"Dragon Breath" A UAB Dynasty (NCAA12)

[gorillapittpray]

THE CAMPUS GAZETTE
UAB UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER
Saturday Nov 29th, 2014

EARLY AND OFTEN

BLAZERS TAKE CARE OF LOWLY VANDERBILT
IN DOMINATING FASHION 59-14

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ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Nashville, TN - No worries about looking ahead, hours after Auburn dominated Alabama to improve to 11-1 and set up a BCS Top 5 showdown in the SEC Conference Championship. UAB (12-0, 9-0 SEC) took care of Vanderbilt (3-9, 2-7) from start to end Saturday Night.
Cortez Means and the UAB defensive unit had started festivities off before the game even started as they had to be separated near mid-field.
"There was a lot of trash talking out there, and then I got bumbed and my guys had my back, I definitely let them they started something they couldn't finish." Said the Linebacker who is up for both the Nagurski and the Bednarik. His play didnt hurt his chances either.

On the first snap of the game he came flying through the line of scrimmage and hit Vandy's quarterback P. Dunlap forcing a fumble recovered by defensive tackle Rhoden at the 6-yard line. Cody Core would hammer the score home and within seconds UAB was up 7-0. "The guys came out and set the tone early, prob one of our most complete games this season." Head coach Travis Rhatigan said.
--
(MEANS WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE FORCING THE GAMES FIRST TURNOVER AND GORE PUT THE BLAZERS ON THE BOARD FIRST)

The Blazers went on to to grab a 28-7 halftime lead. Holding Vanderbilt to just 43 yards of total offense in the first half. UAB was led by Adam Dyks four touchdown performance on 11-20 passing for 214. Receiver Travis Jackson helped his Biletnikof standing out catching three of those touchdowns and Bill Cooley brought in seven passes for 110 yards while fellow freshmen Callahan hauled in 88 yards and a score. Gore keeps churning away at the bit, he had 98 yards and two first half score extending his lead in rushing yards in the conference.

Vanderbilt and quarterback Phillip Dunlap was held to 4-10 passing for just 95 yards. He got 70 on one play from J. Green who looked like he pushed of of safety Dominique Rhodes but no flag was thrown.
"Obviously we dont have the talent of that team, but at the same time we're in the SEC too, this was an embarrassing way to end the season." First year coach Chris Hagen said. "I'm disappointed after the pregame rile up to lay an egg."
Carter was Vandy's lone bright spot rushing 17 times for 75 yards.

Already up 28-7 to start the third quarter, Adam Dyks went to work. He would fire touchdown passes of 26, and 42 yards to Callahan and Jackson to extend the lead to 42-7. His last drive of the day would end in a 45 yard field goal by the freshmen S. Jordan. When asked if he was looking on to Auburn he replied: " We're gonna celebrate sweeping the conference the next few days, Auburn is a good team but we already beat them I'm not worried about them."
--
(DYKS THREW HIS 43RD TOUCHDOWN PASS OF THE YEAR TO CALLAHAN)

As the offense kept putting up numbers the defense kept tightening its stranglehold on the commodores. Cortez Means and Timi McCollum led a hard hitting defense who radar was set on Dunlap. The top linebacking duo in the country combined for 4.5 sacks and 13 tackles. They were in the backfield all evening Harassing whoever had the ball. Defensive end Tom Cox registered his 20th sack of the season and is just two away from tying the single season school record.
The Unit held Vanderbilt to 2-10 on third downs and forced three turnovers as well as holding them to just three total first downs.
--
(THE DEFENSE SHOWED WHY THEY ARE RANKED #1 IN THE LAND)

The Blazers will have a week off before facing #4 Auburn in the 2014 SEC Conference Championship Game in Atlanta, Georgia.


