The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Big Plays, Improved Results On Defense Highlight UAB Football Scrimmage
4/12/2003 12:00:00β―AM | Football
April 12, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- UAB wide receivers Roddy White and Lance Rhodes scored on long touchdown plays and quarterback Darrell Hackney threw for 367 yards but it was improved play on defense that impressed head coach Watson Brown, highlighting the Blazers' scrimmage here Saturday.
The scrimmage was part of the annual "Blazer Day" activities held on the UAB campus.
Despite the big plays yielded by his team's defense, Brown said the Blazers' defensive unit continued to show improvement.
"I thought we (the defense) were more competitive today," said Brown, whose team has installed a new 4-3 defense this spring under new coordinator Wayne Bolt. "I think we played better and looked more like a defense. We gave up way too many big plays but got some turnovers. Again, the big plays bother me, but there was still improvement on defense today."
Hackney connected on a 65-yard touchdown pass to White early in the scrimmage and later tossed a 58-yarder to sophomore Rhodes, the Birmingham native who sat out last year after transferring from Arizona State. Rhodes, who caught four balls for a team-high 133 yards, also had a 62-yard reception from Hackney. White caught five passes for 102 yards.
Other receivers of note Saturday: Chico Cleveland, four catches for 44 yards; Jason Southall, four catches for 46 yards and one touchdown; Jhun Cook, three receptions for 38 yards; and FB Theron Dudley, three receptions for 58 yards.
While Hackney is certain to be the UAB starting quarterback when the team opens fall camp in August, the backup role is up for grabs. A pair of redshirt freshmen, Curtis Falany and Chris Williams, are competing this spring. A true freshman, highly-touted Jake Tompkins of Russellville, Ala., is also expected to enter the picture when preseason practice begins.
On Saturday, Falany was impressive, hitting 10-of-13 passes for 111 yards and one touchdown. Williams hit 4-of-8 for 25 yards.
"I don't think we'll know that until, probably the end of two-a-days," said Brown. "We have a freshman (Tompkins) coming in and we're going to put him right in the mix with these guys. We've got to develop a two and a three. That's very critical to me right now, and if there's a depth concern right now on our team, it's at quarterback and it's going to filled by a freshman, either a redshirt freshman or a true freshman. But a lot of programs have that problem."
The Blazer defense stymied the UAB rushing game for most of the scrimmage as sophomore Dan Burks and redshirt freshman Bo Moncur each had only 33 yards on the afternoon to lead the way.
UAB will practice four more times this coming week before it caps off its 2003 spring drills. "We'll scrimmage one more time next week," said Brown, "and see if we get a little better next week. We've put a lot in on defense. We haven't put much in on offense. We'll do that more this week.
"And really, I didn't think we were as good on offense today," he said. "We had a lot of big plays, but not the consistency. We had too many penalties. We had drives going and get to the 20 and stop ourselves with a hold. It wasn't as good a scrimmage by the offense as the last one, but it was a better scrimmage by the defense."
The Blazer defense intercepted four passes in the scrimmage, those by Julius Wainwright, Dominique Cosper, Chris Mason and Dio Hill. Hill returned his pick 15 yards for a touchdown.
UAB punter Parker Mullins, a redshirt freshman, kicked six times for a 44.2 yards average. Junior placekicker Nick Hayes, a Groza Award semifinalist last fall, made 1-of-3 field goals, a 42-yarder.
BLAZER DAY SCRIMMAGE STATISTICAL LEADERS:
Passing: Darrell Hackney, 18-of-31 for 367 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs; Curtis Falany, 10-of-13 for 111 yards, 1 TD; Chris Williams, 4-of-8, 25 yards.
Rushing: Dan Burks, 6 carries, 33 yards; Bo Moncur, 10 carries, 33 yards, 1 TD; Darrell Hackney, 5 carries, 20 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving: Lance Rhodes, 3 receptions for 133 yards, 1 TD; Roddy White, 5 receptions for 102 yards, 1 TD; Chico Cleveland, 4 receptions for 44 yards; Jason Southall, 4 receptions for 46 yards, 1 TD; Theron Dudley, 3 receptions for 58 yards; Jhun Cook, 3 receptions for 38 yards.
