Aug. 30, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team embarks on a new season Saturday when the Blazers welcome the Tulsa Golden Hurricane to Legion Field. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 p.m.

The Blazers are anxious to show they have improved from a season ago when they finished with a 2-10 record overall and 1-7 mark in league play. UAB, drastically short on numbers and depth in 2007, is improved in those areas but still not close to where it needs to be.

Eyes will be on UAB quarterback Joe Webb Saturday as the junior from Birmingham makes only the second start at signal-caller of his career. The athletic Webb has thrown for 1,179 career yards in 14 games of limited QB duty over the past two seasons. He has hit 58 percent of his passes.

Webb has the fortune of having a deep receiving that should provide him with multiple options. Frantrell Forrest (49 receptions 563 yards in 2007), Mario Wright (27-272) and Mike Jones (15-122) also had productive freshman seasons in 2007 and followed those performances with a good spring practice. UAB also is hoping for an early contribution from a pair of junior college transfers at WR in Rodell Carter and Mark Ferrell.

"I think offensively we will be a team that should to be pretty productive," said UAB head coach Neil Callaway, now entering his second season at the helm of the Blazer program. "We have got some good skill people. We will have seven or eight receivers we will feel comfortable playing with. When we start Saturday, it will be Frantrell Forrest, Mario Wright and Mike Jones."

Perhaps the area that will be most watched and may be the most critical in terms of need for Improvement is the running game. UAB averaged just 110 rushing yards and ranked 104th nationally last season. The Blazers are hoping transfers Aaron Johns and Justin Brooks, along with Jim Mitchell, who stayed injury free during camp and showed consistency, will make a difference this fall in the rushing attack.

UAB's opening day assignment presents a challenge as Tulsa comes to Birmingham fresh off a 2007 season in which the Hurricane won the C-USA West Division and ranked first in the NCAA in total offense.

Gone is Paul Smith, a record-setting quarterback who guided the Hurricane to great success in recent years. Senior David Johnson steps in to take over the QB duties and like UAB's Webb, has limited experience in recent seasons.

Tulsa has three returning receivers who gained more than 1,000 yards as well as a running back in Tarrion Adams who rushed for 1,225 yards in 2007.

"Tulsa is one of the class programs of our league," said Callaway. "The last three seasons they have been winning and winning pretty good. When you first start talking about Tulsa, you talk about them offensively. Their skill people are as good as anyone in our league and probably the country. If you take their core receivers and running back, they could play for anyone in the country. I think they do an outstanding job. Everyone knows last year they had the outstanding quarterback. They'll have a new quarterback this year. In my understanding there will be two of them. I expect them to be a very productive offense."

Saturday's UAB/Tulsa contest will be carried on the Blazer ISP Sports Network. The game can be heard on WWMM 100.5 FM radio locally in Birmingham.