BOX SCORE:

UAB 59 - Vanderbilt 14
(A FINALIST FOR THE BILETNIKOF, TRAVIS JACKSON HELPED HIS CAUSE WITH THREE MORE TOUCHDOWN RECEPTIONS GIVING HIM A NCAA LEADING 18)

Photos | Season Stats | Game Book | Quotes | Notes

	1	2	3	4	F
#2 UAB (10-0, 9-0)	14	14	17	14	59
Vanderbilt (3-9, 2-7)	7	0	7	0	14

Quick Stats	UAB	VANDY
Total Yards	396	205
Passing Yards	306	107
Rushing Yards	124	12
First Downs	13	3
Turnovers	2	3
Penalties - Yards	7-74	6-51
3rd Down Conversions	6-10	2-10
4th Down Conversions	0-0	0-0
Sacks	8	0
Time of Possession	13:31	10:29

Statistical Leaders - UAB
Passing	C-A	Yards	TD/Int	Long
A. Dyks	11-20	214	4/1	42
Rushing	Rushes	Yards	TD	Long
L. Sullivan	17	98	2	23
Receiving	Rec	Yards	TD	Long
B. Cooley	7	110	0	32
T. Jackson	4	65	3	26
B. Callahan	3	88	1	42
Defensive	Tackles	Sacks	TFL	TO
C. Holycross	9	1	3	0
C. Means	8	3.0	6	1 FF
T. McCollum	5	1.5	3	0

Statistical Leaders - Vanderbilt
Passing	C-A	Yards	TD/Int	Long
P. Dunlap	4-10	95	2/1	70
Rushing	Rushes	Yards	TD	Long
S. Carter	17	75	0	61
Receiving	Rec	Yards	TD	Long
J. Green	1	70	1	70
B. Edwards	1	18	0	18
Defensive	Tackles	Sacks	TFL	TO
B. Stevenson	8	0	0	0
M. Bozemen	5	0	0	0
C. Bass	5	0	0	0

[Kcordloh]

Wow three first downs! Now that is defensive dominance!
You were right, the defense is amazing this year.

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kcordloh

Wow three first downs! Now that is defensive dominance! You were right, the defense is amazing this year.

Yea but Vandy was terrible, with the new settings Im anxious to see how ill do in the rematch with Auburn, they are more talented than both Georgia and Florida so we'll see!!

[gorillapittpray]

Sat Nov 29th 2014

IRON BOWL'D
WHITE AND AUBURN BEAT THE BAMA CURSE,WIN 27-6

• Auburn Hills, Ala - Eddie White ran in scores from 72 and 33 yards out as Auburn dominated the #21 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday afternoon. The Win sets up a huge SEC Championship match-up with #2 UAB who blew Auburn out 49-6 earlier this season. Auburn used fierce defense grabbing three turnovers and holding the Tide to just 118 yards of total offense in the win. Auburn has beaten Bama for the first time since 2010 during their national championship year.

TOP HEADLINES:

• Huskers clinch Big Ten championship berth with win
• Hawkeye's rout Badgers close out Big Ten with 7-1 record
• UAB completes undefeated regular season with rout of Vanderbilt
• Cardinal's struggle and fall to Army
• Rejuvenated Gator's upset Seminoles
• Urban Meyer and Buckeye's get to 6-6 with win over Michigan
• Longhorns rout Aggies improves to 12-0
• Bowling Green gets to 10 wins
• Georgia no answer for Jenkins and yellow jackets lose 36-7
• Iowa State nearly upset TCU again
• Navy grabs first 10 win season in school history

College Football Top 25 Scoreboard:
#2 UAB over Vanderbilt 59-14
#3 Texas over Texas A&M 45-17
#4 Auburn over #21 Alabama 27-6
#5 Wisconsin falls #6 Iowa 34-18
#7 Georgia Tech over #23 Georgia 36-7
#8 TCU over Iowa State 26-21
#9 Florida State falls Florida 24-17
#10 Stanford falls Army 35-28
#11 Oklahoma over Texas Tech 41-17
#12 Oregon over Oregon State 27-20
#13 LSU over Arkansas 38-14
#14 Navy over San Diego State 21-14
#15 Oklahoma State falls Baylor 31-12
#16 Utah over Arizona State 56-14
#17 Fresno State over BYU 38-27
#18 Bowling Green over Toledo 33-17
#19 Michigan State over Minnesota 52-7
#20 Virginia Tech falls Virginia 24-20
#22 Nebraska over Northwestern 31-10
#24 Notre Dame over Michigan 31-18
#25 Marshall over SMU 28-16

