UAB Football Opens American Athletic Conference Play at Tulane

BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team opens a new era in program history this Saturday, Sept. 30, by playing its first-ever game in the American Athletic Conference at Tulane in New Orleans. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.

The Blazers enter the contest at 1-3 overall and open conference play with Tulane who is the reigning AAC and Cotton Bowl Champion. The Green Wave is 3-1 overall this season with its only loss coming against Ole Miss. Tulane is currently receiving votes in both the AP and Coaches Poll.

Who: UAB (1-3, 0-0 AAC) at Tulane (3-1, 0-0 AAC)
Where: New Orleans, La. – Yulman Stadium
When: Saturday, Sept. 30 – 11 a.m. CT
Watch: ESPN2
On The Call: Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Roddy Jones (analyst), Alex Chappell (sideline)
Listen: 94.5 WJOX
On The Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Bryant Turner (analyst), Landrum Roberts (sideline)
Series: UAB leads, 6-5
Last Meeting: Sept. 25, 2021: UAB, 28-21

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

The Blazers and Green Wave are meeting for the 12th time in school history and reestablish this series as conference foes. UAB and Tulane played their first nine games in the series as Conference USA opponents from 1999-2012.
UAB has won each of the last two contests against Tulane. The Blazers defeated the Green Wave 31-24 at Legion Field back in 2018, and most recently defeated Tulane 28-21 two years ago in New Orleans during the 2021 season.
The Blazers are averaging 416.5 yards of offense per game this season and go up against the AAC's top ranked defense as Tulane allows just 291.3 yards and 16.0 points per game. The Green Wave is allowing just 62.8 rushing yards per game (fifth best nationally) and has given up only 10 points in its last two games combined.
Jacob Zeno will face a Tulane passing defense that allows 228.5 passing yards per game. Zeno is having a tremendous start to the season, having thrown for 1,206 yards, eight touchdowns and has added three on the ground. Zeno ranks second nationally in completions per game (32.5), sixth in completion percentage (75.1) and ninth in passing yards per game (301.5).
Zeno is spreading the wealth as seven players have at least 10 catches on the season. Wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer and tight end Bryce Damous share a team-high 16 catches, while freshman wideout Amare Thomas has 15 and is coming off a career game at No. 1 Georgia in which he had a game-high nine receptions for 60 yards and scored his first collegiate touchdown.
Jermaine Brown Jr. is 12 yards away from moving into fourth place on UAB's career list for all-purpose yards. Brown Jr. had a team-high 133 all-purpose yards at Georgia and has 336 total all-purpose yards this season (106 rushing, 81 receiving, 149 kick return). For his career, he has 3,812 all-purpose yards.
The Blazers have recovered six fumbles this season, which is third best in the nation. UAB recovered two of the three forced fumbles this past week at Georgia, both of which were jumped on by running back Lee Beebe. Damien Miller has a team-high two forced fumbles this season and has six for his career.
Defensively, UAB will have to contend with veteran Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt who is back from injury and will be playing his third game this season. Pratt has completed 32-of-38 passes for 484 yards, six touchdowns and one interception.
Safeties Keondre Swoopes and Ike Rowell will be key in slowing down Tulane's offense. Swoopes is leading the team with 25 total tackles despite missing the first game of the season, while Rowell is coming off a game in which he led UAB with eight tackles and Georgia and has 18 total tackles this season.

The Blazers return to Protective Stadium following the Tulane game to host USF for its first AAC home game on Oct. 7. The USF game will also be the 7th annual Children's Harbor game and kickoff will either be at 2:30 or 3 p.m. CT. That determination will be made by ESPN following Saturday's games.

Tickets to the USF game are available by clicking here. Be sure to also follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram for updates.

UAB Football Opens American Athletic Conference Play at Tulane

Players Mentioned

Lee Beebe Jr.

Jermaine Brown Jr.

Bryce Damous

Damien Miller

Tejhaun Palmer

Ike Rowell

Keondre Swoopes

Amare Thomas

Jacob Zeno

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics