2008 UAB Blazers football team explained

Year:	2008
Team:	UAB Blazers
Conference:	Conference USA
Division:	East Division
Short Conf:	C-USA
Record:	4–8
Conf Record:	3–5
Hc Year:	2nd
Oc Year:	2nd
Dc Year:	2nd
Stadium:	Legion Field

The 2008 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blazers' head coach was Neil Callaway, who entered his second year at UAB. They played their home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama and competed in the East Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They improved upon a 2–10 record from the 2007 season and finished the 2008 campaign with an overall record of 4–8 (3–5 C-USA).

All games were broadcast live on the UAB-ISP Sports radio network. The flagship was WWMM 100.5 FM in Birmingham, and this marked the first season for it serving as the flagship. The games were called by David Crane (play-by-play) and Jake Arians (color commentary), with Pat Green and Dan Burks as field reporters. Other UAB radio programming was carried on WJOX 94.5 FM.^[1] The team did not have a local TV contract, but their games appeared nationally on cable television five times—one on Raycom Sports, two on CSS, and two on CBS College Sports (formerly CSTV).

Preseason

Recruiting

In what was the second recruiting class for head coach Neil Callaway, UAB signed 25 recruits.^[2]

Schedule

^[3]

Personnel

Roster

2008 UAB Blazers roster
UAB Official Athletic Site: 2008 Roster
Quarterbacks 5 Joe Webb – Junior 10 Bryan Ellis – Freshman 12 Cameron Cowart – Senior 14 Rodney Bivens Jr. – Senior 17 David Isabelle – Freshman Running backs 2 Jae Fitzgerald – Freshman 20 Jimmie Blair – Freshman 28 Aaron Johns – Senior 30 Justin Brooks – Sophomore 38 Dexter Barnett – Sophomore 40 Jim Mitchell – Junior 44 Caleb Dyck – Sophomore Wide receivers 1 Rashaud Slaughter – Junior 7 Frantrell Forrest – Sophomore 11 Mario Wright – Sophomore 15 Sylvester Mencer – Senior 22 Mike Jones – Sophomore 24 Cameron Thompson – Sophomore 36 Paul Schoolar – Junior 80 Mark Ferrell – Junior 82 Justin Johnson – Sophomore 83 Brandon Heath – Senior 85 Rodell Carter – Sophomore 89 Darryl Harris – Junior		Tight ends 81 Joseph Waller – Sophomore 84 Zach Lankford – Junior 86 Jeffery Anderson – Sophomore Offensive line 53 Jake Seitz – Junior 55 Terence Edge – Sophomore 59 Sean Dailey – Freshman 63 Willie Thompson – Junior 64 Greg Calhoun – Freshman 68 Adam Hollifield – Sophomore 71 Matt McCants – Sophomore 72 Logan Creel – Sophomore 73 Caleb Thomas – Freshman 75 Daniel Seahorn – Junior 77 Jared Koechner – Junior Defensive line 50 David Decordova – Junior 76 Todd Howanitz – Junior 87 Bryant Turner – Sophomore 90 Joe Happe – Junior 91 Tim Davis – Sophomore 92 Anthony Barnes – Junior 93 Nick Davison – Freshman 95 Richard Carter – Senior 96 Elliott Henigan – Freshman 97 D.J. Reese – Sophomore 98 Adam Arthur – Freshman		Linebackers 13 Keon Harris – Sophomore 33 Mike Tashman – Sophomore 35 Lamanski Ware – Freshman 38 Garrett Armstrong – Freshman 44 Kyle Roget – Junior 45 B.J. Steed – Junior 46 Terry Thomas – Senior 48 Drew Luker – Freshman 49 Brad Dukes – Junior 51 Joe Henderson – Senior 57 Jarrell Watters – Freshman 58 Katrell Watters – Freshman Defensive backs 3 Andre Hicks – Freshman 4 Brandon Carlisle – Junior 8 Marquis Coleman – Freshman 17 Jeff Witt – Sophomore 18 Will Dunbar – Senior 19 Ugonna Amarikwa – Freshman 21 Kevin Sanders – Senior 23 Antoine Powers – Senior 25 Brock Ferguson – Sophomore 26 Justin Smartt – Junior 27 Michael McRae – Sophomore 29 Terrell Springs – Freshman 31 Chase Daniel – Freshman 36 Daniel Clements – Freshman 42 Ferson Stafford – Freshman 43 Matt Taylor – Senior		Punters 94 Swayze Waters – Senior Kickers 24 Trey Ragland – Freshman 94 Swayze Waters – Senior Long snappers 60 Nick Haddad – Senior 62 Jeff Hamby – Senior

Coaching staff

• Neil Callaway – head coach
• Kim Helton – Offensive coordinator/tight ends
• Eric Schumann – Defensive coordinator/safeties
• Corey Barlow – Cornerbacks
• Tim Bowens – Receivers
• Lorenzo Costantini – Defensive line
• Steve Davenport – Running backs
• Will Friend – Offensive line
• Tyson Helton – Quarterbacks/recruiting coordinator
• Tyson Summers – Linebackers
• Steve martin – Strength and Conditioning/Football & Baseball
• Ervin lewis – Director of Football Operations

Game summaries

Tulsa

See also: Tulsa Golden Hurricane football.

The Blazers began their season at home against Golden Hurricane of Tulsa, but after taking a 13–7 lead after the first would fall by a final score of 45–22. UAB would score first on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Joe Webb to Frantell Forrest. Tulsa would respond with a 10-yard David Johnson pass to Jacob Collums, only to have UAB take a 13–7 lead on a 9-yard Jeffery Anderson touchdown reception. Tulsa would respond with a pair of consecutive touchdowns in the second to take a 21–13 lead before Forrest returned a kickoff 90-yards for a touchdown to bring the score to 21–19. A late 32-yard Swayze Waters field goal would give the Blazers a 22–21 halftime lead. However, UAB would not score again for the afternoon and lose by a final score of 45–22.^[4]

Florida Atlantic

See also: 2008 Florida Atlantic Owls football team.

The Blazers first road game of the 2008 season took UAB to Ft. Lauderdale, where they would lose too the FAU Owls in a 49–34 shootout. After going down 14–0 on a pair of FAU touchdown passes, UAB would score its first points on a 27-yard Swayze Waters field goal. The Owls would answer with a touchdown run early in the second in taking a 21–3 lead only to see the blazers respond with a pair of Joe Webb touchdown passes, 20-yards to Zach Lankford and 19-yards to Frantell Forrest, in closing the gap to 21–17. However, FAU would score once more before the half in taking a 28–17 halftime lead.^[5]

The Blazers would open the third by scoring on a 2-yard Aaron Johns run only to see the Owls once again respond with another touchdown. After a late 43-yard Waters field goal in the third, UAB's final points would come in the fourth on a 10-yard Justin Brooks touchdown run.^[5]

Tennessee

See also: 2008 Tennessee Volunteers football team.

Traveling to Knoxville to face the Volunteers, all the Blazers could manage was a single 47-yard Swayze Waters field goal in the third to avoid the shutout in this 35–3 defeat. For the game, UAB was outgained on offense 275 to 548 total yards.^[6]

Alabama State

The Blazers would amass 486 yards of total offense in winning their first game of the 2008 season with a 44–10 victory over the Hornets of Alabama State. UAB would strike first on a 41-yard Joe Web run with the Hornets responding in kind on a 39-yard Rei Herchenbach touchdown pass to Darius Mathis in tying the game at 7–7 midway through the first quarter. The Blazers would regain the lead late in the first quarter, and never relinquish it again on a 24-yard Webb touchdown pass to Jeffery Anderson. In the second, the Blazers would add another pair of touchdowns on an 11-yard Rashaud Slaughter run and a 36-yard Webb pass to Anderson in taking a 28–7 halftime lead.^[7]

