The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
at Baylor
Hackney Hobbles Back To Be Hero
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug 30, 2003
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
WACO, Texas (AP) - Darrell Hackney returned after missing a series with a swollen knee to throw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Nick Coon with 40 seconds left, and UAB beat Baylor 24-19 Saturday night, ruining the debut of Bears coach Guy Morriss.
After missing the previous drive, having been helped off the field after somebody rolled on his leg following an incomplete pass, Hackney came back against doctor's wishes after a Baylor punt with the Blazers at their own 20 in the final minute.
Hackney needed just two plays. He hit Roddy White for 30 yards before throwing a strike to Coon, a freshman, streaking down the middle of the field.
Hackney hit 13 of 29 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Freshman Bo Moncur ran for 136 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries for the Blazers (1-0), who play their Conference USA opener in five days.
Baylor had gone ahead 19-17 on Kenny Webb's 21-yard field goal with 6:08 left. That came just six plays after James Todd blocked a UAB punt out of the end zone for a safety.
"It was a gutty performance by our whole team," said UAB head coach Watson Brown. "They didn't give up. The defense held them after we didn't get the first on the bad fourth down play. And Darrell, what can you say? The doctors told him not to go back in and he said 'tape me up.' It was his call. He thought he could do it. He's a gritty kid."
Rashad Armstrong ran for 152 yards on 25 carries, his third straight 100-yard game, for Baylor. Aaron Karas was 20 of 33 for 227 yards and two touchdowns.
Baylor drove 80 yards in nine plays on its opening possession, taking a 7-0 lead when Karas hit Robert Quiroga for a 10-yard TD. On their second drive, the Bears gained 65 again before Karas fumbled.
UAB then scored 17 straight points, going ahead 17-7 when Moncur scored on a 2-yard run with 5:10 left in the third quarter. That came just three plays after a 15-yard personal foul penalty gave the Blazers a first down instead of fourth-and-5 from midfield.
The Blazers tied the game at 7-all when Hackney threw a 4-yard TD pass to Dan Burks with 10:21 left in the second quarter to end a 44-yard drive on which Moncur had a 33-yard run. UAB led when Nick Hayes kicked a 32-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.
After Hackney's two-pass TD drive, Baylor had one more chance. Karas' fourth-down pass from the UAB 45 on the final play of the game dropped incomplete in the end zone.
Hackney became UAB's starter in the fifth game as a freshman last season, and threw for 1,977 yards and 14 touchdowns while battling through several injuries.
