Zeno Leads UAB to 45-42 Victory Over Florida Atlantic

Saturday, November 4

Birmingham, Ala.

2 p.m. CT

UAB

3-6 , 2-3

Florida Atlantic

4-5 , 3-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Fla. Atlantic

UAB

Zeno Leads UAB to 45-42 Victory Over Florida Atlantic

11/4/2023 6:57:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score 2023 Season Stats

BIRMINGHAM – Quarterback Jacob Zeno set the UAB FBS school record with 484 passing yards and Matt Quinn hit a game-winning 26-yard field goal with three second left to lift the Blazers to a 45-42 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday at Protective Stadium.

Zeno finished the game 29-of-35 for 484 yards and tied the FBS school record with five touchdown passes. Zeno's five touchdown passes were to five different players, and his fifth to Tejhaun Palmer was a 70-yard strike to tie the game at 42 with 4:20 left.

On Florida Atlantic's ensuing drive, the Blazers forced a punt, giving Zeno the ball back with 1:33 left. Zeno, Jermaine Brown Jr. and Palmer engineered a game-winning drive that left Quinn a chip shot for the victory.

Brown Jr. compiled a career-high 210 all-purpose yards while Palmer had a career day catching the ball with nine catches for 179 yards. His 179 receiving yards are tied for the 15th most in school history.

UAB put up a season-best 614 yards and it was its second time going over 600 yards of total offense this season. UAB outgained FAU 614-484 for the game.

Defensively, true freshman Everett Roussaw Jr. had a career-high 10 tackles while fellow linebacker and UAB's leading tackler Michael Moore had nine.

The win improves UAB to 3-6 on the season and 2-3 in American Athletic Conference play. Florida Atlantic falls to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the AAC.

Zeno threw four first-half touchdowns to help the Blazers build a 28-14 lead at halftime. Zeno was exceptional in the first half, going 17-of-19 for 289 yards.

His first was a 46-yard screen to Brown Jr. with 11 seconds remaining in the first quarter. FAU tied it up early in the second with LaJohntay Wester's first of four touchdowns on the game.

The Blazers would then surge ahead 21-7 on a 72-yard touchdown from Zeno to TJ Jones, then a 37-yard strike to Malachi Holt-Bennett with 7:29 left in the half.

A 27-yard rushing touchdown from FAU quarterback Michael Johnson Jr. cut UAB's lead to 21-14 with 4:04 left, but Zeno's fourth touchdown of the half to Amare Thomas with :37 left gave the Blazers a two-touchdown lead at the break.

UAB opened the second half with a defensive touchdown as Michael Moore deflected a Daniel Richardson pass which Kendall Johnson intercepted and returned 26 yards to the house for a 35-14 Blazer lead just 50 seconds into the third quarter.

However, Wester took over the game and scored three straight touchdowns on a 3-yard rush, a 20-yard pass and a 76-yard pass to tie the game at 35-35 with 14:42 left in the fourth. Wester, who leads the nation in catches per game, had 11 receptions for 219 yards.

UAB's defense made plays down the stretch when it mattered, and a pass breakup from BJ Mayes on third down gave the ball back to UAB with just under five minutes to go, which is when Zeno found Palmer on the 70-yard strike to tie the game.

On FAU's next possession, Roussaw made his 10^th tackle on an FAU 3rd-and-8, forcing the Owls to punt on 4th-and-2.

Brown started UAB's final drive with back-to-back plays totaling 30 yards and he had 34 total yards on that drive, while Palmer had two catches for 32 yards on the drive.

The Blazers now head to Navy for a contest with the Midshipmen next Saturday, Nov. 11, on Veterans Day. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.