[benton32]

Nice Dynasty u got going still, I like the detailed reports. Im always worried if i do to much, Some stuff will not even been seen, lol.. I dunno if u noticed i moved my season and team update stuff to a new link, its easier to update and faster, the only thing i hate is i cant write alot of stuff in any of the boxes unless i make the whole colum bigger, but i guess thats where the operationsports pages come in at.

by the way another #1 went down. smh, Wisconsin lost to Indiana, thats 6 #1's

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by benton32

Nice Dynasty u got going still, I like the detailed reports. Im always worried if i do to much, Some stuff will not even been seen, lol.. I dunno if u noticed i moved my season and team update stuff to a new link, its easier to update and faster, the only thing i hate is i cant write alot of stuff in any of the boxes unless i make the whole colum bigger, but i guess thats where the operationsports pages come in at. by the way another #1 went down. smh, Wisconsin lost to Indiana, thats 6 #1's

Yes Ive been still following, I usually look at yours, the Missouri one and the Stanford one... Im really into my dynasty now, this is prob the best team Ive ever had on NCAA football defensively...

As far as posting too much, you can never post too much. I like the side stories in my dynasty it keeps me going, Although UAB is the main team I have a good season with some great other games a long the way, will be interseting to see if Utah can avenge the loss to Cal earlier this season, that win kinda put Cal on the map and they've been rolling..
Then you got Navy (10-1) Air Force (10-1) and Army ranked in the top 25 (AP)
Florida State has been terrible this whole dynasty and got to 10 wins this year, the normal powers like Boise and Bama had terrible years at 7-5.
Then Nebraska starts the year 0-5 then wins 7 straight to claim at spot in the Big Ten championship.
I ultimately have to handle a hot Auburn team in the SEC championship.

So yea its good to have the other info out there it gives the dynasty more depth lol!!

[gorillapittpray]

Mon Dec 1st, 2014

HEART OF TEXAS!
#3 AND 12-0 LONGHORNS HOPE'S BCS HEARS THEIR CASE:

• In the AP Polls the Longhorns are #2 in front of a very good UAB team but in the BCS they're #3. With the regular season all but done the Longhorns have to wait another week before facing #7 TCU in a rematch. First year head coach James Ward feels his Longhorns are the Nations best team. "What more can we do? We beat OU, OSU, and TCU all which were ranked in the top ten when we faced them. We're undefeated got two of the countries best backs a Heisman candidate, what more can we do?" Well if you ask me you need to go beat TCU again in the Big 12 conference Championship game. #2 UAB and #5 Auburn meet and #1 Cal is playing a hot Utah team. The cards should fall just right if the Longhorns can get a win.

AROUND THE NCAA:

• Texas' Ryan Russ gaining momentum in Heisman race, but GT's Jenkins favorite
• The annual Army'Navy game sees both teams ranked for the first time this century
• Winner takes all as Southern Miss and Marhall duel for conference title
• Bowling Green can clinch MAC title with a win
• McCollum and Means, UAB sports nations best backer core
• Purdue is Bowl eligible, gives Hall chance at NCAA touchdown record
• The quiet one: BC's Williams quietly over 2,000 yards rushing

BCS TALK:

• With the major schools completing their seasons a week ago and getting ready for conference championship games. The computers made it real interesting this week as the top three teams are separated by mere percentage points. Cal holds firm at #1 but UAB and Texas are over the shoulders peeking. One loss Iowa has moved up after their huge win over Wisconsin but with Nebraska's win they wont get a shot at defending their title. Auburn tops out the the top 5. Here are week 15 rankings.
  

