The Battle for Birmingham: UAB Dominates Cross-town Foe Samford 33-14 After 34 Year Hiatus
Tucked away off of Lakeshore Drive in the cozy town of Homewood lies Samford University. Not much separates us but Vulcan. Two totally different worlds. UAB is hustling and bustling with city noises, traffic, and the constant sound of construction and sirens. UAB is tough, rugged, stained, scratched, bruised, and scarred. This side of town has been through it on and off the football field. We walk a little different and talk a little different. Samford, on the other hand, is well…… It’s in Homewood and it’s on the other side of town. The side that tucks its shirt in, if you feel me. The side that’s bedtime is 9:00 and that takes its vitamins.
UAB and Samford have a little history. Samford stomped UAB back in 1992 in its only matchup. This was the early days of UAB football. There’s been a lot happen in between. We’ve died and been resurrected, Roddy White came through, and Bill Clark put us into the world of relevancy. Things wouldn’t be the same this time.
UAB entered a 30.5 favorite. Now that was beautiful to see on paper, but I wasn’t buying it. The stress of the last few years has crippled my optimism, and to be quite honest with you, I drank the Kool-Aid every year and thought he could do it…..
Nope. Not this time. I think we win, but we are gonna sweat, I’m going to scream, and I’m going to say things I don’t mean. It’s just part of it at this point.
Saturday afternoon, the game started with UAB taking the kick return. On the first play from scrimmage, Ryder Burton hit CJ Smith for a 54-yard pass, setting the ball up at the 21. This is when I began to think we were about to steamroll them and 30.5 was an easy take. Then the next 3 plays lost a total of 5 yards, and Jonah trotted out to make the 44-yard kick after the Burton sack. UAB 3-0.
The Blazers D forced a Bulldogs punt, and we picked up right where we left off after the opening big pass and went 3-and-out to punt it back to the Bulldogs. The following possession was the Bulldogs’ 9-play, 90-yard touchdown drive. At the time I was debating it, but after watching the game, this was the brightest spot for their offense all day. Man, did it not feel that way.
The Bulldogs now led UAB 7-3, but the offense got going. EJ Reid took an end around to the house for a 36-yard touchdown, putting the Blazers back in front 10-7.
The defense had done its job, but the offense was really letting us down. We weren’t running the ball like we’d seen in previous games, and Ryder just couldn’t get it going. I won’t be too critical of Ryder because his receivers and tight ends had dropped some costly ones. Regardless, if we wanted to get out of this with some dignity, we better straighten up. Marlin Dean was so close, oh so many times, to getting to the QB, and Tylin Jackson had been flying all over the place and in the backfield.
After the second half started the way we should’ve played all game. After a Gulley INT on the opening drive coming out of half, the Blazers would take points on their next 4 possessions. A Jonah FG followed by a Bam McReynolds rushing TD and a beautiful throw from Ryder to CJ Smith for the touchdown. The Blazers got on Samford 33-14. The defense was stingy and pitched the second-half shutout. The offensive line showed some nastiness by controlling the line of scrimmage and letting Big Rod Robinson II just pile up the yards inside. We wore them down in the second half. We executed and just showed we were tougher. Blazers 3-2 on the year!
It’s hard not to look into next week as we head to Memphis, and they have looked damn good. With the Bones on the line, I can tell you a slow start offensively will not end well in Memphis. Also, the minor mistakes in the secondary. They guys score often and quick. Will the Blazers be ready? Can Money Mort pull it off again? Will the offense find its rhythm? We will find out Saturday night.
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