The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
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Mississippi State
Second-Half Surge Propels Mississippi State Past UAB
10/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 8, 2011
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB defense pitched a first-half shutout Saturday, but Mississippi State scored three second-half touchdowns to leave Legion Field with a 21-3 victory.
The Blazers (0-5) led 3-0 at the half on a Ty Long field goal before Mississippi State's Tyler Russell replaced an ineffective Chris Relf at quarterback and threw three touchdown passes.
Russell, who played in only two of the first five games this season, started the second half for the Bulldogs (3-3). On his second possession he led the Tigers on a seven-play, 89-yard touchdown drive, capped by an 18-yard pass to Marcus Green.
Russell connected with Chad Bumphis for a 57-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, and then later hit Malcolm Johnson with a 20-yard scoring pass. Russell completed 11-of-13 passes for 166 yards.
The first-half shutout was the first for UAB since the final game of the 2008 season when the Blazers held UCF without a score. UAB also held the Bulldogs to just 118 yards in the opening 30 minutes.
UAB quarterback Jonathan Perry, making his second start in place of an injured Bryan Ellis, completed 18 of 36 passes for 195 yards and also ran for 44 yards on nine carries. Pat Shed, a Starkville, Miss., native playing against his hometown team, ran for 73 yards on 16 carries and added a game-high five catches for 32 yards.
UAB receivers Jackie Williams and Patrick Hearn extended their reception streaks to 17 and 16 games, respectively. Williams' streak is the fourth-best in UAB history, while Hearn's is tied for fifth.
UAB begins a stretch of six straight Conference USA games next week with a trip to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