		BCS
RK	TEAM	AVG	PVS	Record
1	Cal	1.0000	1	12-0
2	UAB	.9819	2	12-0
3	Texas	.9733	3	12-0
4	Iowa	.8976	6	11-1
5	Auburn	.8975	4	11-1
6	Georgia Tech	.8970	7	11-1
7	TCU	.7408	8	10-2
8	Oklahoma	.6827	11	10-2
9	Wisconsin	.6553	5	10-2
10	Oregon	.6374	12	9-3
11	LSU	.5190	13	9-3
12	Navy	.4977	14	10-1
13	Utah	.4794	16	10-2
14	Fresno State	.4603	17	10-2
15	Bowling Green	.4218	18	10-1
16	Florida State	.4119	9	10-2
17	Michigan State	.3883	19	9-3
18	Nebraska	.3869	22	7-5
19	Stanford	.3504	10	9-3
20	Notre Dame	.2606	24	8-4
21	Marshall	.1918	25	9-2
22	Air Force	.1305	--	10-2
23	Penn State	.1233	--	9-3
24	Buffalo	.0876	--	8-3
25	Nevada	.0584	--	9-3

RECRUITING NEWS: ESPN TOP 10 PROSPECTS

Player	Pos	School
1. Travis Wallace	HB	Wyo, OU, Bama
2. Jacob Sanders	WR	ALABAMA
3. Antonio Cole		HB	UF, Bama, Ore
4. Joel Morton		ATH	OREGON
5. James Brown		ATH	BOISE ST
6. Patrick Hodges		WR	ALABAMA
7. Bobby Snyder		HB	OKLAHOMA
8. William Clark		WR	TEXAS
9. Josh Brown		ATH	Bama, TCU, OU
10. Courtney Goss		WR	NOTRE DAME

HEADLINES:

• Long Beach athlete Will Graham down to five, Oregon front runner
• #6 athlete Lionel Miller says Urban Meyer's influence has Buckeye's in final 3
• Jason Jenkins says Woverines it is, over Home state Buckeye's
• Nebraska receiver Amir Hawthorne down to five, Trojans in front
• Number 1 OLB commits to Longhorns
• Notre Dame building impressive class
• Sooners high on #5 Linebacker Jason Bryant
• Gators looking to build off season with a great class

The last few weeks we've been highlighting some of the best players for the 2014 season. With the Heisman presentation a little over two weeks away we'll give you the projected top five.

1. Lawrence Jenkins Running back Georgia Tech. - Jenkins has helped Georgia Tech to a 10-1 record and a ACC Championship game birth. For the year he has rushed for 1,836 yards and a NCAA best 23 touchdowns.
   
2. Ryan Russ Running Back Texas. - Apart of a two back system Russ has made the most of his carries. Averaging 133.4 yards per game he has rushed for 19 scores and his Longhorns are 12-0
3. Jason Hall Quarterback Purdue. - Getting Purdue to become bowl eligible was no easy task as they are 7-5. Defining moment of the season was a 38-28 upset win over then #1 Wisconsin. Hall has passed for over 350 yards or more in every game this season. For the year he's thrown for 5,003 yards and 54 touchdowns
4. John Williams Running Back Boston College. - Its been a off year for Boston College after shocking the nation last year with a 10-1 record. But nothing has been off about John Williams play. Williams leads the nation with 2,040 yards his 17 rushing touchdowns are good for third. He should be a lock to head to New York
5. Chris Neal Quarterback Oklahoma. - Because of the success of Texas and TCU Neal's accomplishments have gone over looked. The Sooners are 10-2 and more than likely headed to a new years day bowl. Neal has been amazing for the Sooners throwing 35 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. His 3,616 pass yards rank him second in the NCAA.

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 15


(#12 BCS) Navy (10-1) vs (#25 AP) Army
In a series that has been dominated as of late by Navy. The Midshipmen look to make school history as they try to get to the schools first ever BCS Bowl Game. Its been rumored in recent weeks that Navy, who ultimately has a obligation to being called up may in fact get called up to the Big East. A win will go a long way. For Army they are ranked for the first time all season and have a chance to spoil any chances Navy has for a BCS bowl birth. This could be an all time classic for America's Game.



