UAB and Marshall Battle for Conference USA Title Friday Night

BIRMINGHAM – Looking to win its second league title in the last three years, the UAB football team travels to Huntington, W.Va. to face Marshall in the 2020 Ryan Conference USA Football Championship Friday night, Dec. 18. Kickoff at Joan C. Edwards Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. CST on CBS Sports Network.

Both the Blazers and Thundering Herd are making their third appearance in the title game with each team winning once. UAB is making its league record third-straight appearance in the championship game, while Marshall is playing for the title for the first time since 2014.

Who: UAB (5-3) at Marshall (7-1)
Where: Huntington, W.Va. – Joan C. Edwards Stadium
When: Friday, Dec. 18 – 7 p.m. EST/6 p.m. CST
Watch: CBS Sports Network
On the Call: Rich Waltz (play-by-play), Aaron Taylor (color), Jenny Dell (sideline)
Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM
On the Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Steve Irvine (color), Trey Ragland (sideline)
Series: Marshall leads, 8-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 22, 2104 – Marshall, 23-18
Streak: Marshall, W2

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

Friday's game marks the third straight year that UAB has been the away team in the Conference USA Championship Game. In 2018, the Blazers became the first team in league history to win the championship on the road.
This game features the two winningest teams in Conference USA since the start of 2017. The Blazers have a league-best 33 victories since returning to action in 2017, while Marshall has won 32 games during that span.
To win the league title, UAB will have to do something it has never done before: win in Huntington. Marshall is 5-0 against the Blazers at home.
Two top defenses will be on display Friday night as Marshall ranks No. 2 nationally and UAB No. 15 in total defense. The Blazers look to finish Top 10 nationally in total defense for a third straight year (ninth in 2018, eighth in 2019). Marshall boasts the country's the No. 1 scoring defense, holding teams to just 11.4 points per game.
After sustaining the nation's longest layoff of 42 days between games, UAB won the West Division by earning a gutsy, short-handed 21-16 victory at Rice last Saturday.
The Blazers traveled to Houston down seven starters, 11 key contributors and with approximately 45 scholarship players, but used a second half comeback behind an air-raid offensive attack and a stout defensive effort to earn the divisional title.
UAB's defense had five sacks, 12 TFL, six pass breakups and an interception on the final play of the game to seal the victory. The Blazers specifically stepped up in the second half, holding Rice to 75 total yards and just three points.
Making his first start since Week 2 at Miami, quarterback Tyler Johnston III threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns at Rice. Trailing 13-7 at halftime, both of Johnston's touchdown passes came in the third quarter with 63 and 42-yard strikes, which proved to be the game-winning points.
Johnston III already has one C-USA Championship title under his belt as a starting quarterback and will be opposed by Marshall freshman Grant Wells, who is virtually a lock to win Conference USA Freshman of the Year.
Wells has had a tremendous rookie campaign, aside from throwing five interceptions in his last outing against Rice, and enters the title game with 1,839 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The game features two of Conference USA's top running backs in UAB's Spencer Brown and Marshall's Brenden Knox. Brown is the nation's second active career leading rusher and is 138 yards away from 4,000 in his career. Brown was the 2018 Conference USA Championship Game MVP.
In seven games this season, Brown has 740 rushing yards, 10 touchdowns and five 100-yard rushing performances. Knox, the league's reigning MVP, has rushed for 820 yard and nine touchdowns in eight games this year.

Tickets to the game are $40 and Blazer fans traveling to Huntington will be sitting in section 103. Click here for tickets to the game and enter the promo code UAB to secure seats in the allotted Blazer section.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the Blazers' trip to Huntington, be sure to follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.

UAB and Marshall Battle for Conference USA Title Friday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Spencer Brown

Tyler Johnston III

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics