The beauty of the bowl season is getting match-ups of teams that you rarely, if ever, see together. UAB met BYU in Shreveport, Louisiana and the Blazers get the upset win in the Independence Bowl, 31-28.
UAB was a seven-point underdog going into the game, but never played like a team that did not believe it could win.
The game started in a driving rain and neither team could gain its footing for a running game. But it was ultimately the running game, and DeWayne McBride that was the deciding factor for UAB.
UAB Opens Up Its Offense
Even as a decided underdog, it was the Blazers who struck first. Receiver Tejhaun Palmer had three receptions all season. But quarterback Dylan Hopkins turned him into a weapon with two catches in the first quarter. He had 30 yards of receptions on the Blazers second drive of the game. Gerrit Prince got the key reception of the drive, a one-yard pass from Hopkins in the end zone for the 7-0 lead.
UAB expanded the lead later in the first quarter. BYU went for it on fourth and seven from the UAB 36-yard line but picked up only three yards. The Blazers took over on downs and needed just 48 seconds to capitalize. On their second play after the turnover, McBride took the pitch to the right and went along the sidelines for 64 yards and the touchdown to give UAB a 14-0 lead.
Cougars Find Allgeier
BYU showed no semblance of an offense until they remembered they had their own elite level running back in Tyler Allgeier. He picked up a combined 41 yards on the last two plays of the first quarter. As they went to the second quarter, it was six more consecutive Allgeier runs. The last one was from a yard out and gave the Cougars their first touchdown in the game. The entire drive was eight plays for 72 yards. The entire drive was Allgeier runs.
Later in the second quarter, BYU opened up the offense a little more. They drove 50 yards in five plays for the tying score. Quarterback Baylor Romney connected with his brother Gunnar for a 37-yard completion on a play action pass. Three plays later it was Samson Nacua on the sweep to left from two yards for the touchdown to tie the game at 14-14.
Hopkins had a hot hand for UAB though. He would hit his first 12 passes in the half. Just before the end of the second quarter. The Blazers ran a play action pass wheel route for Prince who caught the 23-yard touchdown pass for the 21-14 UAB lead at the break.
BYU Takes Brief Lead
BYU struck quickly again in the second half. The three-play drive was capped off by a 62-yard Allgeier touchdown run over the left guard. The drive took all of 1:17 and the score was tied again at 21-21.
Matt Quinn added a 38-yard field goal for UAB to retake the lead at 24-21.
BYU took one more lead on the night on the strength of a one yard run up the middle from Allgeier to give the Cougars the 28-24 lead early in the fourth quarter.
UAB put the game away on the ground. On a drive that burned more than eight minutes off the clock, McBride had nine carries for 45 yards. Hopkins connected with Trea Shropshire who was wide open in the end zone for the touchdown and the 31-28 lead.
BYU had one more shot at the win, but after making a catch at the UAB 33-yard line, Nacua fumbled and it was recovered by the Blazers giving them the chance to run out the clock for the win.
A Landmark Win For UAB
UAB went in as a seven-and-a-half underdog. The program was only four years into its new life, having been idle for a couple of years when football was dropped from the school. They were facing a BYU team that, even while missing its starting quarterback, was the highest ranked team to not make a NY6 bowl at 11-2 on the season.
UAB, with McBride as the game MVP, won just its second bowl in program history and finished the season 9-4.
