[gorillapittpray]

GM 2 VS TROY
BLAZER WEEKLY

ROAD WARRIORS


Blazers went on the road this past weekend
and upset the Auburn Tigers 28-27. Tailback
Matthew Scott rushed for 160 yards and two
scores in the victory. The Blazer defense grabbed
four sacks and a crucial interception to hang on.

UAB JUMPS TO #21 IN THE LATEST POLLS

UAB Ended last season ranked #10 after a 13-1 season. They started this season ranked #41. After a upset win in their first game the Blazers are now in the top 25 for just the second season in school history.

"THEY SAID IT"
"WATCHING THAT EAGLE FLY IN BEFORE AUBURN RAN OUT THE TUNNEL GAVE ME CHILL BUMPS."
FR OLB TIMI MCCOLLUM

"WE WANTED TO RUN IT DOWN THEIR THROAT AND LET THEM KNOW WE'RE HERE TO PLAY FOOTBALL"
JR RT DANIEL ANDERSON

"THAT ONE HANDED INTERCEPTION SUMMED UP THE DAY FOR US, PARRISH MADE ONE HELLUVA PLAY"
SR CB NATHAN DAVIS

"I THOUGHT HE WAS IN WHEN I HIT HIM THEN MCCOLLUM CAME AND HELPPED ME PUSH HIM BACK, THAT WAS BIG TIME RIGHT THERE."
SR MLB TOM SLAUGHTER

Head Coach Travis Rhatigan met with the media Tuesday to discuss his win over Auburn and the upcoming home opener against Troy.

Opening statement: It was an exciting game like a in state Rivalry should be. You go back and look at big games in college football each week and now with College GameDay and all of the hype, a lot of times the hype's better than the game. This game lived up to all the expectations. It was a great football game between two really good, I thought well-coached football teams, but good football teams and talented football teams. Both teams played so hard and probably the most impressive thing is that when one team would go ahead, the other would answer and it would come right back and answer again and again and again. That's what made the game one of the best I've been involved with. It was also fun that it was the largest crowd my kids played in front of since going to Florida a season ago and something that these kids can remember from both teams for a long time. I thought the crowd was louder because of the extra seats and the setting was what everybody wanted it to be, and it was fun to have all of our NFL guys back. There were so many of them that were back, some of them currently playing that were open and some guys that are between teams or not playing any longer. We had a pretty good looking bunch on that sideline. Once again, I thought the game lived up to the hype, both teams played really hard, played well, it was a physical game and one that people will remember for a long time.


Offensively, the two players that were most productive- Matthew Scott and Ralph Rawls. Those guys played well, Rawls caught the ball, Scott made play with the run and we're really, really proud of their performance. Best Contributor was Wayne Smith. Under pressure in the 4th quarter and he delivered. James Moses had the best play of the game, the catch setting up Scott's second score was tremendous. Offensively, the good things were we kept answering and that's something a good team has to do. This game, because of the split crowd we think, has more momentum shifts than any we coach in. It's just been amazing and the players feel the same way. To win this ballgame you're going to have to take momentum and turn it back because it'll be against you some. They finished. The offensive kids finished plays, they finished drives and they finished the game because when you're down there with two minutes left and you're sitting in a position where you've got to make a couple of first downs and get the ball on the other end of the field, they did it.



Defensively, we were able to force pressure and grab sacks, the goaline tackle by Slaughter and our true freshmen McCollum was huge. The good thing is that we felt like to win a game like this and go back and see so many things we can correct on both sides of the ball will really help us get prepared for this week. Secondly, probably three of the five big plays are plays that we had some mistakes and that we can correct.
Players of the game, defensively was Mark Parrish and it was obvious he played at such a high level, and the other two were Tom Slaughter and Jerry Bowser.


Now its on to Troy, Troy looks good on film and just got passed BC. The Green kid at receiver looks like good athlete and they try to feed him the ball. Its our home opener and with a good crowd that should take care of half the battle, the other half should be us feeling like this team shouldn't belong on the field with us. It's safe for us to say that but we have to back it up.


On handling being ranked this early in the season: I really think our guys aren't impressed by it right now. A couple of them when I put it up said `Oh, that's pretty cool.' It was not a scream and a shout, five years ago it might have been for us. I think all these seniors know from being on bad teams that hard work pays off. All we did Saturday was give ourselves a chance to control our own destiny for the rest of the season, that's all we did. Other than that, we've got to go back to work

WHERE THE HEART IS
TV: ESPNU
LOCATION: LEGION FIELD
TIME 12:00

Matchup Preview | September 8, 2012
	@
Troy Trojans (1-0, Away)		#21 UAB Blazers (1-0, Home)
Injury Report Game Notes If last year has anything to do with it, then Troy will be amped for this one. UAB blasted Troy 45-7 in Troy last year. UAB did it in a nonchalant cocky fashion. Matthew Scott rushed for 70 yards and a score, Ian Wilson scorched the secondary for a 68 yard score. UAB grabbed three interceptions. There is a lot of motivation for this Troy team, oh and they can knock UAB from the top 25 rankings. Troy comes in having squeaked by BC 25-20. Junior quarterback Mike Moore, who played in last years contest completed 22 passes last week, 19 went to Jarvis Green who hauled in 223 yards and two touchdowns. He'll need a big day for Troy to have a chance. UAB comes in off a huge emotionally charge win over Auburn, now it their home opener and and they seem ready to go. Earlier in the week linebacker Tom Slaughter compared Troy to the little brother of the in state schools and feels they should have no problem getting past them. Led by Slaughter and complany the Blazers should have a field day piling on the pressure. Offensively Wayne Smith will try and use this game to get in better rhythm with his pass catchers, if that fails expect Matthew Scott to have a huge day. Prediction: UAB rolls in this one 45-10