#UABfootball

Game 2 offers UAB a shot at another first

Kevin Scarbinsky

Sep 3, 2019

Game 2 offers UAB a shot at another first

The 2018 football season was a year of firsts for the UAB Football program. The biggest: First conference championship and first bowl victory. So far 2019 has been a year of finding special ways to commemorate those firsts. First painting? Check. Steve Skipper's work of art commemorating the 2018 season was unveiled July 28 at the Birmingham Museum of Art. First banners? Check. The decorations signifying the C-USA and Boca Raton Bowl titles were revealed last Thursday night a

Eye-opening weekend: UAB fits right in with the AAC

Kevin Scarbinsky

Sep 2, 2019

Eye-opening weekend: UAB fits right in with the AAC

Attendance has been one of the most-discussed subjects regarding UAB Football since its Football Bowl Subdivision introduction in 1996. It's been used to support countless narratives in favor of or in opposition to the program. As UAB fans have made their presence known at Legion Field since #TheReturn in 2017, critics have been forced to shrink into the shadows. Witness the 39,165 strong who made up the third-largest home crowd in UAB history Thursday night for the thrilling

When it mattered most, UAB finally acted like champions

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 29, 2019

When it mattered most, UAB finally acted like champions

On a banner night at Legion Field, with new decorations unveiled to celebrate an unprecedented conference championship and an inaugural bowl victory, two things came clear as college football returned to Birmingham for a Magic City Kickoff Classic. Alabama State isn't Savannah State - and UAB 2019 isn't UAB 2018. Not yet and not by a long shot, but take heart, Ever Loyalists. There's plenty of time in this young season and no shortage of talent on this fresh roster. Opening g

Raise the bar again? Not likely but don't bet against Bill Clark

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 27, 2019

Raise the bar again? Not likely but don't bet against Bill Clark

Bear Bryant did it once in his illustrious career, and he was the last Alabama coach to do it. So did Shug Jordan, and he was the last Auburn coach to achieve the feat. No current SEC coach has done it, not even Nick Saban, not once at any of his head coaching stops, despite challenging Bryant for the mythical title of best college football coach ever. It won't be easy, and it's not likely, but guess who has a chance to do it this season? UAB's Bill Clark. Do what? What accom

Out with the old, in with the new through Nick Vogel's eyes

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 25, 2019

Out with the old, in with the new through Nick Vogel's eyes

It's all gone now. The dentist office of a football building. The adjoining shed turned locker room. The brick-and-mortar reminders of what UAB Football used to be have been reduced to a pile of rubble. All that's left to do is sweep up the debris and haul it away. The timing is perfect with the Blazers preparing to kick off the 2019 season Thursday night at 7 against Alabama State at Legion Field. There's no looking back now, not even on the 2018 Conference USA Championship

UAB-Alabama State: Expect another magic night in the Magic City

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 23, 2019

UAB-Alabama State: Expect another magic night in the Magic City

The last time UAB played a football game against an in-state opponent, history happened all over Legion Field. A school-record crowd of 45,212 watched the program rise from the ashes in the 2017 Return against Alabama A&M. Bill Clark remembers it well. He wants to see another magic night in the Magic City when UAB and Alabama State collide Thursday to open the 2019 season. "I'd love to see if we could break that (attendance) record again," Clark said. It's a tall order, but i

How one UAB vote can matter more than a No. 1 ranking

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 20, 2019

How one UAB vote can matter more than a No. 1 ranking

If you're defending national champion Clemson and you get ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for the first time in school history, it's nice but not all that eventful. Just makes it a little harder for Dabo Swinney to play the aw-shucks underdog. Spoiler alert: He's anything but. If you're defending national runner-up Alabama and you don't get ranked No. 1 in the AP preseason poll for the first time since 2015 - falling all the way to No. 2 - it's just one more twig for th

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 17, 2019

UAB and defense go together like … Alabama and defense

Bill Clark can't help but smile when he talks about defense. He's been a college head coach for six years and four seasons now, but that side of the ball is his specialty. The UAB head coach tries "to be balanced" in the time he spends with his offensive and defensive units, but "I always seem to matriculate over there (to the defense) a little bit more as the season goes," Clark said after UAB's second scrimmage of preseason camp. "As the season goes, it's a time when you've

UAB Football scrimmaging on campus again today

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 17, 2019

UAB Football scrimmaging on campus again today

Pardon our progress. It's a sign begging your forgiveness for short-term inconvenience in pursuit of long-term improvement. It could be UAB Football's supplemental motto. Right after #WinAsOne. Because the new artificial turf at Legion Field is almost but not quite ready, the Blazers will have to stage their second closed scrimmage of preseason camp today on their own practice field on campus at the Football Operations Center at Legacy Pavilion. It's not an ideal situation by

National radar zooms in on UAB QB Tyler Johnston III

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 16, 2019

National radar zooms in on UAB QB Tyler Johnston III

What do Feleipe Franks, Jake Bentley, Kelly Bryant, Kellen Mond and Joe Burrow have in common? Let's see. They're all quality starting quarterbacks in the SEC. They've all led teams to bowl games and are expected to do it again. Oh, and none of them is UAB's Tyler Johnston III. That's the expert analysis of Pro Football Focus, which ranked the starting quarterbacks of every Football Bowl Subdivision program in the nation from No. 1 to No. 130 based on the voluminous data it r

