The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Football Team Holds First Intrasquad Scrimmage Of Season
8/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 16, 2002
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.----- The UAB football team held its first scrimmage of the 2002 campaign here Friday, going just a little over two hours. The scrimmage began at 5:15 p.m. and the teams went 90 snaps without any injuries being reported.
UAB head coach Watson Brown was pleased with the way the scrimmage game unfolded.
"I thought we moved the ball well and we had a better than normal first scrimmage of the season," Brown said. "I thought there were a lot of mistakes and the timing of some routs was a problem, but those are typical things you would see in a first scrimmage."
The Blazers made some big plays and circus-type catches on the afternoon. Redshirt freshman Travouris Thomas outleaped his defender to grab a 40-yard touchdown catch, while true freshman Dan Burks also grabbed some people's attention with some nice runs from his tailback position, including a 30-yard run to set up a score.
"We made some real nice runs and catches," said Brown. "We are making the big type of plays which we have not made in the past. It is going to be fun to watch this year's team."
Senior quarterback Thomas Cox is excited about the way the Blazers looked in the opening scrimmage.
"I thought overall the offense looked good out there considering it was the first scrimmage of the season," Cox said. "I thought we made some big plays and those are the type of plays we are going to need this year."
UAB will not have time to rest as it will return to two-a-days on Saturday morning. The Blazers will have a morning practice at 9 a.m. followed by an afternoon workout beginning at 4:45 p.m. UAB will then have an off day on Sunday.
The Blazers will open their 2002 season in Gainesville, Fla. against the nationally-ranked Florida Gators on August 31, with kickoff slated for 5 p.m. CT. SportsChannel Florida will televise the contest on a pay-per-view basis. The game will also air on a taped delay basis through the Sunshine Network.
