The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers face tough C-USA road game at UTEP
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2005
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team, hungry to get back in the win column, faces a difficult chore in achieving that Saturday afternoon when the Blazers take on Conference USA Western Division leader and No. 24-ranked UTEP.
Gametime at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas is set for 4:15 p.m. MT and the contest will be televised nationally on the CSTV Football Nation on the i network.
Before the season began, Saturday's matchup between the Miners (8-1, 5-1) and Blazers (4-5, 2-4) was expected to be one that carried significant conference race ramifications. However, several close losses by UAB - including one last week (27-21 to UCF) - have hindered that expectation. The Blazers have lost four of their last five games by a combined 18 points.
Still, the Blazers know that a win Saturday over UTEP would gain them some redemption and also keep their bowl hopes alive. UAB closes the regular season next Saturday at league foe East Carolina.
Quarterbacks Darrell Hackney of UAB and Jordan Palmer of UTEP provide the audience Saturday with a duel of the two best signal-callers in C-USA.
Hackney will come into the game with 2,718 yards passing, tops in the conference, while Palmer is second at 2,643, Palmer leads the league in touchdown passes with 23 while Hackney is No. 2 with 18. Palmer and Hackney are also No. 1 and 2, respectively, in pass efficiency.
UTEP, in its second season under head coach Mike Price, jumped into the national rankings in this week's polls after winning its fifth straight game last Saturday, a 45-0 non-conference victory over Texas Southern. The Miners finish their regular season next Saturday with a conference road game at SMU.
