The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
Marshall (HC)
Blazers Hold Off Marshall, 23-21
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - UAB's Joe Webb rushed for 135 yards, setting a Conference USA single-season record in the process, and scored on a 28-yard run early in the fourth quarter as the Blazers held off Marshall's late comeback attempt for a 23-21 victory on Saturday.
Webb completed 15 of 28 passes for 217 yards to help UAB (2-6, 1-3 Conference USA) roll up 432 yards of offense. Webb accounted for 352 yards of total offense after coming into the game ranked No. 11 in the country in that category.
With his rushing effort Saturday, Webb shattered the C-USA mark for rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback. He now has 723 yards on the ground this season, breaking the mark of SMU's Justin Willis who set the mark in 2007.
"Obviously, we are very happy with the win, but not just the win, we are happy with the way we won the game," said UAB head coach Neil Callaway. "We made some mistakes we would like not to have but we were able to come back and to overcome some adversity.
"We are very excited. The players much needed this, the coaches needed this and our program needed this."
Saturday's win for UAB was the Blazers' first over Marshall in four tries though all four contests have been decided by a touchdown or less.
Mark Cann completed 16 of 26 passes for 237 yards and two touchdowns for Marshall (3-4, 2-1).
Webb's late touchdown with 14:53 left in the fourth quarter proved to be the game-winning play.
Marshall head coach Mark Snyder gave Webb a lot of the credit. "The guy we couldn't tackle was Webb," said Snyder. "That's the reason he's going to break all these records because he's a big, strong kid."
A little more than three minutes later, Marshall's Mario Harvey stripped the ball from UAB's Aaron Johns and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. That pulled the Thundering Herd to within 23-21.
Marshall drove from its own 30 to the UAB 20 in the closing minutes, but the drive stalled, and Craig Ratanamorn came on to attempt a 37-yard field goal that would have given Marshall the lead.
But the kick sailed wide right with 2:50 left.
Darius Passmore finished with six catches for 165 yards and one touchdown for Marshall.
The game got off to a shaky start for Marshall.
The Herd's Chubb Small bobbled the opening kickoff and was tackled on his own 6-yard line after bringing the ball out of the end zone. Marshall tried a reverse, but Passmore was tackled in the end zone by UAB's Anthony Barnes for a 2-0 lead.
Marshall drove 71 yards in nine plays to score on a 21-yard pass from Cann to Cody Slate with 2:33 left in the first quarter.
The Herd appeared to take control when Cann hit Passmore on a 71-yard touchdown pass for a 14-2 lead early in the second quarter.
But UAB turned went on a 19-play, 93-yard drive that ended with a 3-yard scoring run by Justin Brooks.
The key play in the drive came when UAB went for it on fourth-and-7 at the Marshall 35. Webb bobbled a shotgun snap and was in trouble before escaping and gaining 10 yards.
UAB got a 22-yard punt return from Kevin Sanders to start at the Marshall 46. Webb's 31-yard pass to Jeffery Anderson went to Marshall's 1, and Rashaud Slaughter ran it in from there with 49 seconds left in the first half.
Slaughter caught a 2-point conversion pass from Webb to give UAB a 17-14 lead at halftime.
Marshall missed an opportunity in the third quarter. The Herd faced a third-and-17 at UAB's 49, and Cann had to leave the game after being injured.
Backup Brian Anderson launched a 48-yard strike to Passmore to UAB's 1, but the Herd couldn't cash in.
After Darius Marshall was stopped for no gain and a false start penalty, Anderson fumbled.
UAB's Richard Carter recovered, and the Blazers responded with the game-winning 93-yard scoring drive.
Senior linebacker Joe Henderson led the way for the UAB defense as he registered a season-high 13 tackles and had four tackles for loss.
UAB will now look ahead to an open date next week before returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 1 when the Blazers play at Southern Mississippi.