College Gameday Game of the Week


Southern Miss (7-4, 6-2) at #21 Marshall (9-2, 7-1)
Just like last year the conference championship for the C-USA comes down to the final game of the season.
For Southern Miss, a embarrassing loss last week to Memphis has the Eagles staggering into this huge match-up on the road. They'll need quarterback Tim Wright to have a flawless game until last week he had a flawless season but four picks has him and Southern Miss looking sketchy, the hope on offense is to give the ball tailback Justin Payne or receiver Carlos Brown these two will make plays.
The Southern Miss defense will need to slow down a very good Marshall offense as well. The Thunderin Herd have won six straight games thanks to the play of quarterback AL Miller, the dual threat Junior can do it with both his legs and arms. If they need more legs they look to James Walker the second leading rusher in the conference. Averaging over six yards per he will be a load to handle. But if Miller wants to use his arm he'll just throw it up to Desi Shelton, Shelton has 10 touchdown receptions and poses the speed to be a legitimate threat.

[gorillapittpray]

Wed, Dec 3rd 2014

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BLAZERS END SEASON AS NATIONS TOUGHEST DEFENSE:
THANKS TO THE TRIO OF TIMI MCCOLLUM, CORTEZ MEANS AND TOM COX OPPOSING TEAMS FOUND IT HARD TO SCORE.

• Birmingham, Ala - The Blazers ended the regular season portion of their schedule 12-0 awaiting a conference championship game match-up with #5 Auburn (11-1). The Blazers defense was the key for the type of season the Blazers had. Through the first five games the Blazers didnt give up a offensive touchdown in fact they only gave up a NCAA best 161 total points. Good for 13.4 points a game. For a while they were being compared to the modern day defenses like the Miami Hurricanes of 2001 where they only gave up 117 total points or the 2010 TCU Horned Frogs who gave up just 11.6 points a game. But you can under mind what those two defenses did. However the Blazers may have the best statistics individually on any team in NCAA history. Defensive end Tom Cox is chasing the NCAA single season sacks record with 20.5 and a guaranteed two games left. Linebackers McCollum and Means are both battling for the Nagurski and Linebacker of the year awards as Means has 51 tackles and 13.5 sacks while McCollum has 66 tackles and 7.5 sacks. Those three alone are the reason why the Blazers only give up 64.3 yards a game on the ground. With the new dual threat quarterbacks and spread option offenses thats a serious number right there. But when asking all of them about their accomplishments they're quick to pass it off to their teammates. "Our secondary is one of the best in country." Means says. "Our Offense keeps us off the field." Cox says. "You forgot that Nelson beat the Gators by himself." Says McCollum. Well nevertheless Travis Rhatigan has a special unit back there. Expect a lot of all conference and all American announced off of that unit.

STANDINGS	CONFERENCE	OVERALL
SEC - East	W-L	W-L
(*)#2 UAB	9-0	12-0
Georgia	6-3	7-5
South Carolina	5-4	6-6
Florida	4-5	7-5
Tennessee	3-6	4-8
Vanderbilt	2-7	3-9
Kentucky	0-9	1-11

STANDINGS	CONFERENCE	OVERALL
SEC - West	W-L	W-L
(*)#5 Auburn	8-1	11-1
#12 LSU	7-2	9-3
Alabama	5-4	7-5
Ole Miss	4-5	7-5
Texas A&M	4-5	6-6
Mississippi St	3-6	6-6
Arkansas	3-6	3-9

RECRUITING NEWS:
Nedarland, Texas Tight End Charrod Randle committed to the Blazers on Tuesday afternoon, picking UAB over Iowa State and Baylor. Looked at as a blocking tight end with soft hands Charrod made all district his Junior year and all city is senior year. "Standing at 6'4 265 he has the size to play on the line in this conference, its a matter of grooming him into the type of pass catching TE we know he can be." Said head coach Travis Rhatigan.

BLAZERS ARE ON A BYE WEEK FOR THE FINAL WEEK OF THE SEASON