UAB and UTSA Square Off Saturday Night at the Alamodome

BIRMINGHAM – Familiar foes meet on Saturday night in the Alamodome as the UAB football team travels to San Antonio to take on UTSA. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT on ESPNU.

In what has become a very competitive series, the Blazers and Roadrunners are meeting for the seventh-consecutive season and for the eighth time overall. The last three meetings between these two have been decided by one possession, while the last two games have come down to the final play.

Who: UAB (2-4, 1-1 AAC) at UTSA (2-3, 1-0 AAC)
Where: San Antonio, Texas - Alamodome
When: Saturday, Oct. 14 – 7 p.m. CT
Watch: ESPNU
On The Call: Jay Alter (play-by-play), Rene Ingoglia (analyst)
Listen: 94.5 WJOX
On The Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Bryant Turner (analyst), Landrum Roberts (sideline)
Series: UAB leads, 4-3
Last Meeting: Nov. 5, 2022 – UTSA, 44-38 (2OT)

WHAT TO WATCH FOR:

UTSA won the first game between the two programs in 2013, but upon returning to action in 2017, UAB won four-straight over the Roadrunners until recently as UTSA has won each of the last two. From 2017-22, UAB (50) and UTSA (43) were the two winningest teams in Conference USA and each captured two league titles.
UAB quarterback and San Antonio native Jacob Zeno is coming off a game in which he completed 19-of-25 for 353 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. It was his second 300-yard passing game of the season and for his efforts, he was named to the Manning Award Stars of the Week list and landed on the AAC Honor Roll.
Zeno is playing at an elite level and is one of just two quarterbacks in the country (along with Washington's Michael Penix Jr.) to rank top 10 nationally in passing yards, completions per game and completion percentage. Zeno has thrown for 1,795 yards and is completing 75.5 percent of his passes with 29.3 completions per game.
He will square off against another elite quarterback in UTSA's Frank Harris, who was the 2022 Conference USA MVP. Harris missed two games earlier this season against Army and Tennessee but returned last week to lead UTSA to a 49-34 victory over Temple. He threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns in the win, and like Zeno, also earned a Manning Star of the Week.
The Blazers put up an AAC-best 608 yards of total offense last week and look to keep that success going in San Antonio. UAB had a season-high 253 rushing yards, led by the reigning AAC Offensive Player of the Week Jermaine Brown Jr.
Brown Jr. rushed 18 times for 116 yards and a career-best four touchdowns against South Florida. It was his ninth-career 100-yard rushing performance, and he now sits in fifth place on UAB's career rushing list (2,545), fifth on the rushing touchdown list (25) and sixth in career 100-yard rushing games (9). His seven rushing touchdowns this season are tied for 11th most nationally.
UAB was explosive on offense against the Bulls, as six of their eight touchdowns came on plays of 20 or more yards. UAB scored four passing touchdowns and four rushing touchdowns, with its passing touchdowns coming from 75, 61, 58 and 49 yards, while its rushing scores (all from Brown Jr.) were 23, 21, three and two yards.
Defensively, UAB cashed in its best performance of the season against South Florida and caused havoc on USF quarterback Byrum Brown all game long. UAB finished with three sacks, five TFL, seven PBU, two INT, one fumble recovery and four QBH. Despite USF gaining 471 yards and 35 points, a majority of those yards and points were in the fourth quarter with UAB leading by 35.
Safety Keondre Swoopes was the catalyst last week with seven tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery. His INT and fumble recovery both came in the first quarter to help the Blazers jump out to an early 21-7 lead. Additionally, cornerback Colby Dempsey had a career-high three pass breakups in the win.
Place kicker Matt Quinn became UAB's school record holder in career PAT made last week with 146. He has made 107-consecutive PAT, which is the third longest active streak in the nation.
UTSA is giving up an average of 414.4 yards and 29.2 yards per game defensively. On the offensive side of the ball, the Roadrunners average 392.6 yards per game overall, but with Harris playing they average 428.0 yards per game.

Following UTSA, the Blazers return home to host Memphis in the renewed Battle for the Bones rivalry at Protective Stadium on Oct. 21. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT.

Registration for the sanctioned rib cookoff on Oct. 21 is still available by clicking here and will close on Monday, Oct. 16 at 5 p.m. Single game tickets to the Memphis game are available here.

For more information on the UAB football team, be sure to follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.

UAB and UTSA Square Off Saturday Night at the Alamodome

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Players Mentioned

Jermaine Brown Jr.

Colby Dempsey

Matt Quinn

Keondre Swoopes

Jacob Zeno

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics