The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Home Thursday To Take On Conference USA Foe UCF
10/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 19, 2011
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UAB will begin the second half of the regular season Thursday when the Blazers play host to UCF in a Conference USA contest at Legion Field. UAB, after falling at Tulsa, 37-20, last Saturday, is still in search of its first victory of the season.
Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m. CT with the contest to be televised regionally by CSS>
The Blazers (0-6, 0-3 C-USA) had their best passing game of the season against the Golden Hurricane with 298 yards through the air. QB Bryan Ellis, who saw his first action since the Sept. 17 game at East Carolina (due to injury) accounted for 280 of those yards, tossing a pair of touchdown passes to redshirt freshman Jamarcus Nelson (66 and 45 yards).
UCF (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) is coming off a 38-17 loss at SMU Saturday. The Knights will bring one of the nation's top defenses to Legion Field this week. UCF is ranked No. 3 nationally in total defense (221.3 ypg), No. 7 in rush defense (78.2), No. 3 in pass defense (143.2) and ninth in scoring defense (14.7).
UCF at UAB
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011
7:00 p.m. CT (CSS)
Legion Field • Birmingham, Ala.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: CSS - Mike Morgan (pbp), Chuck Oliver (color), Craig Ackerman (sidelines)
RADIO: Blazer IMG Sports Network - Barry McKnight (pbp), John Whitcomb (color) and Sam Miller (sidelines) have the call. The broadcast can be heard on WUHT-FM 107.7 in Birmingham.
FIRST AND 10
-- UAB returns 16 starters on offense (7) and defense (9) from last season's team that finished 4-8. The Blazers had a pair of performers -- offensive tackle Matt McCants and defensive tackle Elliott Henigan -- named to the 2011 preseason All-Conference USA team by the league's coaches. In addition, UAB returns quarterback Bryan Ellis, who passed for 2,940 yards and 25 touchdowns in only nine starts during the 2010 campaign.
-- UAB has a young football program compared to most of its opposition. The Blazers are in their 21st season of football (and 16th at the Division I-A or FBS level) as they played their first intercollegiate season in 1991 at the NCAA Division III level. UAB moved to Division I-AA two seasons later in 1993 and remained at that level three years before making the transition to Division I-A beginning in 1996.
-- Safety Jamie Bender's 35-yard interception return for a touchdown at East Carolina was the Blazers' first defensive score since Marquis Coleman returned a pick 99 yards at UTEP on Oct. 31, 2009. UAB scored defensive touchdowns in back-to-back games after T.J. Ballou returned an interception 52 yards for a score in the Blazers' 24-23 loss Oct. 1 at Troy.
-- Senior Nick Adams' 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown vs. Tulane Sept. 17 was the Blazers' first kickoff return for a score since the 2008 season, a span of 37 games.
-- In the Sept. 10th season opener at Florida, there were 19 UAB players who saw first-time action in a Blazer uniform, including seven true freshmen. The seven true freshmen were: TE Kennard Backman, RB Bashr Coles, DL Mickey Jackson, PK Ty Long, DE Tyler Peppers, RB Darrin Reaves and DE Diaheem Watkins.
-- QB Bryan Ellis moved into the No. 4 spot on UAB's career list for passing yards with his performance at Florida in the season opener. Ellis now has 3,697 career passing yards and has reached that number in only 13 starts. Daniel Dixon, who had been fourth on the Blazer all-time list, totaled 3,085 during his career from 1997-2000.
-- WR Jackie Williams, who caught a career-best eight passes for 89 yards against Troy earlier this month, has had at least one reception in all 18 games of his collegiate career. He has a team-high 33 grabs for 321 yards in six games this season. Another Blazer receiver, Patrick Hearn, had his own reception streak snapped Saturday at Tulsa as the junior failed to catch at least one pass for the first time in 17 contests for UAB. Hearn has 15 catches in 2011 for 185 yards.
-- UAB has one of the most experienced offensive lines in the country with 148 career starts among six offensive linemen. Senior Terence Edge leads the way with 38 career starts.
SERIES HISTORY: NINTH MEETING BETWEEN UAB AND UCF
UAB and UCF will be meeting for the ninth time when they play Thursday night at Legion Field. The Knights lead the series by a 7-1 margin with the Blazers' only victory coming in 2008 at Orlando, 15-0. Kicker Swayze Waters kicked five goals in that game to account for all the scoring.
The Knights won in convincing fashion in 2010, 42-7, in Orlando. Two seasons ago in its last trip to Birmingham, UCF prevailed by a 34-27 margin.
UCF leads 4-0 against UAB in games played in Birmingham. The first meeting between the two schools was in 1996 when the Knights claimed a 35-13 win over the Blazers at Legion Field.
2010 - UCF won 42-7 at Orlando
2009 - UCF won 34-27 at Birmingham
2008 - UAB won 15-0 at Orlando
2007 - UCF won 45-31 at Birmingham
2006 - UCF won 31-22 at Orlando
2005 - UCF won 27-21 at Birmingham
2001 - UCF won 24-7 at Orlando
1996 - UCF won 35-13 at Birmingham
LAST MEETING
Troy Davis returned an interception for a touchdown and Josh Robinson picked up a fumble for a score as a stingy UCF defense led the Knights to a 42-7 win over UAB.
After averaging 540 yards in its previous two games, the Blazers were held to only 269 yards against the Knights.
Ronnie Weaver had 50 yards rushing and two touchdowns, and freshman quarterback Jeff Godfrey had 217 total yards for the Knights. But it was their defense that came up big in the nationally televised game.
