"Dragon Breath" A UAB Dynasty (NCAA12)

[gorillapittpray]

Sept 2nd 2015

BUILT FORD TOUGH!
SENIOR MATT FORD HAS BATTLED BACK
FROM INJURIES TO BECOME LEADER:

(FORD GRABBED 4 RECEPTIONS FOR 96 YARDS AND 3 TOUCHDOWNS IN HIS FIRST GAME BACK FROM INJURY)

• Receiver Matt Ford came to UAB with a bright future. His freshmen year in a reserve role he averaged 40 yards a catch bringing in 804 yards on just 20 catches and 12 touchdowns. His sophomore year he had 744 yards and 36 receptions before a devastating back injury. He would battle back again his junior year hauling in 501 yards on just 19 receptions but mid way through the season he re-injured his back. "This kid was on his way to being all world maybe woulda left us his junior year." Said Rhatigan. Instead Matt Ford hit the weight the room and never missed a practice or meeting despite rehabbing his back. Because of that he was honorary captain at the National Championship game. This year he picked up where he left off grabbing three first half touchdown receptions seemingly not losing a step showing off his speed. " I learned that it all could be over just like that, I take nothing for granted like I used too, and work for everything now as well as being a humble football player." Ford said. You can see Ford and the Blazers take on Tennessee this Saturday at Legion Field.

SEC Standings

EAST	CONF	OVERALL
#21 UAB	0-0	1-0
Vanderbilt	0-0	1-0
Tennessee	0-0	0-0
#12 Georgia	0-0	0-0
#15 Florida	0-0	0-0
Clemson	0-0	0-0
South Carolina	0-0	0-0
WEST	CONF	OVERALL
#13 Alabama	0-0	1-0
#1 Auburn	0-0	0-0
#7 LSU	0-0	0-0
#20 Ole Miss	0-0	0-0
Texas A&M	0-0	0-0
Mississippi State	0-0	0-0
Arkansas	0-0	0-0

SEC Conference games for wk-2

• Tennessee at #21 UAB
• #12 Georgia at #7 LSU
• #1 Auburn at #15 Florida

Matchup Preview | September 5, 2015
	@
Tennessee Volunteers (0-0, Away)		#21 UAB Blazers (1-0, Home)
key players QB Christian Davis QB Adam Dyks (394, 7td) RB Micah McKinney WR Travis Jackson (7 receptions 141 yards 2td) DE Brandon Burch DT Marcus Leak (1.5 sacks)

| #24 UAB at TENNESSEE

PURCHASE TICKETS

(GAME NOTES)
UAB LOOKS TO EXTEND ITS 26 HOME GAME WINNING STREAK AGAINST TENNESSEE
The Blazers will enjoy the confines of Legion field for the 2015 home opener. A week after surviving a very good Florida State team. Adam Dyks broke the school record for most touchdowns in a game with 7 and looks to impress this week. He'll face a very fast Tennessee defensive secondary (avg 96 speed) But the Blazer receiving core brings much needed experience. Defensively the Blazers welcome back team leader at linebacker Timi McCollum after being out with a sprained ankle he had during fall camp. His presence alone should bring added motivation to a Blazer defense who got torched a week ago. Tennessee's Micah McKinney is a threat out the back field and will need a big time game if the Vols are to have a chance.

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time	Saturday, September 5th, 2015 at 12:00 p.m. (ET)
Location	Birmingham, Alabama. (Legion Field)
Television	CBS (Regional)
On The Web	Live in-game statistics and other coverage can be found at blazer weekly or ESPN3.COM

[gorillapittpray]

THE CAMPUS GAZETTE
UAB UNIVERSITY NEWSPAPER
Saturday September 5th, 2015

LONG DAY FOR VOLS
THE RETURN OF MLB TIMI MCCOLLUM ALONG WITH LAWRENCE LONG HELPED BLAZERS CRUISE 55-7

(RS-FRESHMEN LAWRENCE LONG GRABBED HIS FIRST CAREER 100 YARD RUSHING GAME AGAINST TENNESSEE SATURDAY)

Birmingham, Ala - On the cusp of winning 27-straight home games, the UAB Blazers added another dimension to an already explosive offense. RS- Freshmen Lawrence Long grinded tough runs before breaking a 55-yard touchdown run showing his worth.
"Thats what we want him to do, in fact thats what we know he can do and when he gets going, its tough to stop us." Receiver Matt Ford said after the game.
Today's game also marked the return of middle linebacker and the teams emotional leader Timi McCollum who made his presence felt early with a huge sack early. His pressures also helped UAB force five turnovers which were turned into four Adam Dyks touchdown passes giving him 11 in just two games.
"As a coach you love to see your guys feed off each other, this is a very close team and they expect each other to do their part." Stated head coach Travis Rhatigan.
--
(MCCOLLUM'S PRESENCE HELPED SPEAR HEAD A DOMINATING DAY FOR THE BLAZER DEFENSE)

Adam Dyks had another stellar outing throwing for 310 yards and four touchdowns on 12 of 21 passing. Cooley and Ford both grabbed four receptions Cooley for 121 yards while Ford led the team with 141 yards, tight end Charrod Randle hauled in two very impressive touchdown receptions. Lawrence Long got 160 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns.
For the Vols it was a long day. Quarterback Christian Davis went 10-26 passing for 218 yards but was picked off 5 times and sacked 7 times. Riley was his favorite target grabbing three passes for 66-yards. The lone bright spot was tailback Micah McKinney who carried the ball 14 times for 96 yards, but most of the yards was on his 75-yard touchdown run.

The Blazers opened the scoring first after freshmen corner Matt Gatewood grabbed UAB's first interception, Dyks would find Charrod Randle in the back of the end zone, Randle showed great concentration hauling the touchdown on triple coverage. Up 14 after a Long 2-yard touchdown the Vols tried to make things interesting as running back Micah McKinley ripped off a 75-yard score, looking like he was stopped for a huge loss he somehow kept his balance and showed his speed. But thats all he would get the rest of the afternoon as UAB started coralling him and went into the half up 28-7 after Dyks found Randle and Ford for scoring tosses.

The Blazers wasted no time coming out the half Dyks hit Matt Ford on a receiver screen then followed throwing a beautiful post ball to Bill Cooley for his fourth passing touchdown of the day. The Tennessee offense just couldn't amount anything, Davis was scrambling left and right getting sack twice by defensive tackle Marcus Leak in the early part of the third quarter. After sitting Dyks Lawrence Long went to work, averaging 11-yards per carry he was running through arm tackles of linebackers getting to the third level before getting stopped then his 55-yard touchdown run up the gut put the exclamation point on the game.
--
(TE CHARROD RANDLE AND WR BILL COOLEY COMBINED TO CATCH THREE OF DYKS FOUR TOUCHDOWN PASSES SATURDAY)

The defense enjoyed its best outing in the Travis Rhatigan era turnover wise grabbing a school record five interceptions led by freshmen Matt Gatewood's two, Adam Love also grabbed one is is one interception away from tying the school's career record at 16. Free Safety Josh Brown did break a school record returning a interception late in the fourth quarter 95 yards for the score.
Up Next for UAB is another home date with rival Southern Miss.

BOX SCORE:

#21 UAB 55 - Tennessee 7
(FREE SAFETY JOSH BROWN'S FOURTH QUARTER INTERCEPTION RETURN FOR A SCORE SET THE UAB RECORD FOR LONGEST INTERCEPTION RETURN AT 95 YARDS, THE BLAZERS WERE ABLE TO GRAB FIVE INTERCEPTIONS AGAINST THE VOLS)

Photos | Season Stats | Game Book | Quotes | Notes

	1	2	3	4	F
#21 UAB (2-0, 1-0)	7	21	14	13	55
TENN (0-1, 0-1)	0	7	0	0	7

Quick Stats	UAB	TENN
Total Yards	484	290
Passing Yards	310	218
Rushing Yards	174	72
First Downs	11	8
Turnovers	5	2
Penalties - Yards	3-35	2-20
3rd Down Conversions	2-6	2-10
4th Down Conversions	0-0	0-2
Sacks	7	0
Time of Possession	12:26	11:34

Statistical Leaders - UAB
Passing	C-A	Yards	TD/Int	Long
A. Dyks	12-21	310	4/0	44
Rushing	Rushes	Yards	TD	Long
L. Long	14	160	2	55
Receiving	Rec	Yards	TD	Long
B. Cooley	4	121	1	38
M. Ford	4	141	1	44
C. Randle	3	38	2	22
Defensive	Tackles	Sacks	TFL	TO
D. Rhodes	10	1.0	3	1 INT
M. Gatewood	5	0	0	2 INT
M. Leak	3	2.0	2	0

