2020 UAB Blazers football team

The 2020 UAB Blazers football team represented the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Blazers played their final home games at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C-USA). They were led by fifth-year head coach Bill Clark.

2020 UAB Blazers football
C-USA champion C-USA West Division champion
C-USA Championship Game, W 22–13 vs. Marshall
Conference	Conference USA
	West Division
2020 record	6–3 (3–1 C-USA)
Head coach	Bill Clark (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bryant Vincent (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	David Reeves (4th season)
Home stadium	Legion Field (Capacity: 71,594)

2020 Conference USA football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Marshall xy		4	–	1					7	–	3
Florida Atlantic		4	–	2					5	–	4
Western Kentucky		4	–	3					5	–	7
Charlotte		2	–	2					2	–	4
Middle Tennessee		2	–	4					3	–	6
FIU		0	–	3					0	–	5
Old Dominion†			–							–
West Division
UAB xy$		3	–	1					6	–	3
UTSA		5	–	2					7	–	5
Louisiana Tech		4	–	2					5	–	4
North Texas		3	–	4					4	–	6
Rice		2	–	3					2	–	3
Southern Miss		2	–	4					3	–	7
UTEP		0	–	4					3	–	5
Championship: UAB 22, Marshall 13
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: † Due to COVID-19, Old Dominion has suspended the 2020 football season. Rankings from AP Poll.

After compiling a 6–3 record (3–1 in conference play), the team accepted a bid to the Gasparilla Bowl. However, on December 22, the Blazers' bowl opponent, South Carolina, had to withdraw from the bowl due to COVID-19 issues within their program.[1] As no replacement team was available, the bowl was subsequently canceled.[1]

Previous season

The Blazers finished the 2019 regular season 9–5, 6–2 in CUSA play which they tied for first in the West Division with Louisiana Tech. Due to defeating the Bulldogs in the head to head matchup, UAB played against Florida Atlantic in the conference championship game. The Blazers played in the game for the second consecutive year, which they lost in the game for the first time.[2] The team was invited to play in the New Orleans Bowl against Appalachian State, where the Blazers took their fifth loss of the season.[3]

Preseason

Death of Jamari Smith

On May 28, 2020, it was announced that incoming freshman Jamari Smith, from Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, Alabama, had drowned while swimming with friends.[4]

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
TBD

CUSA media days

The CUSA Media Days will be held virtually for the first time in conference history.[5]

Media poll (West Division) Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place) 1 Louisiana Tech 2 North Texas 3 Rice 4 Southern Miss 5 UAB 6 UTEP 7 UTSA

Media poll (CUSA Championship) Rank Team Votes TBD

Preseason All-CUSA teams

To be released

Schedule

UAB announced its 2020 football schedule on January 8, 2020.[6] The 2020 schedule was originally planned to consist of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season.

The Blazers had games scheduled against Alabama A&M, New Mexico State, Old Dominion, UTEP, and Middle Tennessee but were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8][9]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	ESPN3	W 45–35	12,716
September 10	8:00 p.m.	at Miami (FL)*	Hard Rock Stadium Miami, FL	ACCN	L 14–31	8,153
September 24	6:30 p.m.	at South Alabama*	Hancock Whitney Stadium Mobile, AL	ESPN	W 42–10	5,766
October 3	11:30 a.m.	UTSA	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	Stadium	W 21–13	12,547
October 17	12:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	Stadium	W 37–14	11,098
October 23	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL	CBSSN	L 20–24	11,610
October 31	2:30 p.m.	at Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA	Stadium	L 34–37 ^2OT	7,140
December 12	11:00 a.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	W 21–16	2,000
December 18	6:00 p.m.	at Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV (C-USA Championship Game)	CBSSN	W 22–13
December 26	11:00 a.m.	vs. South Carolina*	Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL (Gasparilla Bowl)	ABC	CANCELLED
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 24 released prior to game All times are in Central time

[10]

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV*	RV
Coaches	NR	NR*	NR
CFP	Not released															Not released

Game summaries

Central Arkansas

Game One – Central Arkansas Bears (0-1) at No. 24 UAB Blazers (1-0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	14	0	14	35
#24 Blazers	14	14	3	14	45

at Legion Field • Birmingham, Alabama

• Date: Thursday, September 3, 2020
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 84 °F (29 °C) • Wind: SSW 5 mph
• TV announcers (ESPN3): Curt Bloom (play-by-play), Chad Pilcher (analyst)
• Pregame line: UAB –21.5 • Odds to win: UAB 93.1% • Game summary: ESPN NCAA

