The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Announces 2005 Football Schedule
2/24/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 24, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- At least two national television appearances, a season opener at Tennessee and games against four first-time opponents highlight the 2005 UAB football schedule, announced Thursday by Blazers' athletics director and head football coach Watson Brown.
The Blazers, coming off a 7-5 season and their first bowl appearance, will open their 2005 season on Saturday, Sept. 3 when they travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to meet Southeastern Conference foe Tennessee, a team projected by most observers to be a preseason top 10 squad next season.
A week later, UAB and Troy renew their series with the '05 meeting scheduled for Movie Gallery Stadium in Troy. The Blazers play their third and final non-conference game on Sept. 17 when they welcome Jacksonville State to Legion Field.
After an open date, UAB begins its eight-game Conference USA slate on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a first-time contest against Rice at Legion Field. The Owls are one of four first-time opponents on the Blazers' schedule and one of six new members of Conference USA joining the league with the 2005 season.
UAB plays two more opponents for the first time in the next two weeks as the Blazers play host to the SMU Mustangs on Oct. 8 before traveling to Marshall for a contest on Oct. 15.
The following week, UAB plays host to Southern Mississippi for a Friday night, nationally-televised game. The contest with the Golden Eagles will be televised nationally on ESPN. This will be the second straight time that the UAB-USM game in Birmingham has been televised nationally by ESPN. The 2003 meeting between the schools drew a crowd of 44,669 to Legion Field.
The Blazers will be back on national TV in their next action as they travel to Memphis for a game at Liberty Bowl Stadium. The contest with the Tigers, who have made two straight bowl appearances, will be played on either Tuesday or Wednesday, Nov. 1 or 2 and will also be televised to a national audience on ESPN.
On Nov. 12, UAB plays its final home game of the season when its meets new C-USA member UCF at Legion Field.
The Blazers close their 2005 regular season schedule with back-to-back road games at UTEP (Nov. 19) and at East Carolina (Nov. 26).
"We're excited about what we think is another great schedule for our players, coaches and fans," said Brown. "With the new league we will have some opponents we haven't played. We're all excited about the new league. Playing Troy and Jacksonville State gives us games against schools that will generate some state and local interest. And, of course, we are happy with our national television exposures. We will have at least two national TV games and we may have more added."
As part of the new alignment of Conference USA, there will be two divisions for the 12 schools. UAB will be in the East Division, along with Memphis, Southern Miss, Marshall, East Carolina and UCF. The schools in the West Division will be Houston, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa and UTEP. The division winners will meet in the C-USA Championship Game on either Dec. 2 or 3.
2005 UAB FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
Sept. 3, at Tennessee
Sept. 10, at Troy State
Sept. 17, Jacksonville State
Oct. 1, Rice*
Oct. 8, SMU*
Oct. 15, at Marshall*
Oct. 21, Southern Miss* (ESPN)
Nov. 1/2, at Memphis* (ESPN)
Nov. 12, UCF*
Nov. 19, at UTEP*
Nov. 26, at East Carolina*
*Conference USA game
Game times will be announced at a later date