UAB would continue to amass points in the third on another pair of touchdowns coming on a 6-yard Slaughter run and 15-yard Justin Brooks run in extending their lead to 42–7 entering the fourth. In the fourth, each team would exchange a pair of field goals in bringing the final score to 45–10. For the game, Joe Webb would rush for 121 yards and a touchdown and pass for 238 yards and a pair of touchdowns.^[7]

South Carolina

See also: 2008 South Carolina Gamecocks football team.

Traveling to face their second SEC opponent on the 2008 season, the Blazers were defeated 26–13 by the home Gamecocks in Columbia. After only connecting on a pair of Swayze Waters field goals in the first half, the Blazers lone touchdown came late in the fourth on a 1-yard Joe Webb run.^[8]

Memphis

See also: Memphis Tigers football. In the annual Battle for the Bones, Memphis defeated UAB 30–33 on a Thursday night in Birmingham. The Blazers would get on the board in the first after Joe Webb connected with Mike Jones for a 16-yard touchdown reception, followed with an 18-yard Swayze Waters field goal to give the Blazers a 10–0 lead entering the second quarter. After Memphis scored early in the second, UAB would respond with a 9-yard Webb run to take a 16–7 lead. However this would be UAB's final lead of the evening as Memphis would score another pair of touchdowns in taking a 20–16 lead at the half. In the second half, Webb would score on runs of 12 and 10-yards in the third and fourth quarters respectively, but were unable to take the lead in falling by a final score of 30–33. For the game, Webb rushed for 93 yards and three touchdowns in addition to passing for 235 yards and another touchdown for the evening.^[9]

Houston

See also: 2008 Houston Cougars football team. In the first conference road game of the 2008 season, the Blazers would fall 20–45 at Houston. UAB would dominate the first half in taking a 20–3 lead going into the half. The Blazer would score on a pair of Swayze Waters field goals (50 and 23 yards respectively) and on a 3-yard Joe Webb touchdown run and a 21-yard, Zach Lankford touchdown reception. However, 42 unanswered Cougar points in the second half would provide Houston the 45–20 victory.^[10]

Marshall

See also: Marshall Thundering Herd football.

Southern Miss

See also: Southern Miss Golden Eagles football. The Blazers were out-rushed 96 to 463 total yards in this 70–14 blowout loss on the road to the Golden Eagles. After going down 28–0 after the first, UAB would score their first points on a 14-yard Joe Webb touchdown pass to Rashaud Slaughter early in the second. The Blazers only other points would come in the third on a 12-yard Mario Wright touchdown reception. For the game, the Golden Eagles out-gained the Blazers in total offense by a final margin of 610 to 223 yards, with both USM's Tory Harrison and V.J. Floyd each gaining over 100 yards on the ground.^[11]

Tulane

See also: Tulane Green Wave football. Following a bye week, the Blazers would make the trip to the Superdome and emerge with a 41–24 victory over the home Green Wave.^[12]

East Carolina

See also: 2008 East Carolina Pirates football team. This 17–13 Pirates victory marked the first all-time win for East Carolina in Legion Field against the Blazers.^[13]

UCF

See also: 2008 UCF Knights football team.

Statistics

Team

Statistics^[14] UAB Opponents Scoring 273 375 Points per game 22.8 31.2 First downs 222 240 Rushing 101 95 Passing 104 125 Penalties 17 20 Total offensive yards 4,394 5,159 Rushing 2,027 2,004 Passing 2,367 3,155 Fumbles–Lost 17–9 15–8 Penalties–Yards 83–783 61–567 Average per game 65.2 47.2