Game information

First quarter (7:03) UAB – Gerrit Prince 6 yard pass from Tyler Johnston III, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 12 plays, 73 yards, 5:15; UAB 7–0) (2:46) UAB – Spencer Brown 5 yard rush, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 9 plays, 55 yards, 3:24; UAB 14–0) (0:03) UCA – Cameron Myers 4 yard rush, Hayden Ray kick (Drive: 2 plays, 4 yards, 0:13; UAB 14–7) Second quarter (10:50) UAB – Myron Mitchell 18 yard pass from Bryson Lucero, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 5 plays, 55 yards, 2:03; UAB 21–7) (5:31) UAB – Gerrit Prince 10 yard pass from Tyler Johnson III, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 7 plays, 63 yards, 2:56; UAB 28–7) (2:33) UCA – Lujuan Winningham 15 yard pass from Breylin Smith, Chandler Caughron kick (Drive: 1 play, 15 yards, 0:05; UAB 28–14) (1:21) UCA – Robert Rochell 35 yard fumble return, Chandler Caughron kick (UAB 28–21) Third quarter (3:07) UAB – Matthew Quinn 23 yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 48 yards, 6:51; UAB 31–21) Fourth quarter (12:41) UAB – Lucious Stanley 8 yard rush, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 4 plays, 30 yards, 2:10; UAB 38–21) (8:12) UAB – Jermaine Brown Jr. 30 yard rush, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 4 plays, 43 yards, 2:00; UAB 45–21) (5:43) UCA – LuJuan Winningham 8 yard pass from Breylin Smith, Chandler Caughron kick (Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 2:29; UAB 45–28) (0:32) UCA – Sam Camargo 6 yard pass from Breylin Smith, Chandler Caughron kick (Drive: 10 plays, 83 yards, 2:40; UAB 45–35)

Statistics	UCA	UAB
First downs	20	29
Plays–yards	66–293	83–459
Rushes–yards	21–100	49–233
Passing yards	193	226
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	25–46–1	24–34–1
Time of possession	22:55	37:05

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Central Arkansas	Passing	Breylin Smith	25/46, 193 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Kierre Crossley	10 carries, 59 yards
	Receiving	Lujuan Winningham	6 receptions, 53 yards, 2 TD
UAB	Passing	Tyler Johnston III	17/25, 143 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Spencer Brown	24 carries, 127 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Austin Watkins	7 receptions, 72 yards

at Miami

Game Two – UAB Blazers (1–0) at Miami Hurricanes (0–0)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	7	0	7	0	14
Hurricanes	7	7	17	0	31

at Hard Rock Stadium • Miami Gardens, Florida

• Date: Thursday, September 10, 2020
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. CDT
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 82 °F (28 °C) • Wind: ENE 5 mph
• TV announcers (ACC Network): Dave O'Brien (play-by-play), Tim Hasselbeck (analyst), Katie George (sideline)
• Pregame line: Miami –14

Game information

First quarter (2:40) UAB – Austin Watkins 16 yard pass from Tyler Johnston III, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 2 plays, 17 yards, 0:44; UAB 7–0) (1:04) MIA – Cam'Ron Harris 66 yard rush, Jose Borregales kick (Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:36; Tied 7–7) Second quarter (10:04) MIA – D'Eriq King 12 yard rush, Jose Borregales kick (Drive: 6 plays, 64 yards, 2:16; Miami 14–7) Third quarter (10:15) MIA – Jose Borregales 25 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 66 yards, 4:45; Miami 17–7) (6:19) UAB – Spencer Brown 6 yard rush, Matthew Quinn kick (Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:56; Miami 17–14) (4:02) MIA – Cam'Ron Harris 4 yard rush, Jose Borregales kick (Drive: 7 plays, 71 yards, 2:17; Miami 24–14) (0:00) MIA – Brevin Jordan 4 yard pass from D'Eriq King, Jose Borregales kick (Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:42; Miami 31–14) Fourth quarter No scoring

Statistics	UAB	MIA
First downs	14	25
Plays–yards	61–285	78–495
Rushes–yards	26–80	52–337
Passing yards	205	158
Passing: Comp–Att–Int	19–35–0	18–27–0
Time of possession	29:04	30:56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UAB	Passing	Tyler Johnston III	15/23, 150 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Spencer Brown	16 carries, 74 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Myron Mitchell	8 receptions, 117 yards
Miami	Passing	D'Eriq King	16/24, 144 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Cam'Ron Harris	17 carries, 134 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Brevin Jordan	3 receptions, 51 yards, 1 TD

at South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	14	14	0	14	42
Jaguars	0	10	0	0	10

UTSA

	1	2	3	4	Total
Roadrunners	3	3	0	7	13
Blazers	7	7	7	0	21

Western Kentucky

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hilltoppers	7	7	0	0	14
Blazers	10	14	10	3	37

Louisiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ragin' Cajuns	0	10	7	7	24
Blazers	3	10	7	0	20

at Louisiana Tech

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Blazers	0	14	17	0	3	0	34
Bulldogs	3	14	0	14	3	3	37

at Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	0	0	0	0	0
Blue Raiders	0	0	0	0	0

at Rice

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	0	0	0	0	0
Owls	0	0	0	0	0

References

1. "Tampa's Gasparilla Bowl canceled after South Carolina bails". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
2. "UAB vs. Florida Atlantic - Game Summary - December 7, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
3. "Appalachian State vs. UAB - Game Summary - December 21, 2019 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
4. Scarborough, Alex (May 28, 2020). "UAB incoming freshman Smith drowns at age 18". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
5. "Conference USA to hold virtual football media days due to COVID-19". ktsm.com. May 5, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
6. "UAB Football Releases Complete 2020 Schedule". University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Athletics. January 8, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
7. Visser, David (July 21, 2020). "SWAC Suspends Fall Football Season". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
8. "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
9. "Old Dominion postponing football and fall sports". The Virginian Pilot. Retrieved 2020-08-10.
10. "2020 UAB Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 12, 2020.