Blazer football on the way to a great season
Ian Lamb, Staff Writer
Published On: 06/ 9/2009
College football season may not start until August, but The UAB Blazers are going into the summer with full force to compete this fall. The Blazers finished at 4-8 last year and ended the season with a first time conference shut out against Central Florida.
BUILDING A BALANCED TEAM
The Blazers start the 2009-2010 season with a home opener against the Rice University Owls. Head Coach Neil Callaway had a positive outlook after the spring practice schedule. In his 3rd year as head coach, Callaway says about his staff’s tenure so far at UAB, “We’ve been rebuilding a program and now we’re building a program to be proud of and make a lasting impression on UAB.” At UAB Callaway has installed a balanced offense, meaning they try to run and pass equally. Their runners include Senior Rashad Slaughter, who ran for 514 yards and Sophomore Justin Brooks who ran for 218 yards last season. On the passing side Senior Quarterback Joe Webb is on his way for a record season. Last year the versatile Quarterback ran for 1,021 yards and threw for over 2000 yards with a 58.9% pass completion, Webb was ranked 15th in the nation for total offense.
Webb will be throwing to some of the best wide receivers in the conference. Leading the receiving corps will be Junior Frantell Forrest who made 43 receptions in his sophomore seaons for 536 yards. The corps is filled out with Mario Wright, Mark Farrell, and Rodell Carter. Junior Mike Jones comes back to the Blazers after helping out the Basketball team last season. Jones had 11 receptions for 109 yards.
RECRUITING THE DEFENSE
On the defense UAB is bringing in a high amount of experience as quickly as possible. Recruiting a ton of Junior College transfers to bring the struggling defense up to speed and help UAB compete in Conference USA. Callaway could not get a great reading of the defense during spring practice due to injuries. The defensive line comes into the upcoming season with loads of experience. Callaway wants the fans to watch out for Chase Dunn, Terrell Springs, Bryant Turner, Anthony Barnes, Daniel White and Elliot Henigan.
REPLACING SWAYZE WATERS
The biggest position for the Blazers to fill this year will be in the kicker/punter position. The Blazers lost Swayze Waters, a four year player who was recently selected as a free agent by the Detriot Lions. Waters was one of the best kickers/punters UAB has ever had and will be sorely missed. No official word as to who will take over for Waters but Trey Ragland is working his way up into the position. Callaway remarked how much improvement Ragland made during spring practice.
DIFFICULT SEASON
Fall is soon approaching, and the die hard Blazer fans are chomping at the bit to watch this exciting season for the Green and Gold. The schedule of games for the Blazers will be difficult, starting the season with two home games against Rice and Southern Methodist University. The Blazers travel down the road to long time opponent Troy University, and a first time meeting against the Texas A&M Aggies. UAB will come home to face long time rival Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles, the following week, UAB will be tested again by a Mississippi team when The Blazers go against the Ole Miss Rebels of Houston Nutt. UAB stays on the road for another two weeks playing conference foes Marshall and University of Texas El-Paso. Florida Atlantic comes to the Southside to bring the Blazers back home. The Battle of the Bones will be held in Memphis this year where UAB will hope to bring the trophy to Birmingham. The East Carolina Pirates close out the away schedule for UAB with a tough conference road game. For the 2nd year in a row UAB will close out the season against The University of Central Florida.
FAN SUPPORT
To all returning fans, get out to all the games and support the blazers, there is not a reason to say no. Two home games in a row, where the tickets are free to students is a fantastic deal for all Blazer fans. To the new freshman coming this year, get out and support your new University. Free tickets and free shuttle to and from the games should be enough incentive.
SETTING THE SCHEDULE
The kickoff times for UAB’s 2009 home football games have been set.
The Blazers will play four of their five games at Legion Field this fall in the afternoon hours with the only night game being a Thursday, Oct. 1 contest vs. Southern Mississippi. UAB and the Golden Eagles will renew their Conference USA rivalry in a 7:00 p.m. CT start to be televised nationally by CBS College Sports.
The Blazers will open the 2009 season on Saturday, Sept. 5 when they play host to C-USA foe Rice at 3:00 p.m. A week later, UAB will play another conference home game when the SMU Mustangs visit Legion Field, also slated for a 3:00 p.m. kickoff.
After the Thursday night game vs. Southern Miss to begin the month of October, UAB will then play three consecutive road contests before returning home to take on Florida Atlantic from the Sun Belt Conference. The game against the Owls on Saturday, Nov. 7 will kick off at 1:00 p.m.
The Blazers close out their 2009 home schedule on Saturday, Nov. 28 against the UCF Knights. UAB and UCF will start their regular season finale at 12:30 p.m. on the final weekend of November.
Email: iclamb@uab.edu