Statistical Leaders - Tennessee
Passing	C-A	Yards	TD/Int	Long
C. Davis	10-26	218	0/5	46
Rushing	Rushes	Yards	TD	Long
M. McKinney	14	96	1	75
Receiving	Rec	Yards	TD	Long
J. Riley	3	66	0	39
M. Rhodes	1	46	0	46
Defensive	Tackles	Sacks	TFL	TO
E. Roberts	7	0	0	0
M. Bonds	7	0	0	0
D. Singleton	4	0	0	0

[gorillapittpray]

ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL FINAL
Sept 5th, 2015

TAKE IT AWAY:
GATORS UPSET NO. 1 AUBURN, 27-20

• GAINESVILLE, FL - A lot of experts questioned Auburn's preseason #1 ranking, which was based off of their performance against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl last year. The Gators were coming off their best season since Urban Meyer coached them and proved Saturday that they will be a team to contend with in the SEC this year. Quarterback Vincent Waller threw two second half touchdown passes to Kyle Clarke and the defense sacked Auburn's Darby six times while grabbing the game clinching interception in a 27-20 win.

AROUND THE NCAA:

• Rogers, Cal come up short in Austin
• Dyks tosses four more touchdowns in route
• Strong 4th helps Georgia overcome Death Valley
• Robinson Sooners, win big vs Clemson
• East Carolina sends Gamecocks packing
• TCU runs past Razorbacks
• Air Force flexes muscle on Okie State
• Boise starts season 0-2
• Yellow Jackets squeak by Kentucky
• Buckeyes start strong
• Huskers too much for Canes

TOP 25 SCOREBOARD:
#1 Auburn falls #15 Florida 27-20
#2 Texas over #4 Cal 28-21
#3 Wisconsin over Washington State 36-39
#5 Oregon over FCS East 42-0
#6 Oklahoma over Clemson 45-24
#7 LSU falls #12 Georgia 34-28
#8 TCU over Arkansas 38-28
#9 Iowa over FCS West 37-0
#10 Utah over FCS NW 52-14
#11 Georgia Tech over Kentucky 28-21
#13 Alabama over FCS MW 47-0
#14 USC over FCS E 49-3
#16 Michigan State over Western Michigan 41-23
#17 Nebraska over #23 Miami 35-23
#18 Penn State over FCS W 45-3
#19 Stanford over Eastern Michigan 27-10
#20 Ole Miss over FCS NW 63-0
#21 UAB over Tennessee 55-7
#22 Oklahoma State falls Air Force 44-10
#24 Michigan over FCS MW 45-13
#25 Notre Dame over Rutgers 33-25

[gorillapittpray]

ESPN COLLEGE FOOTBALL LIVE
Monday Sept 7th, 2015

DONT MESS WITH TEXAS
LONGHORNS NEW NO. 1:

• Despite the heroics of Cal's Jerome Rogers bringing Cal back down 21, the Longhorns held on to win their home opener. Added with the loss of Auburn and now the Longhorns are where they thought they should've been last season. It's just week two but for now the Horns are #1.

AROUND THE NCAA:

• Auburn falls to 7th after loss
• Wisconsin grabs 21 first place votes but sit at #2
• Iowa understand rivalry against Iowa State
• Florida hoping to keep momentum against a good UCF team
• Louisville a tough matchup for Irish
• Boise hopes to rebound against BYU
• Air Force Travis Ingram garners player of the week over Oklahoma State
• Tough at home: Southern Miss hopes to break 27-game home streak of Blazers

AP Top 25
RK	TEAM	RECORD	PTS
1	Texas (32)	1-0	1440
2	Wisconsin (21)	2-0	1423
3	Oregon (6)	1-0	1417
4	Oklahoma (1)	1-0	1307
5	TCU	1-0	1195
6	Iowa	1-0	1161
7	Auburn	0-1	1091
8	Georgia	1-0	1035
9	Utah	1-1	1025
10	California	1-1	892
11	Georgia Tech	2-0	889
12	Florida	1-0	846
13	Alabama	2-0	827
14	USC	1-0	770
15	LSU	0-1	602
16	Michigan State	1-0	515
17	Nebraska	1-0	459
18	Penn State	1-0	416
19	Stanford	1-0	371
20	Ole Miss	1-0	351
21	UAB	2-0	348
22	Michigan	1-0	308
23	Air Force	1-0	161
24	Purdue	1-0	161
25	Notre Dame	1-1	124

