The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Ten UAB Football Players Receive All-Conference USA Honors
12/5/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 5, 2001
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -
Ten UAB Football
players received various All-Conference USA honors as the league announced its 2001
awards Wednesday.
Two senior
members of the vaunted UAB defense, end Bryan Thomas and linebacker Rod Taylor, were named to the first team.?
Thomas, who earned Second
Team All-Conference USA honors last season, had 14 sacks in 2001 and set new
UAB and C-USA career marks with 35 (the 14 sacks was also a new UAB season
record).
Taylor led the
Blazers with 110 total tackles (66 solo) and also had three sacks and two
interceptions.
The two were
leaders of a UAB defense that led the nation in rushing defense and was ranked
fifth in total defense through 11 games this season.
Only two other
C-USA teams, Cincinnati
and Memphis, had two
players on the first team.
Four Blazers,
running back Jegil Dugger, offensive guard Preston Fray, and defensive linemen Eddie Freeman and Rodney Jones, were named to the second team.
Dugger is UAB's
leading rusher in the program's NCAA Division I-A era (1996-? ), with 1,979 career yards (he's
second all-time) and is tied for second on the school's all-time rushing
touchdown list with 13.? He ran for
839 yards and six touchdowns in 2001.
A four-year
starter, Fray has been a mainstay of the UAB offensive line for the past four
seasons He started all 11 games this season, and had a winning grade in all 11.
He graded "superior" vs. Florida State (Sept. 8), Southern Miss
(Sept. 29) and TCU (Nov. 10). Fray had 69 "knockdowns" this season
and did not allow a sack.
Freeman, who is
one of the highest-rated interior defensive linemen in the nation by NFL
scouts, has 14 career sacks, ranking him second in the UAB Division I-A era
(behind Thomas).? Freeman had 55
total tackles (32 solo), 10 tackles for loss, two and one-half sacks, three pass
deflections and one forced fumble in 2001.
Jones started
all 11 games at nose guard in 2001, making 38 total tackles (19 solo), with
eight tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble.?
Four UAB
players, placekicker Nick Hayes, running back Theron Dudley, offensive guard Andy Galloway and linebacker Darrius Taylor were named to the C-USA All-Freshman Team.
Hayes was 10-15
on field goal attempts during the 2001 season, and 10-13 after moving into the
starting role in the sixth game of the year (vs. Cincinnati, Oct. 13).? He was a perfect 17-17 on PATs, and set
a new UAB Division I-A era record with a 50-yard field goal vs. TCU (Nov. 10).
Dudley, a true
freshman, quickly worked his way into a significant role in the Blazers'
offensive backfield rotation, rushing for 164 yards on 40 carries? -- a 4.1 yards per carry average.? Dudley's top two performances of
2001 came vs. Montana State (Aug. 30), when he rushed for 38 yards on six
carries, and vs. Army (Sept. 22) when he had 30 yards on seven carries.
Galloway played
in nine of 11 games in 2001, starting four. He made a significant impact on the
Blazer line, despite missing the Central Florida game (Oct. 6) with a hamstring
injury and Memphis game? (Oct. 27)
with a viral illness.? He had 39
knockdowns and a winning grade in all nine games this season.
Taylor (no
relation to Rod Taylor), made his reputation primarily on special teams, where
he developed into one of the most fearsome tacklers in Conference USA. Taylor
had 19 total tackles (10 solo) in 11 games - virtually all on kick
coverage.
Ten players
receiving All-Conference honors is the most ever for UAB since becoming a
football member of the league in 1999.?
Thomas and Rod Taylor are the second and third Blazers ever to earn
First Team All-C-USA honors, the first was defensive back/punt returner Rodregis
Brooks in 1999.?
Conference USA will
announce its Offensive and Defensive Players of The Year, as well as the
Freshman of The Year and Coach of The Year on Thursday, Dec. 6.
