The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
NOTEBOOK: Howard, Vinson Powering Potent Running Game
10/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
By Steve Irvine
uabsports.com
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- Jordan Howard and D.J. Vinson continue to supply one of the better running back tandems in Conference USA. Howard is on pace to improve his rushing total considerably from a year ago and Vinson is closing out his time at UAB with easily his best season.
After eight games, Howard, a 6-foot-1, 224-pound sophomore from Gardendale High School, has 842 rushing yards on 170 carries with seven touchdowns. Last season, Howard had 881 rushing yards on 145 carries with two touchdowns.
Vinson, a 5-foot-10, 202-pound senior from Clay-Chalkville High School, has 475 rushing yards on 126 carries with seven touchdowns. Each of them also have a receiving touchdown.
The Blazers are one of 10 teams in the country with two running backs with more than 450 yards this season.
"Offensively, it starts with our rushing attack," UAB head coach Bill Clark said during Monday's media luncheon.
Vinson said he enjoys sharing the backfield with the physical Howard.
"Jordan Howard, he's a good back," said Vinson said. "I love running behind him because when he's in the game, he pounds people and pounds people. When I get in the game, I can just run around them. We're a great duo together."
Howard also helps Vinson be more complete in the backfield.
"Jordan is a better blocker than I am, but he also helps me and talks to me about blocking," Vinson said. "So when I get in there, they don't know if I'm running the ball or if I am blocking, so it could go either way."
*Clark, whose team travels to play at Florida Atlantic on Saturday, wasn't around to see the show that FAU quarterback Jacquez Johnson put on last season against UAB at Legion Field. But he's well aware of what type of threat the talented 6-foot-1, 225-pound redshirt junior quarterback poses to opposing defenses.
"Of what we've seen, they probably run him more than (others)," Clark said. "For example, Middle Tennessee had a very athletic quarterback but they didn't run him a lot. (FAU runs) quarterback powers, zone read, he's not scared to take off. He's a big guy. People bounce off of him and he's really good at getting the ball out of his hand. He is really a dual threat for sure."
Johnson has carried the ball nearly as much as FAU leading rusher Jay Warren. Johnson has 338 rushing yards on 80 carries while Warren, a 6-foot, 195-pound sophomore, has 441 yards on 85 carries. Johnson is just as effective through the air, completing 120 of 207 passes for 1,502 yards with 11 touchdowns and one interception.
"It puts a lot of pressure on us, but that's our job, to stop the run and pass," said UAB linebacker Alonzo McGee. "Our No. 1 goal is to stop the run first and worry about the pass later."
Last season, in a 37-23 win over UAB, Johnson was 23-of-36 for 299 yards with two touchdowns and rushed for 105 yards and a score.
*Injuries have certainly been a factor for UAB, just like every other college football team. But the Blazers haven't had the rash of injuries that the program has had in some seasons in the past. Clark said that is not an accident.
"When you compare a team from the first of the year, what happens with injuries?" Clark said. "That is the thing that none of us know in the offseason. Our weight training and conditioning has helped our overall team. You have seen that. That is the comment I get from every coach that saw us the year before, `This doesn't even look like the same team, even though it's a lot of the same people.'Conditioned athletes are going to be a lot less susceptible to injuries, and I think you have seen that with our guys."
