cox late in the third quarter.
SPEAKING OF LINEBACKERS NAMED TAYLOR:Walk-on linebacker Darrius Taylor (Cherokee, Ala./Cherokee HS) -- no relation to Rod -- 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 ball carrier. Taylor has 18 total tackles this season (10 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 Nov. 25, he was ranked 15th nationally in kickoff return yards, averaging 27.32 yards per return.
STEWART SHINES: Redshirt junior punter Ross Stewart had a career-high 11 punts for 47 yards at Memphis (Oct. 27) -- both UAB single-game records. Stewart also had a great game earlier this season at 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 42.20 yards per punt, good enough to rank him 36th nationally. Thirteen (13) of Stewart's 51 punts this season have been downed inside the opponents' 20-yardline -- three of those came vs. Tulane (Oct. 20), including one on the Blazers' final offensive possession which pinned the Green Wave deep in their own territory in the game's final minute and helped preserve the victory.
STEWART RECEIVES ACADEMIC HONOR: Ross Stewart was named to the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America/District IV Football Team on Nov. 15. Stewart is a finance major with a 3.47 grade point average and has earned numerous academic honors during his UAB career, including presidential honors (4.0 GPA) in four of his last five academic terms.
RODDY GETS ANOTHER ONE: Freshman receiver Sharod "Roddy" White caught his second touchdown pass of the 2001 season vs. TCU (Nov. 10), a 52-yarder from Thomas Cox in the third quarter. The play was the longest completion of the year to date for UAB, as well as a career long for both White and Cox.
"THE TIGHT END OPTION": Freshman tight end Sam Dudley was part of a very unusual play in the Tulane game (Oct. 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 -- Dudley, who had lined up in the backfield and was the lead blocker on the play. The 6-4, 260-pound tight end 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.
MULTIPLE INTERCEPTIONS: UAB's (four) interceptions in the Army game (Sept. 22) 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 26 of its last 32 games (and in eight of 10 games this season).
ANOTHER FACT: UAB has blocked four kicks this season three punts, one field goal).
ODDLY ENOUGH:There were two blocked kicks (both field goal attempts) in the UAB-Southern Miss game (Sept. 29), but both were apparently inadvertently blocked by the kicking teams, not the defenders.
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).
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).
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 four (4 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.), redshirt freshman place kicker Nick Hayes and freshman kicker Jake Hayes, 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 Nov. 25): 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)
2001 TRENDS: They don't always mean a lot, but here are some 2001 Blazer trends...
"UAB is":
6-1 when scoring 17 or more points
5-0 when scoring 20 or more points
0-3 when scoring less than 17 points
6-0 when leading at halftime
5-0 when leading at the end of the third quarter
1-0 when tied at the end of the third quarter
5-2 when holding opponents to 300 or fewer total yards
6-3 when holding opponents to 100 or fewer net rushing yards
4-2 when holding opponents under 200 passing yards
2-2 when opponents have over 200 passing yards
3-1 when scoring first
3-0 when at least one Blazer rushes for 100+ yards
4-1 when Jegil Dugger scores at least one rushing TD
5-1 when Kendal Gibson scores a rushing TD
3-0 when both Dugger and Kendal Gibson score at least one rushing TD
3-0 when Willie Quinnie catches a TD pass
3-0 when Thomas Cox scores at least one rushing TD
1-0 when Jeff Tippetts completes a pass
2001 UAB SCORING DRIVESOPPONENT Plays YARDS TOP Qtr. Result PLAY Montana State 4 28 0:39 1 TD Dugger 4-yd run (Gallego kick) Montana State 13 61 6:03 2 FG Gallego 27-yd FG Montana State 5 18 1:47 2 TD Aaron 1-yd run (Gallego kick) Montana State 9 28 4:13 3 FG Gallego 28-yd FG Montana State 4 65 1:21 3 TD Quinnie 16-yd pass from Aaron (Gallego kick) Montana State 2 36 0:49 3 TD Quinnie 34-yd run (Gallego kick) Montana State 3 3 1:11 4 TD Southall 6-yd pass from Cox (Gallego kick)
Florida State 9 65 3:55 3 TD Dugger 2-yd run (Gallego kick)
Army 9 68 3:36 1 TD Simmons 15-yd pass from Aaron (Gallego kick) Army 9 77 4:08 1 TD Gallery 15-yd pass from Aaron (Gallego kick) Army 9 38 3:59 2 FG Gallego 45-yd FG Army 1 10 0:06 2 TD Aaron 10-yd run (Gallego kick) Army 8 45 3:59 2 TD Dugger 3-yd run (Gallego kick) Army 5 47 1:28 2 FG Gallego 34-yd FG Army 5 49 2:42 3 TD Dugger 28-yd run (Gallego kick) Army 13 72 6:29 3 TD K.Gibson 7-yd run (Gallego kick) Army -- -- --- - TD Kopecky 36-yd fumble return (Gallego kick)
UCF 7 5 3:05 3 TD K.Gibson 1-yd run (Gallego kick)
Cincinnati 8 65 3:01 1 TD Aaron 4-yd run (Hayes kick) Cincinnati 12 30 5:02 1 FG Hayes 44-yd FG Cincinnati 12 76 5:37 3 TD R.White 24-yd pass from Aaron (Hayes kick)
Tulane 6 14 2:43 1 FG Hayes 46-yd FG Tulane 7 76 2:33 1 TD Cox 45-yd run (Hayes kick) Tulane 9 56 3:55 2 TD Dugger 1-yd run (Hayes kick) Tulane 10 71 4:31 3 TD Cox 1-yd run (Hayes kick) Tulane 12 80 5:30 4 TD K.Gibson 1-yd run (Hayes kick) Tulane 9 26 3:33 4 FG Hayes 47-yd FG
Memphis 9 15 3:44 2 FG Hayes 48-yd FG Memphis 8 64 2:48 2 TD K.Gibson 2-yd run (Hayes kick) Memphis 5 28 2:29 3 TD Cox 2-yd run (Hayes kick)
TCU 6 65 1:59 2 TD Dugger 7-yd run (Hayes kick) TCU 9 63 3:52 2 TD Quinnie 23-yd pass from Cox (Hayes kick) TCU 6 25 3:19 3 FG Hayes 50-yd FG TCU 3 57 1:43 3 TD R.White 52-yd pass from Cox (Hayes kick) TCU 9 69 4:38 4 TD K.Gibson 3-yd run (Hayes kick) TCU -- -- -- 4 TD Hill 45-yd interception return (Hayes kick)
Houston 7 68 2:45 1 TD Quinnie 24-yd pass from Cox (Hayes kick) Houston 15 71 5:45 1 TD K.Gibson 1-yd run (Hayes kick) Houston 5 22 2:06 2 FG Hayes 27-yd FG Houston 5 18 1:51 2 FG Hayes 30-yd FG Houston 7 72 3:22 3 TD Cox 1-yd run (Hayes kick) Houston 7 39 3:00 4 TD Cox 1-yd run (Cox pass failed) Houston 4 7 2:06 4 FG Hayes 42-yd FG Houston -- -- -- 4 TD T.Pearson 43-yd interception return (Hayes kick)
