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Wed December 4th, 2013
BLAZER WEEKLY

BLAZERS READY TO
TAKE ON BAMA

(#26 Anthony McFarland, #52 Timi McCollum, #6 Harvey Nelson celebrate a win at Legion field)

ATLANTA, GA - UAB players have been banging heads with each other for the past week and now its time to hit someone else, says middle linebacker Timi McCollum.
"We're ready to go, the game cant come fast enough for us." This Saturday UAB will take on #7 Alabama for the conference Championship. In a battle between the nations top coaches as well as players UAB has a chance to head back to the national championship with a win. "Its hard to tell the guys not to think about that, but in reality we're one step from heading back." Head coach Travis Rhatigan said. The teams both arrived in Atlanta today and will have have two practices before Friday's walk through. UAB got news that Freshmen corner Darrell Jones, who tore an abdominal muscles is questionable for this game as well as leading rusher Matthew Scott. Rhatigan has already ruled out Scott with the emergence of Senior Marcus Rutledge. "No need for Scott to do further damage if he's not 100 percent healthy, Rutledge has showed us he can make plays in Scott's absence."
The Story line all week has been is this the changing of the guard. Nick Saban feels his team is still best in the conference, Rhatigan wont anser the question and he's told his players to steer away from those comments and focus on football.
"The guys have worked hard for this, so its up to me to keep them focused on the task at hand."
The game is scheduled for a 8pm kickoff on CBS, It will rival the same kickoff of #1 Iowa and #5 Illinois who plays on ABC.

SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME PREVIEW
#7 ALABAMA (11-1) VS #2 UAB (12-0)

THE COACHES

ALABAMA'S NICK SABAN

• LAST THREE SEASONS (35-4)
• 10-3 VS TOP 25
• 2-0 BOWL RECORD

UAB'S TRAVIS RHATIGAN

• LAST THREE SEASONS (38-2)
• 9-2 VS TOP 25
• 1-1 BOWL RECORD
• 1 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP APPEARANCE

KEY PLAYERS:


ALABAMA

• QB Brad Newton (35td 2int 3,507 yards)
• Jamaal Powell (1,212 yards 10td)
• Scott Shaw (1,428 yards 12td)
• LB's Robbie Samuel (54tck) Kyle Williams (48tck)

UAB

• Marcus Rutledge (735 yards 16td)
• Ian Wilson (1,353 yards 17td)
• Timi McCollum (70 tck, 12.5 sacks)
• DL's Marcus Leak (8.5) Kareem Kirby (7.5) Tom Cox (7.5) Brandon Richardson (6.5)

Alabama offense vs. UAB defense: All year long we've heard how adept UAB LB Timi McCollum is at making adjustments on the field and moving his teammates into position before the snap. Well, if the man's a savant, we'll know for sure after this weekend. No team in college football uses the run to set up the pass more effectively than the Crimson Tide. It's a finesse scheme, but it's executed by a power runner in Jamaal Powell. The key to stopping Alabama's power attack is discipline, a trait that McCollum and his head coach are known for. They have great defensive Tackles in Brandon Rishardson and Marcus Leak if those two can plug holes while the backers read and react UAB could be in good hands but as we said they need to be discipline in the secondary for the play action pass. Scott Shaw leads the SEC in receptions and receiving yards (83, 1,428 12td) because of the patience Alabama has at setting up their playaction.


Alabama Defense vs. UAB offense: It's safe to say that UAB will try and establish its power ground attack early against the Tide, but Alabama has only allowed 100 or more yards rushing in two games this season. However, one of the few teams that did manage some success against the Alabama front was Mississippi State on Nov. 9th. Like UAB, the Mississippi State Bulldogs have a deep, multi-talented stable of running backs at their disposal. Regardless of how healthy Matthew Scott's Groin is by Saturday afternoon, look for UAB to try and use Rutledge as much as possible then look for reciever Ian Wilson much like Bama's Scott Shaw to get some good looks in the passing game. In fact UAB has a deep receiving core with Wilson, Ralph Rawls and Michael Ross that could be the difference in this game. But linebackers Robbie Samuels and Kyle Williams will be a force the hard hitting duo helps out Alabama's secondary with sound play.


Intangibles: Though both teams went through rough patches during the season (Alabama: through Miss. St.), and UAB dealing with injuries. It's obvious that UAB has survived more near-death moments than Alabam has during the season, most notably in last week's win over Vanderbilt. If the game is exceedingly tight down the stretch, you would think that Alabama's newly-forged mental toughness (after a loss) would give them an advantage. Bear in mind that UAB is also riding the nation's longest winning streak (12 games) and the pressure to maintain such a mark must be weighing heavy.


Prediction: Alabama 28 UAB 24