In front of approximately 75 former players, the UAB football team held its first scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday afternoon at the Football Operations Center.
OBSERVATIONS:
- Will Boler was the star on defense with two interceptions and a handful tackles. The defense looked fast, athletic and aggressive, and their depth was on full display as both the first and second units played lights out. UAB is coming off a season in which they finished 16th nationally in total defense. The previous three years they ranked inside the top 10, and this season they look poised to earn a spot back in the top 10.
- The offense also showed flashes and moved the ball well, aside from the two interceptions by Boler (one each thrown from Hopkins and Zeno). With DeWayne McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. inactive for today's scrimmage, A.J. Gates and Lee Witherspoon were the featured backs and each produced with Gates finding the end zone twice. Hopkins and Zeno also made some great throws in situational action as both threw a few touchdowns in the latter half of the scrimmage.
- A few other standout performances came from cornerback Colby Dempsey and a pair of freshmen running backs in Taven Curry and Lee Beebe. Dempsey continues his strong camp as he pushes the starters for more playing time, while both the freshmen running backs had touchdowns and looked good in doing so.
"We came out excited. We had great effort and great energy. I thought our players were focused and they understood what we were trying to get accomplished. I was excited how we came out and started the scrimmage on both sides of the football. The defense flew to the football and created turnovers. As the scrimmage went on, the offense got in a flow and was able to put the ball in the end zone.
"Talking defense specifically, they understood the situation, whether it was third down, fourth down or red zone. As the offense started driving, they communicated. They were able to exchange back and forth on personnel because we change a lot of personnel on offense. The defense came out really strong and forced a lot of three and outs.
"Offensively, we got in a rhythm as the scrimmage went along. We started executing and putting drives together and were able to find the end zone.
"We had guys with the ones, twos and threes make plays on both sides of the ball. Our depth is in a good spot. But the effort, energy and passion was there today. We can clean up the mistakes. We've got two and a half weeks before we open up and I really like where we are at right now. We just have to stay the course, we have to continue to grow each day and continue to execute."
The Blazers are just 19 days away from the season opener against Alabama A&M on Sept. 1 at Protective Stadium. Season and single game tickets are on sale by clicking here.
Original source can be found here.
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