The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Meets With Media Regarding Game with Tulane
10/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 18, 2004
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- UAB head football coach, Watson Brown, along with several Blazer football players, met with the local media here Monday to discuss UAB's upcoming game against Tulane at 2:30 p.m. at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, La. this Saturday. The game will be broadcast regionally on Comcast Sports Southeast.
Saturday marks the fifth meeting between the Blazers and the Green Wave, with the series tied 2-2. Tulane has won the last two contests between the teams, winning the last meeting 38-24 in 2003.
UAB is coming off a 41-25 win over Conference USA rival TCU last Friday, improving their record to 5-1 overall and 3-0 against C-USA opponents.
Tulane is coming off a 49-24 loss to Memphis last Saturday. The Green Wave is 1-4 overall and 0-3 in Conference USA.
UAB, it was announced Monday, is ranked 24th in the BCS standings following Blazers' win over TCU on national television by ESPN.
"The BCS ranking is fantastic," said Brown. "This is all over the country; everybody is looking at this first BCS ranking that has come out. No one can take this away from us, it's there for a week and we'd like to keep it going, but we've got another tough game coming up. Today, though, it's a great honor for these kids. I don't think we would be in the BCS rankings if the (TCU) game were not on television. There were 87 million people that watched that game. A lot of the press watched that game as they were getting ready for the Saturday game that they were covering. It was a fantastic opportunity for us and we seized the moment. We had a nationally televised game a year ago with 44,000 fans at the Southern Miss Game, and we lost right at the end of the game, but this time the kids came through."
The Blazers are seeking their fifth straight win, and are off to their best start in its Division 1-A history.
"So far this year we have done a good job of staying focused and now we're going to get tested again by a tough team," said Brown. "This weekend is Tulane's homecoming, they have beaten us two straight times and there's no doubt they think they can beat us again. You get a bull's eye put on you when you are in rankings and so it makes it tough on us."
Despite the Green Wave's 0-3 record against conference opponents, the Blazers are preparing for a tough passing team.
"Tulane has always had good skilled players," said Brown. "They have always been good on offense. Last year they had the great quarterback and they went up and down the field. I would love to find a way to slow them down and eat some clock, because they can always score points. They have nineteen starters back on this team that beat us a year ago they are 0-3 in the league but they lost to Southern-Miss and Memphis two of the three losses have been close on a last second field goal at East Carolina. I think this team is better than that and I think we've got our hands full again."
PLAYER QUOTES
DEFENSIVE BACK Bobby Keyes
On UAB being ranked No. 24 in the initial BCS rankings this season "We just found out a few minutes ago, when coach Brown came up and told us while we were eating. That is a great feeling to be getting national recognition. We came into this season picked to finish sixth in the conference, so to get such respect nationally is just a great feeling."
On the win over TCU on Friday and the significance of it being shown on national TV
"We talked a lot about that. We knew that since most teams were playing on Saturday, that they would be in their hotel rooms on Friday night, and I know that because I know we do that same thing because we want to see somebody play. We all told each other that the whole country would be watching so we knew we needed to bring our best and play ball. We knew what we were going to do once we got out there, and I am happy that everything jelled and clicked. I think we deserved it and I am happy for our team right now."
On playing on Friday night and how that is like playing high school football
"It is very easy to have fun. At one point the crowd got the wave going and that is just a great feeling, especially because it was just totally different when I first got here. It is just a great feeling and I am just so happy now."
On playing Tulane
"Coach Brown does a very good job of keeping our heads straight after the wins. You look at the next team on the schedule, and the athletes on Tulane's team do not look that much different from anyone else's, but they have not won much this season, so that might cause you to overlook them. As a player you sometimes lose focus because you know that they have not won and you are winning, so you may think that it will be a cakewalk, but that is now how it is, and coach Brown does a good job of not letting us think that way and keeping is hungry."
RUNNING BACK Corey White
On the BCS rankings
"That is interesting and we can do better, so we will not just settle for that. I feel like as a team we should just keep winning and try to block everything else out. We need to take each game at a time and if we do we can be 10-1 at the end of the season. It does feel good, I will not lie, but I want us to not just let up now and settle for No. 24. We are on a mission to get to a bowl."
On Friday's game and how it felt like playing high school football again
"It was fun because I have not played on Friday in two years. It was different, though, because we had a lot more fans. I was just happy that the fans helped our defense out, like on that fourth and one play when the crowd really got into it and helped our team make a play. We are just trying to protect Darrell (Hackney) each week, and if we do we will be fine."
LINEBACKER Zac Woodfin
On the BCS rankings
"It definitely is quite an achievement for our program. We just found out a few minutes ago and that is a great honor for us to be ranked No. 24 in the BCS rankings. We are just hoping to climb higher each week. I do not think UAB has ever been in the top 25 in any rankings, so that is a great achievement for this team so we just need to keep working hard so we can keep moving up."
On the satisfaction of receiving national recognition
"That is what I like about the younger guys on our team- the fact that they do not settle for less. They always want something better and I think we have gotten to the point where we have had some success and want to keep it rolling. These guys are not settling for an okay season or just a winning season, we want to go 10-1 and win the conference championship."
On the remainder of the schedule
"I think it looks good. I think we have gotten through the toughest part of our schedule, but then again we do have some tough teams ahead of us. Houston is a good team, and of course Southern Miss at the end and now Army is starting to play better. We cannot take any game for granted, especially this Tulane game this week. It is at their home field and is Homecoming, so we need to do what we have been doing all year, and that is telling ourselves to take it one game at a time. It has been working so far and I think if we keep doing that then we will be tough to beat."
LINEBACKER Nigel Eldridge
On the BCS rankings
"It is a nice accomplishment, but we are only halfway through our season and still have a lot of goals to accomplish. So far we have made history, but we need to learn from this and see how good we actually can be. I feel we have not played to our complete level yet. We have not reached our peak so things can only get better for us if we keep a level head. I really do not feel like we played that complete game, no offense, defense, and special teams. You can look back at certain games and see times where the offense played well, but the defense and special teams were not quite as good, but then there were other games where it was different."
On the national recognition
"It is really good. I think it was big for the city, the university, and the state. This lets people see that UAB has a good team, and not only Alabama and Auburn. No people see that they do not have to go out of the state to see a good football game, and in fact they can stay right here in Birmingham to see that."
"We have a lot of people looking at us for bowl games now and fan support has really increased lately and that makes us feel good."
QUARTERBACK Darrell Hackney
On the win over TCU
"Yeah it was fun and exciting and was great to win. We knew what we had to do and we did it by working the gameplan as best we could. We made plays all night. The offensive line did a great job of protecting me and Roddy White and Reggie Lindsey and all the receivers made plays and had a big game. Now we need to put all that behind us and focus on Tulane. We have not beaten them the last two years so that is our motivation heading into this game."
On feeling comfortable in the pocket
"It is just because I am playing more games so therefore I am more comfortable. In the past I was inexperienced, and I knew I needed to play more games. The more you play the more experience you gain. I just feel more comfortable. We have allowed 20 sacks, but most of those are my fault because I am holding the ball a long time sometimes. The offensive line is protecting me well and we just want to win games."
On spreading the ball around on offense
"Coach Sullivan was preaching to me all week long before the TCU game about hitting my check downs, like throwing to my running back and tight ends. I did that successfully all night and found them when they were open. Teams are going to start doubling Roddy White so we have to go to some of our other options."
