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Big plays, blocked field goal prove costly

Posted on Sep 06, 2010 in Sports

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UAB’s defense had obvious problems a year ago, giving up over 32 points and more than 450 total yards per game, ranking it near the bottom of all college football in both categories. This year was supposed to be different.
If you take away four big plays from UAB’s 32-31 loss to Florida Atlantic Sept. 2 at Legion Field, the Blazers’ defense played extremely well, limiting the Owls to just 164 total yards. As head coach Neil Callaway pointed out, though, you can’t.
“If we don’t give up the big plays defensively,” Callaway said after the game, “if you take those plays away—which you can’t—it would’ve been a pretty good night.”
All told, the Blazers gave up touchdown passes of 25, 77 and 43 yards, as well as a 38-yard scoring run by junior tailback Alfred Morris that gave Florida Atlantic its only lead of the game with 2:20 remaining.
On the Blazers’ ensuing possession, sophomore quarterback David Isabelle completed a 16-yard pass on fourth-and-three and then scrambled 50 yards to the FAU seven yard line, setting his team up to win the game with a chip-shot field goal. After a Florida Atlantic timeout, Josh Zahn’s 28-yard attempt came off low and was blocked as time expired.
“A loss like this hurts,” said junior defensive tackle Elliott Henigan, who had three tackles-for-loss. “We should’ve won the game, even before the field goal. This game shouldn’t have been close. We had opportunities to win this game, and we didn’t take advantage.”
The silver lining, however, can be found in the play of the defensive line. Though the unit recorded just two sacks, it was in the FAU backfield on almost every snap through the first 15 minutes and continued to harass Owls quarterback Jeff Van Camp throughout the game. The play of the front four caused FAU to abandon its original game plan on more than one occasion.
“[UAB was] getting penetration up the middle on almost every offensive play,” said Owls legendary coach Howard Schnellenberger, who won a National Championship with Miami in 1983. “We were searching. Our game plan was renovated two or three times through the course of the game.
“That’s why we had to go to the outside and stretch the thing as much as we could to get what we could.”
As FAU started to take the football outside the hashes, the Owls began to have a little more success running the football. Ultimately, though, UAB did a solid job stopping them.
“When you run the stretch play it gives you more seams to cut back in,” said Callaway, “but it ain’t like they gashed us with it. Clearly, we have to limit the big plays. That’s the biggest thing we have to do.”
As the defensive pressure made Van Camp scramble, the senior quarterback made big plays with his arm. Down 14-0 early in the second quarter, Van Camp threw a pass down the right sideline that hit receiver Jean Lester in the endzone. Later in the second, Lester—who had nine catches for 164 yards—made a magnificent one-handed snag in stride and ran 77 yards to cut the Blazers’ lead to 14-12.
UAB, however, answered with a score before the half and another to open the third quarter to stretch its lead to 28-12. The turning point in the game occurred midway through the third quarter when FAU’s Brentley Harstad picked off an accurate Isabelle pass that bounced off receiver Roddell Carter. Harstad snatched the loose ball and returned it 38 yards for the score, which swung the momentum to the Owls’ sideline.
“The momentum shift was in the third quarter,” said Isabelle. “They returned the interception, and then we couldn’t get a drive going.”
The Blazers’ offense went three-and-out on its next three possessions and FAU capitalized. A wide-open Willie Floyd caught a 43-yard touchdown pass out of the backfield with 2:28 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 28-26. On the play, as was the case most of the game, Van Camp was scrambling to get away from an attacking defensive line and chunked the ball off his back foot as he was driven into the ground. Floyd made the easy catch-and-run on the wheel route as not a single Blazer was within 20 yards of him.
“With the defense, things weren’t happening,” said Isabelle, who recorded 233 rushing yards, the most in Conference USA history by a quarterback. “We had them trapped and they were just slinging the ball up and plays were made. Sometimes in football that happens. Sometimes they get lucky.”
Added Henigan: “It’s like the quarterback didn’t even think about the pass. He was just told to launch it. On two plays he caught the snap, took two steps and launched it.”
UAB was able to muster a short drive that stalled at the FAU 27 yard line, leading to a 34-yard Zahn field goal that gave the Blazers a 31-26 lead before the Owls’ winning score five minutes later.
The Blazers will have two extra days to figure out how to eliminate big plays. Chances are, however, that not much time will be spent tweaking the front four.
“This is the best defensive line group we’ve had since I’ve been here,” said senior defensive end Bryant Turner, who recorded a sack on the first play from scrimmage. “We dominated the [Florida Atlantic] offensive line all night.”
 

Email: btrippe@uab.edu

 




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