The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Team Holds First Scrimmage Of Spring
3/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 29, 2008
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team held its first scrimmage of spring drills here Saturday and Blazers' head coach Neil Callaway said for the first time this spring, his team's offense had the upperhand over the defense.
"To this point, before today, I would have said the defense has had the upperhand," said Callaway. "Things turned around today. They (offense) really had the better day today. That's the first time this spring that's been the case. Defensively, we've got to get more pressure up front and get better on defense. You have to take your hat off to the offense. They did a good job."
It didn't take long for junior quarterback Joe Webb and sophomore receiver Frantrell Forrest to grab some early attention as they hooked up on a pair of long touchdown passes. Webb connected first with Forrest on a 53-yard score and minutes later found the Mobile, Ala. native open for a 42-yard touchdown. Later in the scrimmage from the 1-yard-line, he found sophomore Mario Wright open for a 99-yard touchdown pass.
Webb finished the scrimmage with 21 completions on 27 attempts for 347 yards. He tossed three touchdown passes with no interceptions.
"Without a doubt, Joe adds a different dimension to our football team," said Callaway. "We're doing a couple new things to take advantage of his athleticism. I thought he threw the ball well. I know we didn't complete every ball, we had a few drops, but overall, we were consistent and were able to put some plays together back-to-back to create some drives. That's what you've got to do."
Callaway wasn't happy with three turnovers by his offense -- all fumbles. "We had three fumbles. We can't have that," he said.
Overall, Callaway left the scrimmage generally pleased with what he saw.
"I thought it was good overall," said Callaway. "I thought both sides competed well, played hard. We had a lot of enthusiasm early on."
On defense, Callaway pointed to cornerback Kevin Sanders and linebacker Keon Harris as players who caught his eye. Defensively, I saw Bam (Sanders) make some plays, I thought Keon Harris made some plays and had a good day."
Before the scrimmage, Callaway had not been happy with the play of the Blazer wide receivers this spring. The group took a big step in a positive direction Saturday.
"Overall, the receivers had a good day, their best of the spring," said Callaway. "They made a lot of good plays. The first touchdown of the scrimmage, we threw a quick slant to Frantrell and he took it to the offense. We made some plays throwing and catching the football today, and that was good to see. "
Forrest finished with five catches for 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Wright had two for 112 and one touchdown. Senior Sylvester Mencer caught four balls for 37 yards with a touchdown.
Aside from Webb's impressive numbers, sophomore quarterback Anthony Speight was 5-for-8 for 49 yards with one touchdown.
On the ground, the Blazers' leading rusher was Webb who had 11 attempts for 77 yards -- some of that off scrambles -- and a pair of touchdowns. Sophomore Dexter Barnett had three carries for 25 yards while Jae Fitzgerald had 20 yards on five carries before leaving the scrimmage just before it ended with an injury.
Saturday's scrimmage was the Blazers' seventh practice of spring drills, just shy of the halfway point. They will resume practice Monday when they get back on the field.
