UAB Football Travels to Akron for Week 2 Road Test

BIRMINGHAM - The UAB football team travels north this Saturday to face Akron for the first time in program history. Kick is set for 12 p.m. EST/11 a.m. CST on CBS Sports Network.

The Blazers (1-0) opened the season with a 24-19 victory over Alabama State and improved to 13-0 at Legion Field since the start of the 2017 season. UAB hits the road this weekend where the Blazers were 3-3 last year in true road games.

Akron (0-1) is coming off a 42-3 loss at Illinois in its season opener.

Who: UAB (1-0) at Akron (0-1)
Where: InfoCision Stadium - Akron, Ohio
When: 12 p.m. EST/11 a.m. CST
Watch: CBS Sports Network
On the Call: John Sadak (play-by-play), Randy Cross (color)
Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM
On the Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Irvine (color), Trey Ragland (sideline)
All-Time Series: First Meeting

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The Blazers will look to turn around their recent misfortunes on the road in Week 2. Since the return in 2017, UAB has played on the road in Week 2 and is 0-2 in those contests.
Spencer Brown is 185 yards away from becoming UAB's career leading rusher. He currently has 2,633 career yards and ranks seventh nationally amongst active career leading rushers.
Brown also needs one more 100-yard rushing performance to set the school record in that category. He and current NFL quarterback Joe Webb are tied with 12 apiece.
The Blazer defense ranked second nationally a season ago in third down defense and got off to a good start against Alabama State, holding the Hornets to just 3-of-15.
UAB also tallied three sacks and seven TFL last Thursday, which is close to what the Blazers averaged last season when they set the school record with 48 sacks and 111 tackles for loss.
Quarterback Tyler Johnston III is now 5-1 as a starter for UAB. Johnston III threw for one touchdown and added another one on the ground against ASU. For his career, he has 12 passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns.
Garrett Marino is the reigning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week after tallying a career-high and team-best nine tackles against Alabama State.
UAB introduced nine new defensive starters last week, including safety Will Boler who made the game-clinching interception with less than a minute to go. Boler also added four tackles and a pass breakup in his first career start.
UAB's offensive line, which had four new starters last week, allowed zero sacks and helped the Blazers rush for 176 yards on the ground.
Akron is playing its home opener under first year head coach Tom Arth. The Zips are coming off a 42-3 loss at Illinois. Junior quarterback Kato Nelson was 10-of-24 for 122 yards against the Illini, while sophomore linebacker Bubba Arslanian led the team with 11 tackles and a sack.

Following Akron, UAB has a bye week before returning to Legion Field to host in-state foe South Alabama for the first time in program history. The game on Sept. 21 is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on NFL Network. Season tickets, mini plans and single game tickets can be purchased by clicking here.

For additional information on the Blazers, follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.

UAB Football Travels to Akron for Week 2 Road Test

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Players Mentioned

Will Boler

Spencer Brown

Tyler Johnston III

Garrett Marino

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics