UAB football continues struggle to find nitch
Jonathan Deal, Assistant Sports Editor
Published On: 09/ 8/2008
The UAB football team dropped their second loss of the season Saturday against defending Sun Belt Champion Florida Atlantic. Despite nearly 400 yards of total offense from quarterback Joe Webb, the Blazers were outscored by the Owls 49-34.
“I’m very proud of our guys for competing to the end of the game,” said UAB head coach Neil Callaway. “Obviously, we’re not proud of losing. We’ve got to do a better job defensively. I told our guys in the lockerroom, ‘we’re going to win some ball games if we compete like that’.”
Webb was 26-for-48 passing for 326 yards and two touchdowns while running for 66 yards on 18 carries.
Sophomore wide receiver Frantrell Forrest also had a stellar night catching 11 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown in the loss.
The loss cannot be blamed on the offense, who racked up more than 400 yards for the second straight week. The running backs combined for 156 yards on the ground, while Webb added another 326 passing. Rashaud Slaughter led all running backs with 41 yards on seven carries.
Florida Atlantic opened the game with trickery when wide receiver Cortez Gent took the ball on a reverse and threw it 33 yards to Chris Bonner in the corner of the end zone to give the Owls an early 7-0 lead. Rusty Smith threw the first of three touchdowns on FAU’s next drive to put the home team up by two scored with 6:32 left in the first quarter.
Smith threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Owls’ in the win.
“Their quarterback did a good job,” said Callaway. “He’s a very good passer, a pro-style type quarterback. He makes good decisions back there.”
UAB trailed 21-3 in the second quarter before responding with two Joe Webb touchdown passes to close the half. The senior quarterback found tight end Zach Langford on a 20-yard touchdown pass before a bizarre play on the ensuing kickoff gave UAB the ball back. FAU kick returner Jeff Blanchard was unable to field the kickoff and UAB cornerback Ogonna Amarikwa took advantage of his mistake by falling on the ball at the Owl’s 28-yard line. Three plays later, the Blazers had pulled within four points when Forrest caught a 19-yard touchdown pass with 10 minutes left in the second.
Trailing 28-17 at the half, UAB quickly responded on their first drive of the second half when Aaron John scored on a 2-yard run. Rusty Smith threw his third touchdown pass of the day to match the Blazers’ touchdown and after a Swayze Waters field goal, UAB trailed 35-26 entering the fourth quarter.
Florida Atlantic answered UAB once again with a Di’Ovory Edgecomb 6-yard run, but the Blazers would not give up. UAB made it a one possession game when Justin Brooks scored on a 10-yard run and Rashaud Slaughter converted a two-point conversion to make it 42-34 with 7:43 remaining in the game.
UAB’s defense made a crucial stop to give the offense one more chance to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. The Blazers drove all the way to the Owls’ 28-yard line and faced a fourth down play to keep the game alive. With less than a minute to play, Joe Webb sent a pass over the head of wide receiver Mike Jones, thus ending any chance of a comeback.
UAB must now regroup and prepare to face Tennessee in Knoxville on Saturday. Kickoff will be at 11:30 a.m. CDT, and will be televised by Raycom sports.
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