The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Travel To UCF For Wednesday's Televised Contest
10/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team returns to action Wednesday when the Blazers travel to Orlando to take on the UCF Knights.
The contest at Bright House Networks Stadium will kick off at 8:00 p.m. ET/7:00 p.m. CT and will be televised nationally on ESPN. The game can also be heard on the Blazers ISP Sports Network (107.7 WUHT-FM in Birmingham).
UAB (1-3, 0-1 Conference USA) will be playing its first game since its 32-29 double overtime loss at Tennessee Sept. 25. The Blazers dominated play against the Volunteers the final three quarters and finished with 544 yards to UT's 287. UAB allowed Tennessee only 42 rushing yards in the game. However, it was Tennessee that got a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass in the second overtime period.
Of UAB's four contests thus far this season, three of them have been decided on the last play of the game.
While the Blazers will be playing their second C-USA game of the season (they lost at SMU, 28-7, on Sept. 11), UCF will be seeing its first league action of the 2010 campaign.
The Knights (2-2, 0-0) last played on Sept. 25 when they dropped a hard-fought, 17-13 decision at Kansas State.
UAB enters the game having run up more than 500 yards of offense in its last two games. The Blazers are averaging 441 yards per contest and rank No. 28 nationally in total offense in the latest NCAA statistics.
Quarterback Bryan Ellis picked up back-to-back conference offensive player-of-the-week honors after UAB's comeback win over Troy and their narrow defeat at Tennessee. The junior from Byron, Ga. has passed for a combined 733 yards and four touchdowns in the last two games.
Ellis and the UAB offense will have their hands full Wednesday as they face a UCF defense that has been one of the best in the nation so far this season. The Knights rank No. 10 nationally in total defense (264.3 allowed per game), No. 9 in pass defense (147.0) and are 21st in scoring defense (15.5).
"I am very impressed with their defensive football team and very impressed with their kicking game," said UAB head coach Neil Callaway. "They do an outstanding job in both those areas."
"They are a physical football team and one that we are going to make sure we are ready to play. We are excited about going down there and playing on a Wednesday night and playing on ESPN. It is a conference game, which makes it even bigger."
Aside from Ellis' passing, the Blazers have also been effective running the ball this season. UAB is No. 42 nationally in rushing at 181.8 yards per game. The Blazers have the No. 3 (David Isabelle, 81.8) and No. 6 (Pat Shed, 61.8) rushers in the conference heading into this week's games.
Shed has contributed in other areas as well. The junior college transfer is 19th in the country in all-purpose yards (158.8) and is No. 41 in kickoff returns (26.3). Shed is UAB's top rusher among running backs and is averaging an impressive 7.7 yards per carry, the top mark in the conference among the top 10 runners.
UAB and UCF will be meeting for the eighth time when they play Wednesday night. The Knights hold a 6-1 advantage in the series as the Blazers' lone win in the series came two years ago at Orlando when UAB blanked UCF, 15-0, on the strength of a stingy defense performance and five field goals by Swayze Waters.
The visiting team has won the past three meetings in the series. The Knights claimed a 34-27 victory over UAB in the Blazers' season finale last November at Legion Field.
