Sharpe Leads First Team Offense, Slaughter Shines On Defense To Highlight Spring Game
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Quarterback Andre Sharpe passed for 250 yards and a pair of touchdowns in only one half of action, and linebacker Tom Slaughter recorded a team-high 11 tackles to highlight UAB's 2011 Spring Game at West Campus Field.
Wayne Smith, vying for the backup quarterback job, also eclipsed the 200-yard passing mark, throwing for 235 yards and a touchdown as the Blazers wrapped up their 2011 spring drills.
The first-team offense and second defense dominated on the scoreboard, but overall, head coach Travis Rhatigan saw some good things on both sides of the ball over the four quarters of action.
"I thought there was a lot of good competition today," saidRhatigan . "There was no question that when the first offense was out there with Bryan in there, they had the upperhand. But you have to remember that defensively, we're missing our defensive tackles and we didn't have our two starting safeties today. I don't make excuses for anybody, but I think we've got to realistic. "
It didn't take Sharpe and the No. 1 offense long to take control. Sharpe hit senior receiver Danny Pryor for a 36-yard touchdown barely over a minute into the game. A few minutes later, senior running back Pryor broke loose for a 43-yard touchdown run.
Sharpe connected with James Moses on a 33-yard TD pass just before halftime. Moses, who has missed the majority of spring drills due to injury, had six receptions for 87 yards with one score.
Rhatigan feels the offense is in great shape with Sharpe at the helm.
"He's looked sharp every day we've come out," Rhatigan said. "He's competed and he's been a leader which are very important. Overall, I'm very pleased with Andre. He's very knowledgeable, understands what we want to do and I'm just thankful we have him."
Smith took over the first-team signal-calling duties in the second half after Sharpe went to the sideline for the remainder of the day. He had a 7-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Ian Wilson who finished with 63 receiving yards on six catches.
"I thought Wayne Smith did some good things and has really stepped up," Rhatigan said. " We may have another competition in fall camp to give these guys one last look.
Other things offensively, I thought Danny Pryor did a good job and I was proud of the way Roderick Brooks ran at the end. I made it a point that I wanted to get him the ball and see what he could do with it. And he responded well."
Brooks finished the scrimmage with a team-high 103 yards rushing on 17 attempts, including a pair of second-half touchdown runs.
On the defensive side, the Blazers came up with three interceptions -- one each by Eugene Jackson, Kevin Evans and Markell Lowery.
Aside from Autry's 11 tackles, safety/corner Nathan Davis, who enrolled at UAB in January, contributed eight stops while Ben Swan added seven. Last season's leading tackler, Dan McCray, had six stops in the scrimmage.
"Defensively, I don't think there's any question that the highlight of our defensive team this spring has been Slaughter He has some things he needs to get done academically. He certainly has the ability to be a big plus for us defensively.
We still have a lot of work to do. We're still learning some things, but the biggest thing is we have to get everybody well and get everybody there and start playing as a unit.
"I thought McCray made some plays. I thought the young safeties got off to a slow start, but I thought toward the end they made some plays. We just have to keep improving.
We had three interceptions today, but I thought two of them were on the receiver. The ball was thrown up and defender competed and made the play. "
The Blazers will now head into summer ball where activities are ran through the strength and conditioning coach as the NCAA doesnt allow interaction with Players and coaches during this time. They will be back for fall camp in August and we will have a full season Pre-view on the Season's outlook as well as positional breakdown leading up to a big match up in the Swamp against the Gators.