The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Enter Final Week Riding Two Straight Wins
11/21/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 21, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB football team enters its final week of the season, looking to carry the momentum from two straight wins into Saturday's season finale at Florida Atlantic.
On Monday, UAB head coach Neil Callaway met with the media at his weekly press conference as he looked back on last week's win over No. 20 Southern Miss and ahead to this week's matchup with the Owls.
Callaway was joined Monday by five seniors: offensive lineman Caleb Thomas, defensive linemen Elliott Henigan and Adam Arthur, tight end Danny Volk and safety Jamie Bender.
UAB (3-8) defeated Southern Miss for the third straight year and posted its third ever victory over a ranked opponent, overcoming an early 14-point deficit for a 34-31 win over the Golden Eagles last Thursday at Legion Field.
Florida Atlantic (0-10) will be looking for its first win of the season. The Owls dropped a 34-7 decision Saturday on the road at Troy.
Saturday's kickoff is set for 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT) at FAU Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla., as the Blazers and Owls will meet for the fourth straight year. The Blazer IMG Sports Network radio broadcast will air locally on WUHT-FM 107.7 in Birmingham with the pregame show beginning 90 minutes before kickoff.
At the beginning of Monday's press conference, Callaway also announced that the Blazers have selected their permanent team captains. Volk (special teams), Bender and senior linebacker Lamanski Ware (defense) and senior center Darion Smith (offense) were voted by the team as the permanent captains.
Here are some highlights from Monday's press conference:
UAB Head Coach Neil Callaway
Opening statement
"I'd like to announce that we elected our permanent captains yesterday, and it's a great honor and well deserved for each of these players. On special teams we have (senior tight end) Danny Volk. He's a special young man that was a walk-on baseball player and then walked on with the football team. He's been here the last two years. I think he has made a tremendous impact with his work ethic and toughness. On offense, we elected (senior center) Darion Smith. On defense we had two co-captains in (senior safety) Jamie Bender and (senior linebacker) Lamanski Ware. I'm very proud of those guys. Congratulations to them."
On the win over No. 20 Southern Miss
"It was a good win against Southern Miss. Beating Southern Miss is always special for several reasons. It's one of our rivalries because of the games and because we went so long without beating them. The fact that we won the ball game was very rewarding for our guys and I'm happy the way they did it. We got off to a bad start, but I thought our guys stayed focus and we were able to win the game."
On Florida Atlantic
"We're getting ready to play Florida Atlantic. It's our last game of the year. It'll be very special for this senior class. I'm very proud of the guys. They've worked extremely hard and they've done the things we've asked them to do. Florida Atlantic is a very dangerous football team. They are 0-10, but you can see on film that they are very capable. It's a game we need to be ready to play. If we are prepared, we'll be fine, but if weren't not it will be a long day for UAB."
On keeping morale high after a rocky start against Southern Miss
"I think these guys have been resilient all year. I think they understand that the game is 60 minutes, not however long it took Southern Miss to score 14 points. They hung in there and competed. I expected nothing different than what they did."
On possibly finishing the season on a three-game winning streak
"I think it would be big. We mentioned going into Memphis that we had three senior nights. We had one at Memphis, we had one in our last game at Legion Field and we have one in our last game of the year this Saturday. Hopefully, we'll go out on a good note."
Senior OL Caleb Thomas
On the possibility of ending the season with three straight wins
"I hope we end on a good note. We deserve it as seniors. I've been here for five years, so it feels good to win and hopefully we'll get this third straight win on Saturday."
On overcoming the early 14-point deficit against Southern Miss
"Well, the week before at Memphis it was kind of the same situation, so we really didn't sweat it. We just kept playing our game and remained focused on the game."
On Florida Atlantic
"I know that they have a really good defensive front. They are a really big and strong. They are probably similar to Memphis and they are well coached. Coach (Howard) Schnellenberger has been there for a long time and they are pretty good."
Senior DL Adam Arthur
On UAB's two straight wins
"It feels good to put a couple wins in a row together, and maybe we can finish this out on a positive note for all of the seniors and for the program in general."
On the key to UAB's recent success
"I really don't think there is one particular thing. I think we just finally started playing to our potential and we cut down the mistakes we made, and I feel like we have had more energy in these past few weeks and we have been able to go out and play. Even when we got down early it didn't really faze us as a team and it's just felt like we've clicked these past few weeks."
Senior TE Danny Volk
On his time playing football at UAB
"It has been rewarding. I am feeling the utmost humility for being a part of this team. I used to be a baseball player here, and switching to football has been a blessing for me. I'm getting close to the end; it's really kind of sad."
On the UAB football team finishing out the year strong
"We can't ask for anything more than that. I think that the guys on this team are hard working, and nobody ever quits. You can see that in the weight room, and you can see that in the summer workouts. To finish the season like we should have begun it is extremely rewarding."
On the toughness of this football team
"I think you can see from the last couple of games we've played that we are really capable of playing great football. In the first half of the season, it didn't show up, and I can't really put my finger on why, but it's great to be back on track. Even though we are not bowl eligible, our guys continue to be resilient and tenacious. It's easy to look in the rear-view mirror and say `what if,' but the only thing we can do is prepare this week as hard as we can. We are anxious to play on Saturday."
Senior SAF Jamie Bender
On beating Southern Miss
"It felt really nice beating those guys. That is my hometown (team), and it felt good to knock them out of the rankings. I played with and against a lot of those Mississippi guys in high school, and it definitely feels good having the upper hand in the two games we played against them since I've been here."
On the impact the win over Southern Miss will have on next year's team
"For my teammates remaining, winning and beating those guys gives this team something to build off of going into next season. Hopefully we can get this win this weekend so these guys can definitely have something to feel good about next year."
On being voted one of the team's permanent defensive co-captains
"It is very humbling. Being voted by your peers definitely says that you work hard each and every day and that they believe in you. Therefore, they feel great having you as a leader of the team. Each game we have played, no one has quit, and it's just a great group of guys."