Statistics UAB Opponents Punts–Yards 59–2,555 42–1,799 Average per punt 43.3 42.8 Average ToP/game 31:16 28:44 3rd down conversions 64/165 68/151 3rd down percentage 39 45 4th down conversions 5/11 6/15 4th down percentage 45 40 Touchdowns scored 31 49 Field goals–Att 19–24 11–18 PAT–Att 24–27 48–48 Attendance 190,616 563,398 Average 19,062 40,243

Scores by quarter

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP	Att	Yds	Avg	Long	TD	Avg/G
Joe Webb	12	198	1,021	5.2	41	11	85.1
Rashaud Slaughter	12	113	514	4.5	38	4	42.8
Justin Brooks	11	53	218	4.1	19	3	19.8
Aaron Johns	8	23	115	5.0	37	1	14.4
Jim Mitchell	12	19	78	4.1	14	0	6.5
Frantrell Forrest	10	8	43	5.4	12	0	4.3
Rodney Bivens	4	6	20	3.3	17	0	5.0
Caleb Dyck	12	4	14	3.5	9	0	1.2
Terence Edge	12	0	12	0	0	0	1.0
Mark Ferrell	12	2	11	5.5	11	0	0.9
Justin Johnson	11	2	4	2.0	7	0	0.4
Darryl Harris	12	1	−4	−4.0	0	0	−0.3
Swayze Waters	12	2	−12	−6.0	7	0	−1.0
Total ! 12	435	2,027	4.7	41	19	168.9
Opponents	12	420	2,004	4.8	78	25	167.0

Passing

Name	GP	Effic	Cmp-Att	Pct	Yds	TD	Int	Lng	Avg/G
Joe Webb	12	115.53	208–353	58.9	2,367	10	16	43	197.2
Rodney Bivens	4	0	0–0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	12	115.53	208–353	58.9	2,367	10	16	43	197.2
Opponents	12	147.67	226–360	62.8	3,155	22	16	73	262.9

Receiving

Name	GP	No.	Yards	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Frantrell Forrest	10	44	536	12.8	2	38	53.6
Rashaud Slaughter	12	29	176	6.1	1	21	14.7
Jeffery Anderson	12	23	368	16.0	3	43	30.7
Mario Wright	12	20	243	12.1	1	38	20.2
Rodell Carter	12	16	206	12.9	0	38	17.2
Zach Lankford	12	16	190	11.9	2	33	15.8
Mark Ferrell	12	13	177	13.6	0	35	14.8
Mike Jones	12	11	109	9.9	1	28	9.1
Justin Brooks	11	11	101	9.2	0	23	9.2
Darryl Harris	12	9	136	15.1	0	28	11.3
Jim Mitchell	12	8	38	4.8	0	11	3.2
Justin Johnson	11	7	82	11.7	0	43	7.5
Aaron Johns	8	3	5	1.7	0	9	0.6
Total	12	208	2,367	11.4	10	43	197.2
Opponents	12	226	3,155	14.0	22	73	262.9

