The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Travel To Knoxville To Meet SEC Foe Tennessee
9/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 24, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team, fresh off its thrilling come-from-behind victory over Troy last weekend, returns to action Saturday as the Blazers travel to Knoxville, Tenn. to take on the Tennessee Volunteers.
The Blazers and Vols will kick off at 11:21 a.m. CDT in Neyland Stadium. The game will be televised by the SEC Network. The contest will also be carried live on the Blazers ISP Sports Network and can be heard in Birmingham on 107.7 WUHT-FM. The pregame show will begin at 10:00 a.m. CDT.
UAB (1-2, 0-1 Conference USA) rallied for a 34-33 win over visiting Troy at Legion Field last Saturday, coming back from a 23-0 second quarter deficit to record the largest comeback in school history.
Tennessee also will enter the game with a 1-2 overall mark and 0-1 record in SEC play. The Volunteers have dropped their last two games, falling 48-13 to Oregon Sept. 11 and 31-17 at the hands of SEC rival Florida last Saturday.
UAB head coach Neil Callaway says he sees an outstanding team when he looks at the Volunteers on tape. "Everybody talks about (Tennessee) being down, but having watched them on film, I don't see that," Callaway said. "I think that they are every bit as talented as they've been in the past. They have some young players they're playing with, but Coach (Derek) Dooley has them playing hard, and they are pretty impressive to watch. We're looking forward to it."
Junior quarterback Bryan Ellis is scheduled to get his first start for the Blazers after coming off the bench versus Troy and playing a large role in the comeback victory. Ellis finished the game against the Trojans with 360 yards passing and three touchdowns as he connected on 23-of-37 passes. He was tabbed on Monday as the C-USA Offensive Player-of-the-Week.
True freshman wideout Jackie Williams scored three touchdowns in the win, two of those on pass plays from Ellis. The final touchdown came on a 44-yard `Hail Mary' pass play from Ellis to Williams on the final play of the game. The score tied the game at 33-all before Josh Zahn's extra point provided the winning point.
"Obviously, it was a mighty big win," Callaway said. "We're excited and happy about it. It was a great win for our guys; one that we needed. In fact, I thought that the way we won was also outstanding. It showed the players' class and guts to grind that game out and compete for the whole sixty minutes, so I'm very proud of them for that and for the way they competed until the very end."
Tennessee has featured a balanced offensive attack through the first three games of the season. The Volunteers are averaging 181.0 yards on the ground and 205 yards through the air. Tauren Poole has been the leading ground gainer for the Vols with 295 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Matt Simms has hit 57.1 percent of his passes for 591 yards and three touchdowns.
Tennessee and UAB will be playing for the fourth time when the meet Saturday. The Volunteers have won the first three meetings with each previous contest also played in Knoxville. Tennessee won by a 35-3 score two years ago in the schools' most recent matchup.
