The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Winding Down Preparations For East Carolina
9/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 7, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team continued its preparations Thursday for Saturday's Conference USA opener with East Carolina. Kickoff at Legion Field is set for 6:00 p.m.
The Blazers worked out for approximately 90 minutes, having to cut the practice short by just a few minutes to thunderstorms that had moved into the area.
"We about got through it," said head coach Watson Brown. "We missed about seven minutes, so we got most of it in."
And practicing in the rain was not all bad for the Blazers as Brown knows that his team will likely have to play in wet conditions at some point. "It's hard for us to practice in the rain, because here, you get thunder and lightning with it. So, we threw four or five wet balls and handled them. I think that's good, because we're going to play in rain. The field was a little wet in Oklahoma early in the game."
UAB has spent part of their practices this week working on defending the East Carolina passing game that is potent with quarterback James Pinkney and receiver Aundrae Allison. Allison caught 83 passes last season and led the conference in receptions per game.
"We want to know where he (Allison) is at all times," said Brown. "He lines up a lot of different places and the ball goes to him every so often, so we want our players to know where he is."
But though Pinkney and Allison have formed an impressive combination, Brown knows the Pirates have been effective on the ground as well.
"Anytime you play a team that can do both, you better not just defend the pass," said Brown. "You'll get yourself in trouble. We've worked hard with the kids this week and we'd love to take one of those options away from them, but that's not easy to do. They're very dangerous at passing the football."
The radio coverage can be heard on the Blazers ISP Sports Network, beginning at 4:30 p.m. CST. Birmingham listeners can follow all the action on WYDE 101.1 FM in Birmingham, WIQR 1410 AM in Montgomery and WTRB-FM 98.3 in Ashland/Talladega.
