April 12, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team wrapped up 2008 spring drills Saturday with a scrimmage at Legion Field and head coach Neil Callaway saw good and bad with his team's performance in the two-hour workout.

"I thought the offense moved the ball pretty well today," said Callaway, "but we gave up too many big plays on the defensive side and we can't turn the ball over the way we did today (the Blazers threw two interceptions and had two lost fumbles). I thought we got some pressure at times from our line, but our young DBs gave up too many big plays."

The Blazers played four 12-minute quarters under, for the most part, regular game-like conditions. The kicking game was altered as only field goals and extra points were tried.

Quarterback Joe Webb capped off a productive spring in solidifying his spot as UAB's No. 1 signal-caller. The junior, played only the first half in Saturday's scrimmage, hit on 14-of-27 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with sophomore wide receiver Frantrell Forrest on a pair of touchdown passes, a 34-yarder and a 31-yarder.

In three scrimmages Webb was 51-for-83 (61.4 percent for 706 yards with six touchdown passes and two interceptions.

"We know what Joe can do," said Callaway. "He's an outstanding player and we're excited about him. We just have to correct some of the lapses and work on the consistency part of it, but he's definitely a guy who can make plays."

Forrest appears poised to build on what was a successful freshman season in 2007 when he recorded 49 receptions for 563 yards and five touchdowns. He finished Saturday's game with five catches for 78 yards, giving him 14 catches for 238 yards and four touchdowns in three scrimmages this spring.

Forrest wasn't the only receiver to turn in a solid effort Saturday. Sylvester Mencer caught five balls for 102 yards, including a 39-yard touchdown from Rodney Bivens, Jr. Tight end Zach Lankford had a team-high six receptions for 56 yards while WR Darryl Harris had four catches for 36 yards.

Running back Dexter Barnett caught four passes for 53 yards and broke loose after catching a pass in the flat from QB Anthony Speight for a 39-yard score. Barnett also had 26 rushing yards on six attempts.

Webb was just one of the quarterbacks who shined Saturday as Speight was impressive as well in the scrimmage as he hit 11-of-19 passes for 186 yards, throwing for scores to Barnett and Mike Jones (38 yards). Bivens was 8-for-15 for 77 yards and one touchdown while Cameron Cowart hit 6-of-11 for 112 yards in the scrimmage.

On the ground, the leading rusher was Webb who had 70 yards on 11 attempts.

On the defensive side, Callaway singled out first-team all-conference safety Will Dunbar and linebacker Keon Harris as having good scrimmages on Saturday.

Another defensive back, sophomore Brock Ferguson, also caught attention as he recorded the only two interceptions of the scrimmage, returning one for 24 yards and the other for eight.

Redshirt freshman kicker Trey Ragland, filling in for Groza Award semifinalist Swayze Waters this spring due to Waters going through rehab of an injury, connected on 3-of-4 field goals Saturday, connecting from 26, 48 and 23 yards. He also was perfect on six extra point tries.

UAB opens the 2008 season on Aug. 30 when the Blazers play host to Conference USA foe Tulsa at Legion Field.