The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Travel To Houston To Take On Cougars
10/9/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 9, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team plays its second consecutive Thursday night game this week as the Blazers take on the Houston Cougars.
Kickoff Thursday at Robertson Stadium is set for 7:04 p.m. CDT and the game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports. UAB leads the series with Houston, 4-2. The Cougars won 49-10 over the Blazers last season in Birmingham. UAB is playing its first game at Robertson Stadium since the 2003 season.
The Blazers (1-5, 0-2 C-USA) are coming off a tough 33-30 loss to Memphis last Thursday in Birmingham. UAB led 10-0 after one quarter and finished with 455 yards on offense, but the Tigers got a 25-yard field goal from Vinny Zaccario with :02 remaining to break a 30-30 tie and claimed the win.
QB Joe Webb threw for 235 yards and a touchdown while running for 93 yards with three rushing touchdowns in the contest.
Houston (2-3, 1-0 C-USA) did not play last weekend but posted an impressive 41-24 victory at East Carolina Sept. 27 in its most recent game. The Cougars are led on offense by sophomore quarterback Case Keenum, the nation's leader in total offense at 419 yards per game. He passed for 401 yards against the Pirates in the last game.
Defensively, the Cougars have one of the conference's best in senior end Phillip Hunt. Hunt has 24.5 career sacks and was a first-team all-league selection in 2007.
"I think Houston is very good football team," said UAB head coach Neil Callaway. "They have team speed on both sides of the ball and two excellent quarterbacks. They do a good job of mixing the run and the pass. Their two quarterbacks can throw the ball extremely well. They're a team, I think, that doesn't like to run the quarterback. But they run when they need to. Their speed at receiver is outstanding. They have some guys that can run. "Defensively, I've been impressed with the defensive end Hunt," said Callaway. "He's an outstanding pass rusher and one of the better ones we will play against. I've been impressed at the speed of their linebackers. It's a game we have to make sure we are ready to play. Houston got off to a slow start. Of course, everyone knows they had to go through the hurricane and the problems they've had. But they certainly played a heck of a ball game against East Carolina in their last game."
In addition to Thursday's game being televised on CBS College Sports, it will also be carried on the Blazers ISP Sports Network. It can be heard locally on WWMM 100.5 FM radio in Birmingham.
CBS College Sports Network and Brighthouse Networks in Birmingham are partnering to host a free football viewing party of the UAB at Houston game at the Alumni Auditorium on the UAB campus on Oct 9th. Students and alumni are invited, and free pizza will be served.
