The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB
North Texas
Defense Leads Blazers Past North Texas, 56-21
10/11/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB defense scored three touchdowns - including two in the first quarter - and Cody Clements accounted for three more to lead UAB past North Texas, 56-21, on Saturday.
With the win, UAB (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) has now won two-straight Conference USA games and improves to 2-0 all-time against North Texas (2-4, 0-2 C-USA).
The Blazers' defense made the difference in Saturday's victory, forcing five turnovers and recording three defensive touchdowns. UAB junior nose tackle Jontavious Morris returned a fumble, forced when teammate Harris Gaston stripped North Texas quarterback Dajon Williams, 40 yards for a touchdown and, on the next North Texas play from scrimmage, Blazer junior cornerback Lamarcus Farmer picked off Williams and returned it 22 yards to give UAB a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. UAB sophomore cornerback Darius Williams returned an interception for a score in the third quarter.
"That is what I have always been used to defensively," UAB head coach Bill Clark said. "We said that we want to win it with defense. We wanted to challenge their offense. We played a lot of press man and took away a lot of their quick throws. We had some guys make some great plays. The scoop and score (by Jontavious Morris) was a great play. We can draw these things up but hats off to the guys for making the plays."
Offensively, Clements had another impressive performance for the Blazers, putting together a 300-yard game for the second consecutive contest. The junior from Whittier, Calif., completed 17-of-22 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. Perhaps the highlight of the day for Clements came when he hit senior wide receiver J.J. Nelson for a 74-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to put the Blazers up 56-14. Clements also completed a 75-yard pass to junior wide receiver Maudrecus Humphrey in the second quarter. Nelson's long scoring play was his 18th career receiving touchdown and also represented his 100th career reception at UAB.
Jordan Howard scored a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, a 12-yard pass from Clements and a 2-yard run, as UAB took a 35-14 lead into halftime.Howard finished the day with 67 yards off of 16 carries. Howard is now No. 7 on UAB's all-time career rushing list with 1,512 yards in his career.
UAB now hits the road for its next three games, beginning with a trip to league foe Middle Tennessee on Saturday for a 2:30 p.m. CT kickoff.
For more information on the UAB football team, follow the Blazers on Twitter @UAB_Football. For more on all Blazer sports teams, follow @UABAthletics.
