[gorillapittpray]

MAKING A STATEMENT!
UAB SHOWS THE NATION THEY MEAN BUSINESS

~AP FILE PHOTO~ SLAUGHTER PUMMELS MILLS FOR ONE OF HIS THREE SACKS AGAINST HOUSTON

~AP~ BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA-- The country knew about Mills and the Houston Cougars, they know about their undefeated record, they know about their speed and playmakers on offense. But what they didn't know much about is the Houston defense. We'll Andre Sharpe and the UAB Blazers told a tale of how bad Houston's defense was after their 52-21 win Saturday afternoon. UAB's defense did its part as well holding the Nations number one scoring offense to well below their average.

~RECAP~
UAB would win the toss and as always they put their defense on the field first. A ruckus near capacity crowd at Legion field was loud and ready for some football. Early in the drive after Houston grabbed their first, first down Mills met NCAA sack leader J. Bowser but only this time he played the screen and picked it off giving UAB the ball after the huge play. Using all runs UAB used a five play drive that saw D. Pryor run in the score putting UAB up 7-0 in the first. Mills would come right back with a answer however as he drove Houston down the field in two plays cover 46 yards. T. Watson would run in the rest of the 26 yards as he tied the score 7-7. After the first quarter it stood deadlocked at 7.

(BOWSER GRABS HIS FIRST INTERCEPTION OF HIS CAREER EARLY IN THE FIRST QUARTER)

UAB would force Houston to punt, returner Brooks would have a nice return for 20 yards getting UAB to midfield. It was Sharpe's turn to show off his arm as he used just two plays to get UAB up 14-7 by hitting Rawls at the back of the end zone for a 19 yard touchdown. Houston quarterback W. Mills was not to be out done however. On the first play of the next drive he would hit his receiver J. Everett on a deep vertical route, Everett seemingly stole a would be interception from #29 Walker, Mills would then tie the game at 14 with a 8 yard toss to Lott.
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(RAWLS GRABS THIS TOUCHDOWN PUTTING UAB UP 14-7) (THIS CATCH BY EVERETT SETS UP A SCORE FOR HOUSTON TO TIE THE GAME)

Mills matched Sharpe. But then Sharpe took the challenge and topped him throwing two more touchdown passes in the quarter, one to R. Rawls for a 70 yard bomb and then hitting Moses with a perfect 71 yard touch pass. Moses never broke stride and in a blink of an eye it was 28-14 UAB. J. Bowser helped UAB get the ball back before the half by sacking Mills for his 10th sack of the season. With operation air attack going on UAB caught Houston's defense off guard by handing the ball of to D. Pryor who broke off a 49 yard touchdown run right up the middle shockingly running away from the surprised Houston defense and into the the locker room giving UAB a 35-14 lead at halftime.
The damage was done. A 21 point run to end the half. Four second quarter sacks and a heated Houston coach Kevin Sumlin stormed off the field, he was noted by sideline reporter Erin Andrews to have given his team a angry halftime speech saying "This is un******* acceptable, there goes our season."
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(MOSES CATCHES THIS PASS IN STRIDE PUTTING UAB UP 28-14) (RUNNING BACK D. PRYOR BREAKS OFF THIS 49 YARD TOUCHDOWN RUN IGNITING THE UAB FAITHFUL BEFORE THE HALF)

UAB controlled the whole second half via the run splitting carries with Pryor and Scott. Scott tacked on a two yard touchdown run after Houston finally scored. Sharpe hit his main guy J. Moses once more for another bomb and UAB ran away with a 52-21 win. A very pleased crowd cheered them off the field.

(SHARPE GETS READY TO FIRE HIS FOURTH TOUCHDOWN PASS OF THE DAY LATE IN THE THIRD QUARTER)

HOUSTON (8-1) at UAB (8-1)
Nov 5, 2011 1 2 3 4 F #23 HOUSTON 7 7 7 0 21 UAB 7 28 14 3 52 Top Performers HOUSTON D. LOTT 4 REC 111 YARDS 1 TOUCHDOWN W. MILLS 18-28 272 1 TOUCHDOWN 1 INTERCEPTION UAB A. SHARPE 11-12 336 YARDS 4 TOUCHDOWN T. SLAUGHTER 5 TACKLES 3 SACKS	Team Stats Comparison UH UAB First Downs 9 10 3rd Down Efficiency 3-9 3-5 4th Down Efficiency 0-0 0-0 Total Yards 268 487 Passing Yards 272 336 Rushing Yards -4 151 Penalties-Penalty Yards 4-22 1-5 Turnovers 1 0 Time of Possession 7:37 18:16