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass Defense				Fumbles		Blkd	Safety
		Solo	Ast	Total	Loss–Yds	No.–Yds	Int–Yds	BU	PD	Qbh	Rcv–Yds	FF	Kick
Joe Henderson	12	55	32	87	12.5–29	1.5–6		1		1
Will Dunbar	11	33	35	68	2.5–12	1.0–6	2–34	5		1
Matt Taylor	12	29	18	47	1.5–5		1–36	3			1–0
Keon Harris	11	22	25	47	3.0–4					1	1–0	1
Chase Daniel	12	34	13	47	3.5–18	1.0–12	2–28	5		1
Brandon Carlisle	10	35	11	46	2.0–5		2–16	3				1
Kevin Sanders	12	23	15	38			7–55	3
Terrel Springs	10	20	12	32			0–18	4
D.J. Reese	12	17	14	31	2.5–18						1–0	1
Anthony Barnes	12	20	7	27	6.5–23	1.0–10		2		2				1
Elliott Henigan	10	14	12	26	0.5–2	0.5–2		1
Drew Luker	12	9	15	24	1.5–5
Lamanski Ware	11	14	9	23	1.0–1		1–27	1
Richard Carter	12	13	8	21	2.0–8	0.5–0					1–0
Bryant Turner	12	15	5	20	7.0–31	4.0–25				1		2
Nick Davison	12	7	10	17	3.5–23	2.0–18		1			1–0
Joe Happe	12	11	4	15	4.0–17	1.0–9						1
Katrell Watters	5	7	8	15	0.5–1	0.5–1
B.J. Steed	10	8	7	15				1
Marquis Coleman	12	9	5	14			1–0	1
Tony Leggett	5	6	8	14	2.0–4
Andre Hicks	8	10	2	12	1.0–13	1.0–13		1
Antoine Powers	12	7	4	11
Tim Davis	9	7	2	9	1.0–3
Justin Smartt	11	7	2	9
Terry Thomas	7	6	3	9	2.0–3
Ugonna Amarikwa	12	4	4	8							3–12
Swayze Waters	12	6	2	8
Jarrell Watters	3	7	1	8	1.0–1			1
Jim Mitchell	12	3	2	5
David Decordova	3	3	1	4						1
Caleb Dyck	12	3	1	4
Michael McRae	9	2	2	4
Zach Lankford	12	1	2	3
Daniel Clements	10	2	1	3
Mario Wright	12	2		2
Jeffery Anderson	12	2		2
Brock Ferguson	5	2		2	1.0–14	1.0–14
Frantrell Forrest	10	2		2
Ada Hollifield	8		1	1
Greg Bulls	11		1	1
Rashaud Slaughter	12		1	1
Brandon Heath	11	1		1
Adam Arthur	6	1		1
Jeff Hamby	11		1	1
Mark Ferrell	12	1		1
Total	12	480	306	786	62–240	15–116	16–214	33		9	8–12	6	0	1
Opponents	12	482	368	850	58–282	23–172	16–154	47		14	9–62	10	2	0

Special teams

Punting

Name	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	In20
Swayze Waters	55	2,396	43.6	67	6	12	13
Joe Webb	2	89	44.5	52	1	0	0
Trey Ragland	1	48	48.0	48	0	0	1
Total	58	2,533	43.7	67	7	12	14

Notes and References

1. Web site: Blazers ISP Sports Network Gearing Up For 2008–09 Season. University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 20, 2008.
2. Web site: 2008 UAB Football Signees. University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20080917131740/http://uabsports.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/albr/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/08-fb-signees. September 17, 2008. dead.
3. Web site: 2008 UAB Football Media Guide: Records & History I. University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 21, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080928102421/http://uabsports.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/albr/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/RecordsHistoryI-08. September 28, 2008 . dead.
4. Web site: Tulsa vs UAB (August 30, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 18, 2008.
5. Web site: UAB vs FAU (September 6, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 18, 2008.
6. Web site: UAB vs Tennessee (September 13, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 18, 2008.
7. Web site: Alabama State vs UAB (September 20, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 20, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081009225729/http://uabsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/uab04.html. October 9, 2008 . live.
8. Web site: UAB vs South Carolina (September 27, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. September 27, 2008.
9. Web site: Memphis vs UAB (October 2, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. October 4, 2008.
10. Web site: Houston vs UAB (October 7, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. October 8, 2008.
11. Web site: UAB vs Southern Miss (November 1, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. November 1, 2008.
12. Web site: UAB vs Tulane (November 15, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. November 17, 2008.
13. Web site: ECU vs UAB (November 22, 2008). University of Alabama at Birmingham Sports Information. November 23, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20110807131600/http://uabsports.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/albr/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/UAB-ECUFinalStats. August 7, 2011. dead.
14. Web site: UAB Cumulative Season Statistics. University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics. November 29, 2008. December 5, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081219234333/http://uabsports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2008-2009/teamcume.html. December 19, 2008 . live.