UAB's Spencer Brown bounces back with - yikes - 'a little wiggle'

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 10, 2019

UAB's Spencer Brown bounces back with - yikes - 'a little wiggle'

The second-best thing I heard after UAB's first scrimmage of fall camp at Legacy Pavilion came from a Blazer staffer. Describing the sensational sophomore season of running back Spencer Brown, the staffer said, "He limped to 1,200 yards." True fact. It wasn't always evident to the outside world, but inside the walls, the Blazers knew. After his fantastic freshman year, the workhorse from Mortimer Jordan High School played through a painful foot injury in 2018 that would've si

On this spot, UAB Football came to life - and refused to die

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 8, 2019

On this spot, UAB Football came to life - and refused to die

Can I have a brick? That's what the former UAB Football players wanted to know. Head Coach Bill Clark had invited them to Saturday's practice, not coincidentally just before demolition began on the old dentist office of a football building that once was the hub of their daily existence. That building would've embarrassed a lot of high schools in this state. It discouraged a lot of potential Blazers with other options. It stood as a ramshackle reminder of the obstacles this pr

Poll fuel to burn for Alabama, Auburn, UAB

Kevin Scarbinsky

Aug 1, 2019

Poll fuel to burn for Alabama, Auburn, UAB

OK, fellas. Bring it in. Got something for you. It's the preseason USA Today Amway Coaches Poll. Just came out today. From the looks of it, wow. You guys suck. Yeah, I know, but this isn't the AP Poll. This isn't a bunch of pencil-neck, pencil-pushing sports writers and empty-headed talking-head sportscasters who aren't athletic enough to be kickers. These are coaches. Head coaches. They've stood across the field from you on Saturdays, broken you down on film since you were i

Bill Clark: UAB will not take a step back

Kevin Scarbinsky

Jul 31, 2019

Bill Clark: UAB will not take a step back

What have you done? Bill Clark has asked his players on the 2019 UAB Football roster that question countless times since January. You as a team. What have you done? The answer is easy, and even though fall camp began Wednesday morning, that answer won't begin to change until they kick off the season Aug. 29th against Alabama State at Legion Field. This deep collection of talented players, many of them with names not widely known to the general public, has done nothing to comm

Tonight's a UAB/Birmingham party, and you're invited

Kevin Scarbinsky

Jul 28, 2019

Tonight's a UAB/Birmingham party, and you're invited

Before the UAB football players report Tuesday, before the ongoing work of preparing for another special season shifts to another gear, it's time for one more celebration. It's time to commemorate the 2018 season in a special way unique to this state. It's time to unveil "The Return." And you're invited. Tonight at 6 at the Birmingham Museum of Art, renowned local artist Steve Skipper will reveal to the world his special, commemorative, limited-edition painting that celebrate

For UAB, there's more bling where that came from

Kevin Scarbinsky

Jul 23, 2019

For UAB, there's more bling where that came from

Bill Clark is a busy man, but he should try to find a few moments before fall camp kicks off to take care of some correspondence. He should write a personal note to every single media member who voted in the Conference USA preseason poll. That poll predicts Clark's defending conference champions from UAB will follow up their epic 2018 season by finishing … fourth. Fourth? Fourth! And not fourth in the 14-team league. Fourth in the seven-team West Division. The poll spit out t

UAB Football serves the city that brought it back to life

Kevin Scarbinsky

Jul 14, 2019

UAB Football serves the city that brought it back to life

Everywhere you looked Saturday, from Parker High School past the Smithfield Library to Legion Field, you saw them. They were men hard at work on a hot July morning. Painting at the school. Picking up trash on Graymont Avenue. Mowing and weed-eating along Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard. They were UAB football players, coaches and staffers of the 2018 Conference USA champions, about 100 of them, trading their green jerseys and polos for red T-shirts, volunteering in the large

Kevin Scarbinsky

Jun 22, 2019

Three words for the AAC: UAB

Shhh. Listen. Do you hear it? That sound echoing from Connecticut all the way to Birmingham? It's opportunity. It's knocking for UAB. Just when you thought conference realignment wasn't going to be reawakened for a few years until the next major round of television negotiations, boom. Here comes the news that UConn is about to leave the American Athletic Conference to return to the Big East. The Big East doesn't play football - neither does UConn, at least not well - but it s

UAB football's Return is now a work of art

Kevin Scarbinsky

May 30, 2019

UAB football's Return is now a work of art

Football is different in Alabama, and not just because we win more than you do. When we secure a particularly compelling victory or witness an especially iconic moment, we want to hold onto that memory, savor it and take pride in it for the rest of our days. Maybe even hang it on the wall to remind us of the best of us. So we don't just paint the town red for a night. We make an actual painting of the occasion. In crimson and white. Or blue and orange. And now in green and go

Kevin Scarbinsky

May 20, 2019

UAB's Lyle Henley builds winners

How do you build a winning culture virtually from scratch? How do you lay the physical and mental foundation for a championship football team when, for two years, you don't play a single game? Lyle Henley understands. UAB's director of athletic performance will share his insight as one of the distinguished presenters at the Birmingham Sports Performance Coaches Clinic on June 1. Henley played a key role in building UAB's 2018 Conference USA championship team in the program's