UAB Welcomes Rice to Legion Field on Saturday Night

BIRMINGHAM - The UAB football team is set to host Rice on Saturday night, Oct. 5, at Legion Field. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. on ESPN+.

The Blazers have won 14 straight at Legion Field and have the nation's seventh longest active home winning streak. UAB also looks to get back into the win column after sustaining its first loss of the season last week at WKU.

The Owls are 0-5, but their five opponents have a combined record of 19-3 (Army, Wake Forest, Texas, Baylor and Louisiana Tech). Three of those five games were decided by one possession.

Who: UAB (3-1, 0-1 C-USA) vs. Rice (0-5, 0-1 C-USA)
Where: Legion Field - Birmingham, Ala.
When: Saturday, Oct. 5 - 6 p.m. CST
Watch: ESPN+
On the Call: Will Kollmeyer (play-by-play), Lee Roberts (color)
Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM
On the Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Irvine (color), Trey Ragland (sideline)
Series: UAB leads, 4-3
Last Meeting: Oct. 13, 2018: UAB 42-0

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

UAB is 2-0 against Rice since returning to action in 2017 and has won those games by a combined score of 94-21. Last year in Houston, the Blazers blanked the Owls 42-0, which was one of UAB's three shutouts as it set a Conference USA record and led the nation in that category.
Spencer Brown became UAB's career rushing leader last week at WKU and aims to become the first player in school history to rush for 3,000 career years. Brown has 2,818 career yards. He also needs one more 100-yard rushing performance to be the career leader in that category as well.
Brown has found the end zone in each of his last two games, and his score at WKU was the 30th of his career (29th rushing). He is seven rushing touchdowns away from the program record and 10 away from the all-time total touchdown record.
UAB's top three receivers in Austin Watkins Jr., Myron Mitchell and Kendall Parham continue to lead the way as they have combined for 737 of the Blazers' 927 receiving yards (79.5%). Markus Grossman has also emerged as a reliable third down option, pitching in with six catches for 52 yards.
The Blazer defense continues to be one of the most disruptive units in the country. Along with ranking 12th nationally in total defense (266.2), UAB also ranks 8th in sacks per game (3.75), 12th in third down defense (27.3%), 15th in scoring defense (15.5) and 18th in tackles for loss per game (7.8).
UAB has yet to allow more than 20 points in any game, and opponents have scored just 62 total points on the Blazers. At 15.5 points per game against, UAB is leading Conference USA in this category, and Louisiana Tech is second at 23.4 ppg.
Additionally, UAB only allowed 33 rushing yards at WKU. The Blazers lead Conference USA and rank 12th nationally allowing just 79.8 rushing yards per game.
Rice is coming off back-to-back games where they held Baylor to 21 points and Louisiana Tech to 23. Linebacker Blaze Alldredge leads the team with 42 tackles, 8.0 TFL and one sack. His 8.0 TFL ranks second in C-USA, and he picked up a career-high 4.5 TFL against Texas.
Along with it being UAB Family Weekend in Birmingham, the Blazers will be honoring the Mike Slive Foundation for Prostate Cancer Research this Saturday.

Tickets to the game can be purchased by clicking here or calling the UAB ticket office at 205-975-UAB1.

Following the Rice game, the Blazers head to San Antonio for a game at UTSA on Oct. 12, and will return home on the 19th to host Old Dominion for Homecoming.

UAB Welcomes Rice to Legion Field on Saturday Night

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Players Mentioned

Spencer Brown

Markus Grossman

Myron Mitchell

Kendall Parham

Austin Watkins Jr.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics