"Dragon Breath" A UAB Dynasty (NCAA12)

[waytofailself]

That was a very insane loss against TCU. Seriously, the QB just stopped passing? WEIRD.

Great season, but a tough game at the end always seems to leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

And good luck in the SEC!

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by waytofailself

That was a very insane loss against TCU. Seriously, the QB just stopped passing? WEIRD. Great season, but a tough game at the end always seems to leave a bitter taste in the mouth. And good luck in the SEC!

Yesssssss, man he only had like 5 or 6 touches in the first half, qb threw 20 times only like 3 times the beginning of the third, then the rest of the second half were runs, was crazy and frustrating!!!

definitely left a bitter taste but my first year in the SEC may be tough I have freshmen all across my defense and a freshmen qb

[Fredonia]

You got robbed in Miami... Then again, that kind of thing is common down there...

Good luck in the SEC! Hope you tear it up and go to Pasadena for the National Championship. Go Blazers!


With me actually going to UAB tomorrow, the whole time I'm gonna think how unlikely and how friggin awesome it would be for the Blazers to make it to a BCS bowl in real life.

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fredonia

You got robbed in Miami... Then again, that kind of thing is common down there... Good luck in the SEC! Hope you tear it up and go to Pasadena for the National Championship. Go Blazers! With me actually going to UAB tomorrow, the whole time I'm gonna think how unlikely and how friggin awesome it would be for the Blazers to make it to a BCS bowl in real life.

Yea it tough, the SEC will be quite tough as well with my young team..

[gorillapittpray]

THE CAMPUS GAZETTE
UAB UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER
Aug 24th, 2013 Saturday
BLITZED!!!
UAB DOMINATES MATT MOORE AND TROY
IN THE SEASON OPENER 52-27

(DEFENSIVE TACKLE BRANDON RICHARDSON STANDS OVER MATT MOORE AFTER KNOCKING HIM TO THE GROUND SATURDAY AFTERNOON)

___________________
ASSOCIATED PRESS

TROY, AL-- Whats that phrase? Oh yeah, "DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS." That was all to true Saturday when the UAB Blazers went into Troy and put on a fantastic dominating display of hard hitting defense against the Trojans winning 52-27.
The stats say Heisman candidate Matt Moore threw for 346 yards but they dont say how the Blazers sacked and harassed him for the first three quarters holding him to just 140 yards and one touchdown before putting the two's on the field to start the fourth quarter.
" I was very pleased on how we executed our gameplan today." words from coach Rhatigan after the game. " The guys were amped and ready to go, I was glad to see McCollum step up the way I know he could."

The first half was owned by UAB (1-0). Led defensively by sophomore Middle Linebacker Timi McCollum who recorded 10 tackles and 3 sacks. The Blazers constantly flushed Moore out of the pocket forcing inaccurate passes, Junior College transfer Tom Cox looks like he will be fine replacing former Blazer Jerry Bowser. Cox grabbed a sack along with three tackles for a loss. He also recovered a fumble when Linebacker Timi McCollum blindsided Troy quarterback Matt Moore. The Blazers grabbed a total of 5 sacks and a interception.
--
(SOPHOMORE #52 TIMI MCCOLLUM AND JUNIOR #55 TOM COX PROVIDED MOST OF THE PRESSURE FOR THE BLAZERS)

When they finally got the ball Freshmen quarterback Adam Dyks showed the poise of a senior quarterback and led the Blazers to 31 first half points that included three scoring tosses to Ralph Rawls, Ian Wilson and Matt Ford. The touchdown pass to Ian Wilson set a UAB career record for receiving touchdowns in a career at 27.
Troy (0-1) Just had no answer for the Blazers offense. Playing in his first game since dislocating his elbow last season tailback Matthew Scott was in mid season form as he averaged 9.7 yards per carry on 17 touches that included a 65 yard touchdown run right up the middle in the third quarter.
" It felt good to be back out there." stated Scott. " I was wondering how it would be carrying with the brace on, and it turned out fine."
Scott entered the season as a Heisman candidate and debuted fine rushing for 165 yards and a score. Quarterback Adam Dyks finished 11-17 for 299 yards and five touchdowns.
" This was a big confidence builder for Dyks." said Rhatigan. " Now that he has his feet wet we can open the playbook up a little more for him. I really beleive Scott took a lot of pressure off him, any time you have a running back like that in your back field it makes other players pick their game up."
--
(FRESHMEN QUARTERBACK ADAM DYKS WAS NEARLY PERFECT WHILE JUNIOR MATTEW SCOTT LOOKED TO NO HAVE LOST A STEP)

Troy went into the half down 31-3 as the crowd showed its displeasure with Trojans and their performance with a plethora of Boo's.
"Just embarrassing, we're a better football team than that." a frustrated Matt Moore said. " Dont get me wrong, they have a great young team over there, but we have to many seniors to get beat like this."
Dyks came out of the half a threw a beautiful 83 yard bomb that receiver Michael Ross caught in stride to put the Blazers up 38-3 Ross would catch another touchdown later in the quarter.
Troy and Moore finally answer when Armstrong beat freshmen Darrell Jones and caught a 76 yard touchdown. However UAB answered right back when two time returner of the year Roderick Brooks returned the ensuing kickoff a school record 101 yards putting UAB up 45-10.

"No matter what we did they answered." Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. " I tell you what, Rhatigan has a good team over there. They play hard for him."

UAB held Troy to just 55 total yards in the first half. Troy would however finish with 363 totals yards. Both teams struggled a bit on third downs, UAB would start the game going 2 of 3 on third downs but would finish going 1 of 5 in the second half. Troy did no better, after starting 0 for 6 they finally managed to complete two third downs in the fourth quarter. Moore, who only three 6 interceptions all season a year ago, already threw his first when freshmen Darrell Jones picked him off in the end zone stalling a drive in the third quarter.

(FRESHMEN DARRELL JONES #30 GRABBED THIS INTERCEPTION AS HOLYCROSS ATTEMPTED THE THEFT AS WELL)
UAB welcomes #11 Virginia Tech to Legion Field next week kickoff is scheduled for 6pm, while Troy plays host to FCS school Missouri State.

BOX SCORE

UAB Blazers at Troy Trojans
Aug 24, 2013 1 2 3 4 F UAB (1-0) 21 10 21 0 52 TROY (0-1) 0 3 17 7 27 Top Performers PASS: Adam Dyks (UAB) - 11-17 299 yds, 5td's 1int RUSH: Matthew Scott (UAB) - 17 car, 165 yds, 1 td REC: W. Harris (TROY) - 7 rec, q06 yds, 1td	Team Stats Comparison UAB TROY First Downs 10 16 3rd Down Efficiency 3-8 2-8 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 0-0 Total Yards 718 574 Passing Yards 305 346 Rushing Yards 161 17 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 1-10 Turnovers 1 2 Time of Possession 17:06 10:54
UAB Blazers Troy Trojans

[gorillapittpray]

Monday August 26th 2013

ESPN Studios-- College football kicked off this past weekend, and already we had some classics. Here are scores from the top 25 as well as this week's top headlines.

TOP 25 score's
#10 Baylor beat ULM 32-22
#12 Utah beat Utah State 25-22
#14 Georgia Tech beat Houston 31-6
#18 South Carolina beat SMU 42-35 (OT)
#20 Texas A&M beat FIU 38-21
#22 Nebraska beat Wyoming 48-10
#24 Fresno State beat Rutgers 23-20


Notable Score:
Marshall upset Miami (OH) 42-34 (OT)
UCLA upset Nevada 48-45 (OT)
Georgia over North Texas 50-3


HEADLINES:

• USC loses star Tailback Alex Jones for 9 weeks, a star studded backfield shouldn't hurt them.
• Irish win first ever Big East game
• Weekend's theme tabbed "Showdown Saturday"
• UAB's Scott picking up where he left off, 165 yards in season opener
• Gamecocks need OT to survive SMU and Sam Ashley's 400 yard day
• 52 yard fg lifts Utes over aggies in season opening thriller
• Bruins upset Wolfpack in three overtimes

TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES

1. Illinois QB Marcus Fenner (23-34, 306 yds, 4td, 65 yds rush)
2. ND ROLB Anthony Neal (11 tkls, 6 tfl, 3 sacks)
3. SMU QB Sam Ashley (38-54, 420 yds, 97 yds rush, 5 total td)
4. UCLA QB Cornelius Mitchell 15-24, 136 yds, 110 yds rush, 5 total td)
5. UAB MLB Timi McCollum (10 tackles 3 sacks)

SHOWDOWN SATURDAY
Week two officially brings in the football season
with huge top 25 contest around the country.

#11 Virginia Tech (0-0) at UAB (1-0)
Virginia Tech travels to Legion Field where the Blazers have won 12 straight. This contest was decided by a 4th quarter pick 6 a season ago, can take get the revenge.

#16 Miami (0-0) at #25 Pittsburgh (0-0)
The Panthers and Canes renew a old Big East rivalry. For Pitt its their first ever ACC game not to mention having to stop one of the Nations most explosive players in Canes back Chris Hamilton. A Thursday night home game should ease the nerves for Pitt.

Florida (1-0) at #23 Oklahoma (0-0)
The Gators are slowly trying to get back to the top after two subpar seasons. A win against the Sooners at Gaylord-Memorial where the Sooners have dropped their last two can catapult the Gators back into the top 25

#8 Ohio State (0-0) at #7 Arkansas (0-0)
Arkansas is out to prove last season's run wasn't a thing of luck. An experienced Ohio State team led by quarterback Jeremy Ralph should be able to block out Arkansas 80 plus thousand fans and their current 9 home game win streak.

*COLLEGE GAMEDAY*
#3 TCU (0-0) at #5 LSU (0-0)
The defending National Champs travel to Baton Rouge to face the always tough LSU Tigers. Brandon Wilson will have big shoes to fill as he takes over departed Heisman winner Chris Herron however he'll get to run behind three All Americans on the line. LSU's OLB Thomas Harrell has already predicted a win tweeting,
"#who? We'll make sure they leave #Deathvalley with a major league #L"
He'll need that 96,000 in attendance to help him out!

[gorillapittpray]

Weds, August 28th, 2013
BLAZER WEEKLY

DEFENSE STARTS SEASON
OFF WITH IMPRESSIVE PLAY

(HEAD COACH TRAVIS RHATIGAN GETTING READY TO SEND HIS DEFENSE ON THE FIELD, PICTURE #52 TIMI MCCOLLUM, #51 BEN MARTINDALE)

BIRMINGHAM, AL-- After that dismal performance in the National Championship game, UAB's defense opened the season in style with impressive play. With a defense that breaks down with 3 freshmen starters, 3 sophomore starters, 3 Junior starters and two seniors. They all looked like savvy veterans Saturday afternoon against the Heisman led Troy Trojans. No one was more impressive than sophomore middle linebacker Timi McCollum who grabbed 10 tackles and 3 sacks. McCollum was all over the field opening up juco transfer Tom Cox who himself had a great game for the Blazers recorded a sack and a fumble recovery.
"We just strap up and try and do our job." The sophomore said after Tuesday's practice. "Coach believes in us to do our job, if we dont he'll bring someone else in to do it."
The Blazers defense held Troy to a record low of 55 total yards in the first half.
"They reall got after it, I know what Timi is capable of. So I was more impressed of the Freshen in the secondary. Particularly Holycross, and Rhodes at safety, no coverage bust and they helped out in the run."
UAB will need that type of performance and more when they welcome #11 Virginia Tech into town this Saturday.

Recruiting News:
After the win in Troy, the Blazers got news that Minor High School star Carl Harvey committed to the Blazers. The Adamsville, Alabama Native is just another of the long list of athletes that have come from the city of Adamsville to UAB through their unique pipeline. Harvey, who is consider one of the top corners in the state of Alabama is rated the #48th corner in the country. He is also rated the third best corner in the state of Alabama and is currently #25 in Alabama's Super 25 football player rankings for High School prospects. His Junior year he grabbed 7 interceptions as well as 650 yards at receiver.

(MINOR HIGH SCHOOL, ADAMSVILLE ALABAMA: CARL HARVEY 3 STAR CORNERBACK)


Head Coach Travis Rhatigan met with the media on Tuesday to discuss, the Troy game and the upcoming game vs Virginia Tech.

Opening Statement: Hello, I was very impressed with the way we took care of business on the road down in Troy. It wasn't a sophisticated gameplan, we allowed Dyks to pick his favorite plays and we added a few more. He managed the game very well. Matthew Scott looked very good, barring injury he's on pace for another good year. Our receivers caught the ball well, I wanna congratulate Ian for his record for most touchdowns, he has been a hard worker since we've been here and he's a great leader.
Defensively late in the second half we gave up some easy passes, we'll need to tighten that up, but for the most part we did a good job against a great quarterback. Troy will be a good team once again this year.
On to the Hokies.
We'll have to be ready for Joe Carroll, a big quarterback with a good arm. They have a new starting tailback and we dont have good film except for their spring game on him. We'll probably work in some more coverages for secondary and mix up the pressure. They bring back some key components on that defense. I expect them to come after Dyks, so we'll work on max protection this week. All in all this is a big game for our guys, and it can really get us over the edge mentally if we can handle this Viginia Tech team. Its a home game so I expect our fans to up early and getting ready for the 6pm kickoff, its going to be exciting.

LETS DANCE!

Matchup Preview | August 31, 2013
	@
#11 Virginia Tech Hokies (0-0, Away)		UAB Blazers (1-0, Home)
Game Notes Virginia Tech comes in with Joe Carroll leading the offensive attack. With Nate Davis gone to graduation the Hokies will have a new starting tailback in Senior Mike Morgan. Morgan is 6'2 255 pounds and Vtech expects to pound him in the running game to wear down this UAB front seven. With UAB being young in the secondary expect that plan to work with play action, the down side is Carroll will have freshmen receivers to throw to with the lone returner being sophomore Erik Shelby the speedster of the group. For UAB they need to get the crowd into this game early, with a abundance of youth on Techs offense at the receivers and line positions UAB can cause confusion with a pumped crowd. Because of the youth look for UAB to mix and roll coverage. Offensively Dyks will be playing his first home game as a Blazers so expect a extra bounce in his step. He'll still have to be smart as Virginia Tech does return four senior's to this defense including hard hitting linebacker Jordan Walker, his pressure could help one of the ACC's top corners Antonio Craig make some big plays. Prediction: Matthew Scott will get his touches Virginia Tech will have to pick whether or not they want Scott to beat them or Dyks and those receivers. Tech has a bruiser in the backfield but in experienced pass catchers on the road could be tough for them. UAB 28 VTECH 17

[waytofailself]

Good luck against VT. Somehow I have a feeling it isn't going to come down to a pick 6 again.