The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Team Wraps Up Spring Drills
4/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 17, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team wrapped up its 2010 spring drills here Saturday as quarterbacks David Isabelle and Bryan Ellis threw for 237 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Green team to a 42-29 victory over the White unit at West Campus Field.
The Blazers' No. 1 offense teamed with the No. 2 defense while the second offense was paired with the No. 1 defensive unit.
Isabelle and Ellis each played a half while Joe Bento and Jonathan Perry split signal-calling duties for the White team.
Isabelle was especially sharp in the early going of the game and finished the first half with 123 yards passing on 10-of-14 through the air with a pair of touchdown passes. He also rushed 12 times for 99 yards.
Ellis, who manned the QB job for the Green unit in the second half, was 7-of-12 for 114 yards with two TD passes and one interception.
The Blazers' receiving corps, thin in numbers this spring and maligned with too many dropped passes, enjoyed an outstanding game on Saturday.
Seniors Frantrell Forrest (5 catches, 78 yards, 3 TDs) and Mike Jones (6 catches, 92 yards, 2 TDs) did most of the damage, but senior Roddell Carter (4 catches, 53 yards, 1 TD) and Nick Adams (4 catches, 64 yards) also made several big plays in the game.
"I don't think we had a drop today," said head coach Neil Callaway. "I thought they (the receivers) had a good day and did a good job catching the football."
Jones capped off what has been an excellent spring for the wide receiver from Nashville, Tenn. His performance Saturday followed a similar effort in last Saturday's second spring scrimmage when he caught 6 passes for 95 yards with 2 touchdowns.
"Mike's done a good job," Callaway said. "Without a doubt, he'd done the best job of any of our receivers. He's really matured and become a good leader for us and I'm really pleased with what Mike's done.
Though the offense put up some impressive numbers and Callaway generally was pleased with the effort in the game Saturday, he wasn't pleased with the mistakes his team made.
"I thought we had a lot of good work on both sides of the ball," he said. "I thought they competed hard and we got a lot of things done out there.
"At the same time, I think we had a lot of plays that were made that we don't need to make. We've got to be smarter. We can't be clipping people in the back. We need to do a better coordinating between our receivers and our quarterbacks with the route running and reading coverages. We had too many offsides and too many turnovers. But I thought the effort was good.
"We've got to eliminate the mistakes," Callaway said. "We made enough big plays to where we can do some good things, but we have to eliminate the mistakes for that to happen. "
Isabelle's 99 yards were the highest rushing total in the game but the Blazers' trio of running backs (Daniel Borne, Pat Shed and Justin Brooks) all had solid performances. Borne finished the game with 9 carries for 74 yards, Shed had 49 yards on 7 attempts with a touchdown while Brooks went for 69 yards on 8 carries with a touchdown.
Shed again showed his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield, finishing with 4 catches for 57 yards.
Quarterbacks Bento and Perry also had their moments in the game. Bento finished with a team-high 174 yards through the air, hitting 9-of-17 passes with 1 touchdown. He also ran 6 times for 40 yards and had a 20-yard touchdown run. Perry was 3-of-5 passing for 17 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Perry also ran for 76 yards on 12 attempts.
The Blazers' Josh Zahn attempted three field goals in the game, hitting a 26-yarder but missing a pair of long kicks (45 and 53 yards).
Trey Ragland punted 7 times for a 46.4 yard average as the Blazers only utilized the snapper, punter and a return man on punt plays.
Brock Ferguson and Marquis Coleman both had interceptions in the game, Ferguson returning one for a 53-yard touchdown and Coleman recording a 30-yard return.
STATISTICS
Rushing: Isabelle 12-99; Perry 12-76; Borne 9-74; Brooks 8-69, 1 TD; Shed 7-49, 1 TD; Bento 6-40, 1 TD; Ellis 3-12; M. Jones 3-6; Mostella 1-4; Forrest 1-3; Adams 1-1.
Passing: Isabelle 10-14, 123 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT; Ellis 7-12, 114 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT; Bento 9-17, 174 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT; Perry 3-5, 17 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Receiving: M. Jones 6-92, 2 TD; Forrest 5-78, 3 TD; Adams 4-64; Carter 4-53, 1 TD; Shed 4-57; Moore 1-39; Herring 2-17; Accursio 1-12; Mostella 1-5; Brooks 1-3.
Leading Tacklers: Smartt 8; Slaughter 7; Bender 6; Ferguson, 5; Amarikawa 5; Stafford 5; Dempsey 5.