• Dropped from rankings: Oklahoma State 22, Miami 23

• Others receiving votes:Fresno State, Louisville, Miami, Texas A&M, Florida State

RECRUITING:
TOP 10 RECRUITS:

Player	Grade	Pos	School
1. Calvin Hendrix	*****	HB	TOP 5
2. Josh Fletcher	*****	HB	TOP 5
3. Adam Hickman	*****	ATH	TOP 8
4. Chuck Fenton	*****	WR	TOP 5
5. Ryan Prince	*****	WR	TOP 5
6. Alex Petty	*****	ATH	TOP 8
7. Bryan Ashley	*****	WR	TOP 5
8. Michael Battle	*****	WR	TOP 5
9. Jimmy Johnson	*****	WR	TOP 8
10. Shane Allen	*****	WR	TOP 8

HEADLINES:

• 3 star qb commits to Cal
• #9 OLB picks Fresno over SC and Oregon
• Ken Vaughn the #16 rated OLB is a Golden Knight
• Louisiana's top two backers headed to A&M
• 3 star safety going to Tulsa
• Temple Texas OL down to five, TCU out in front
• Blazers get commitments from two Adamsville, AL stars

TOP GAMES FOR WEEK 3

Southern Miss (0-0) at #21 UAB (2-0, 1-0)

• In this intense rivalry UAB looks to make it five against Southern Miss

Mississippi State (1-0) at #7 Auburn (0-1, 0-1)

• Auburn looks to get back on track after last weeks upset. While Mississippi State looks to avenge last seasons blowout loss to Auburn at home.

GAME OF THE WEEK:


#12 Florida (1-0) at UCF (1-0)

• Its still early in the season but Right now these are the two best teams in Florida. This is one of those make or break games for these two teams. The Gators have a chance to prove last weeks upset of Auburn was legit. UCF is coming off a bad season a year ago, a win at Texas Tech last week have the Knights ready to make a move. UCF will need to figure out Florida's Vincent Waller, his dual threat capabilities opens the game up for the other skill guys in Florida. UCF will need toe the Gould to Rogers connection active again this week against a feisty Gator defense.

[benton32]

Dang no love from the NCAA for your team, Defending champs and u are ranked in the 20's, Hey quick question, on your last page that has the recruiting and the top 25 or whatever, how do u get it to where its all spaced out even, and all in a row, like the numbers and all that, Cause no matter how many times i put spaces between numbers, they all still end up the same distance apart and then all dont line up evenly, Up and Down, just wonder,

[gorillapittpray]

Quote: Originally Posted by benton32

Dang no love from the NCAA for your team, Defending champs and u are ranked in the 20's, Hey quick question, on your last page that has the recruiting and the top 25 or whatever, how do u get it to where its all spaced out even, and all in a row, like the numbers and all that, Cause no matter how many times i put spaces between numbers, they all still end up the same distance apart and then all dont line up evenly, Up and Down, just wonder,

I go to espn.com, go to the rankings and copy and pace, and then fill in the teams and records!!

[benton32]

Hmm i tried it out but not sure im copying right, Im highlighting all the teams and the record part and the poll points, and pasted it on a new page on here like on a reply section and its coming up different, lol its all good just looking at different things, and what not.

[gorillapittpray]

Weds Sept 9th, 2015

Football Starts Game Planning For Southern Miss
Blazers practiced at Legion Field through heavy rain

RS-Freshmen Matt Gatewood leads the team with 3 interception

Sept. 9, 2011


BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The UAB football team practiced Tuesday morning at Legion Field to utilize the turf playing surface due to heavy rain fall. Even with the wet weather, the Blazers were able to work through drills and focus on the next game at hand, Saturday's contest vs Southern Miss.
"We got through almost everything we had scheduled," head coach Travis Rhatigan said. "We had to scale back on some things but we got most of it in."
Coach Rhatigan was pleased with his team's effort, despite the weather conditions.