Bryan Ellis was held to 149 yards passing with a touchdown pass (to WR Patrick Hearn) and two interceptions.
Kemal Ishmael returned an interception of a pass by Ellis to the UAB 27-yard line early in the first quarter. Three plays later, Weaver's 4-yard touchdown gave UCF a 7-0 lead.
Godfrey's 35-yard run in the second quarter highlighted a 53-yard drive that was capped by a 2-yard touchdown run by Weaver. Junior Rob Calabrese relieved Godfrey after a hard hit, connecting on a 4-yard TD pass to Brian Watters with 4 seconds remaining in the first half that put the Knights ahead 21-0.
Robinson returned UAB quarterback David Isabelle's fumble 56 yards down the sideline for a touchdown, giving UCF a 28-0 lead that was never challenged.
A 23-yard TD catch by Hearn on fourth down gave UAB its only score in the third quarter, one of the few big plays UCF's defense allowed. Davis would follow with a 29-yard interception return of a pass by Ellis.
The Knights improved their all-time record to 7-1 against the Blazers.
ELLIS-TO-NELSON PASS PLAY LONGEST OF SEASON THUS FAR
UAB quarterback Bryan Ellis' 66-yard hookup for a touchdown with redshirt freshman Jamarcus Nelson in the first quarter of last Saturday's game at Tulsa marked the longest pass play for UAB through its first six games. Nelson also had a 45-yard TD catch and finished with 111 yards on two receptions.
BLAZERS CAUSED SEVEN TURNOVERS SEPT. 24 AT EAST CAROLINA
UAB forced seven Pirate turnovers in the Sept. 24 loss at East Carolina, causing four fumbles and recording three interceptions. The four opponent fumbles recovered tied the Blazer school record. The last time UAB recovered four opponent fumbles was the Morehead State game in 1993.
WILLIAMS EXTENDS RECEPTION STREAK TO 18 GAMES
UAB sophomore wide receiver Jackie Williams has posted 25 catches in his last four games (East Carolina, Troy, Mississippi State and Tulsa) combined to extend his reception streak to 18 consecutive games. He has caught at least one pass in every game he has played with the Blazers, going back to the start of the 2010 season.
Williams' streak is the fourth-longest in UAB history. Roddy White (2002-05) and Derrick Ingram (1991-94) each had 35-game streaks, while Cedrick Buchannon had a 23-game streak from 1993-95.
FRESHMAN KICKER Ty Long HAS CONNECTED ON 8-OF-10
UAB freshman placekicker Ty Long has connected on eight of his first 10 field goal attempts this season. Long, from Roswell, Ga., made his first five attempts before missing a 43-yarder at Troy Oct. 1. His longest kick of the season thus far is a 49-yarder last week at Tulsa.
BLAZERS LOOKING FOR MORE OFFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS
Last season, UAB registered an impressive 42 touchdowns on offense. After six games in 2011, the Blazers have posted just five offensive TDs (Jackie Williams run, Pat Shed run, Jonathan Perry run and two Jamarcus Nelson catches). UAB's other three touchdowns this season have come on a 92-yard kickoff return by WR Nick Adams vs. Tulane, a 35-yard INT return by safety Jamie Bender at ECU and 52-yard INT return by T.J. Ballou at Troy.
BURDETTE ONE OF C-USA'S BEST LINEBACKERS
UAB linebacker Marvin Burdette emerged as one of the best at his position in Conference USA during the 2010 season. Burdette finished with 114 tackles last fall, the fifth-highest total in Blazer history and the most by a UAB linebacker since 2003 when Zac Woodfin recorded 149 stops and Nigel Eldridge had 128. Burdette finished the 2010 campaign with 77 solo hits. He completed the year ranked No. 5 in the league with 9.5 tackles per contest.
Burdette was especially around the ball down the stretch as he registered 65 stops in the final five games and averaged 13 per contest in that period. He has 43 tackles in six games in 2011 and 200 in his career.
BLAZERS WITH DEFENSIVE TOUCHDOWNS IN BACK-TO-BACK GAMES
UAB registered a defensive touchdown -- both on interceptions -- in consecutive games earlier this season. The Blazers got a 52-yard interception return for a touchdown by cornerback T.J. Ballou against Troy Oct. 1 and a week earlier safety Jamie Bender ran back a "pick six" from 35 yards out against East Carolina.
The Blazers have scored eight touchdowns this season and three of those have come via either special teams or defense. Wide receiver Nick Adams returned a kickoff 92 yards against Tulane last month. Jackie Williams nearly provided the Blazers with another special teams score two weeks ago against the Trojans as he returned a punt 91 yards before being knocked out of bounds at the Troy 1-yard line.
BLAZERS REGISTER FIRST PASSING TOUCHDOWNS OF 2011
After a season in which the Blazers threw 28 touchdown passes, UAB notched its first two passing touchdowns in last Saturday's game at Tulsa, both coming on Bryan Ellis to Jamarcus Nelson connections. Ellis, who missed the previous two games due to injury, accounted for 25 passing touchdowns in 2010.
The Blazers have scored eight touchdowns in 2011 with three of those coming on rushing plays, two on passes, two on interception returns (vs. East Carolina and Troy) and one on a kickoff return (vs. Tulane).
LB BURDETTE REACHES 200 CAREER TACKLES
Junior linebacker Marvin Burdette has reached the 200-mark for career tackles at UAB. Burdette, who has 43 stops this season to rank No. 3 on the team through six games, now has totaled 200 tackles in his three-year career. Burdette ranks No. 15 on the Blazers' career list for tackles.
Burdette led the Blazers in tackles in 2010 with 114. He also has 12 career tackles for loss.