"Practice was good. It was the first day of implementing the Southern Miss [game plan] and our guys were upbeat," Rhatigan said. "We still have a lot of work to do and we still have to tackle better, but the guys' effort was good."
One of the main elements focused on in practice was tackling. Callaway felt it was an area that the team needed to improve upon.

"It's a fine line when you push and when you back off [with tackling drills], but we pushed today to try and get better at it," Rhatigan said.
Saturday's contest vs Southern Miss will kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET. The game will be carried live on the Blazer IMG Sports Network, airing locally on 107.7 WUHT-FM. David Crane and John Whitcomb will call the action with Sam Miller roaming the sidelines. The pregame show begins 90 minutes before kickoff.


RECRUITING NEWS:

• Blazers grabbed two commitments after the Tennessee win last weekend. The number 4 rated guard in the country gave the Blazers a verbal commit. Pat Hampton a native of Adamsville, Alabama chose the Blazers over both SEC foes Ole Miss and Alabama. " That program is on the up and up." Said Hampton. " They have a great position coach that can help make me a better offensive linemen, as a unit they only gave up 6 sacks last year. Its close to home and I have an opportunity to play right away." Hampton was rated as top overall linemen in the state of Alabama. Getting a guy like Pat just shows you the type of kids we want and are going after for this program. He has the size and athletic ability to be grat in the SEC." Said head coach Travis Rhatigan.
• The second of the two commitments came from three star quarterback Clay Long, also a native of Adamsville high school he played he was protected by fellow commit Pat Hampton. "Long reminds us a lot like Adam (Dyks) when he came to us. A tall lanky kid with a lot of room to grow. He has a great arm and by all accounts is a great leader on the field and in the classroom." Stated Rhatigan. Clay Long standing at 6'4 is the top overall quarterback in Alabama and rated as a top 100 player in the Gulf South region.
  

EAST	CONF	OVERALL
#12 Florida	1-0	2-0
#8 Georgia	1-0	1-0
#21 UAB	1-0	2-0
Vanderbilt	0-0	1-1
Clemson	0-0	0-1
Tennessee	0-1	0-1
South Carolina	0-0	0-1
WEST	CONF	OVERALL
#20 Ole Miss	0-0	1-0
#13 Alabama	0-0	2-0
Texas A&M	0-0	1-0
Mississippi State	0-0	1-0
Arkansas	0-0	0-1
#7 Auburn	0-1	0-1
LSU	0-1	0-1

SEC Conference games for wk-3

• South Carolina at #8 Georgia
• Texas A&M at Vanderbilt
• Mississippi State at #7 Auburn

Matchup Preview | September 12, 2015
	@
Southern Miss Golden Eagles (0-0, Away)		#21 UAB Blazers (2-0, Home)
key players SS Shawn Scott RB Lawrence Long (173 yd, 10.1 ypc) QB Chris Higdon QB Adam Dyks (704 yd, 11 TD) RB Grady Kidd CB Matt Gatewood (3 INT)

| #21 UAB vs SOUTHERN MISS

PURCHASE TICKETS

(GAME NOTES)
UAB RENEWS ITS RIVALRY AGAINST SOUTHERN MISS
The Blazers try to make it five straight wins over heated rival Southern Miss. This will be Southern Miss's first game this season and UAB could be a bad opponent to start off with. Adam Dyks leads the NCAA with 704 yards and 11 touchdowns in just two games. No clear favorite in his receiving core as Cooley and Ford are well over 200 yards receiving with Travis Jackson not to far behind. A new weapon in Lawrence Long emerged last week and looks to get a taste at his first rival game vs the Golden Eagles.
Although this will be his first year starting Southern Miss quarterback Senior Chris Higdon will control the reigns this year. With their spread attack they hope receivers Carlos Brown, Nick Brackens and Jonathon Hill can find some success against a feisty UAB defense led linebacker Timi McCollum and a very active secondary.

GAME INFORMATION
Date/Time	Saturday, September 12, 2015 at 12:30 p.m. (ET)
Location	Birmingham, Alabama. (Legion Field)
Television	CBS (Regional)
On The Web	Live in-game statistics and other coverage can be found at blazer weekly or ESPN3.COM