Alabama-Birmingham continues to play terrible in its conference for the past 7 years as they have not had a winning record in that duration. UAB was better last season compared to previous years though as they finished their 2011 campaign with a 3-9 record and 3-5 inside Conference USA.
Neil Callaway was ultimately let go after being unable to give the team a winning record in his full reign as coach here. They went out and hired Arkansas assistant Garrick McGee to command the coaching commitments and folk are eventually charged to determine if he will get this team back on course.
A huge turnabout is still not probable in 2012, as UAB has just 11 starters coming back. Both the new coaches and the players must adjust to each other as they incorporate a new playbook, but McGee will be able to get this roster to become better.
Offense:
The Blazers had one of the most awful offensive years in years as they were able to score only 20.2 points/game. This was particularly upsetting as they had a defense that gave up virtually 40 points a matchup. Fans dream that they can move on from the catastrophe that was last season and get back on course.
It should be interesting to see if McGee stays with starting QB Jonathan Perry or comes to a decision to go with one of his recruits. Perry entered the 2011 year as the backup to Bryan Ellis, but Ellis could not enjoy health and finished only playing in 4 games. In eight starts, Perry threw for 2,042 yards with 10 touchdowns and was third on the team with 294 rushing yards.
The Blazers have slowly gone back in every one of the past two seasons after leading the conference in rushing back in 2009 with 230 yards/game on the ground. They've an chance to spin things around in 2012 as they have their top backs returning in Greg Franklin and Darrin Reaves. Dontavius Jackson is the player to look out for though as he looks to take over the starting spot come opening weekend.
Their wide receiver spot looks to be the most improved this year as they have sophomore Jackie Williams, Nick Adams, Patrick Hearn and Jamarcus Nelson all coming back and they ought to only improve from last year's already good production.
Things don't look as promising on the offensive line. The sole starter back up front is senior left tackle Chris Hubbard. This unit was moving in the wrong direction and will now feature four new faces who've never started a single game in their career. There's without any doubt this unit will struggle with all the new faces and their incapacity to keep the away team out of the backfield will be their biggest weakness on offense.
Defense:
The Blazers have fielded some of the most traditionally bad defenses in latest memory and this annoying trend should only continue in 2012. They gave up 36.8 points/game (most in school history) and virtually 90 more yards of total offense. Opposing offenses should once more have a great time as the Blazers only have four players coming back on defense.
UAB had a horrid time stopping the run last year, as they permitted 203 yards/game on 5.2 yards/carry. Their shortage of experience was essentially why it did them in last year as they had 1 or 2 true freshmen and sophomores playing enormously minutes. Now with a season and valuable experience under their belt, this should be one of the most improved defensive lines in the whole nation.
The Blazers have to replace starting outside linebacker Lamanski Ware, but get back one of the top linebackers in the conference in Marvin Burdette and beginning outside linebacker Greg Irvin. Sadly two of their leading backups in D.A. Autry and D.J. White are both dubious for the start of the year. White, who was the No. 3 tackler in 2010, suffered a knee injury in spring practice and Autry, No. 6 tackler in 2011, has a medical issue that might keep him from playing.
The Blazers pass defense last year was absolutely horrible as they authorized the other team to finish 71% of their throws, and that is as nasty as it can get for a defensive unit. With UAB needing to replace all 4 starters from last year, more of the same should be expected.
Conference USA Prophecy - 5th East Division
The addition of McGee definitely sets them up well in future times but he has just taken over a pretty mediocre team and he will have a particularly hard time to keep it competitive in 2012. Their offense has some major holes, especially on the offensive line and their defense against the run should get stronger, but it might not mean a thing as it may only open up gigantic plays in the passing game. With our previews we see aThe game versus Memphis is the single thing separating them from the basement team in the East, as they draw both Tulsa and Houston out of the West.
Neil Callaway was ultimately let go after being unable to give the team a winning record in his full reign as coach here. They went out and hired Arkansas assistant Garrick McGee to command the coaching commitments and folk are eventually charged to determine if he will get this team back on course.
A huge turnabout is still not probable in 2012, as UAB has just 11 starters coming back. Both the new coaches and the players must adjust to each other as they incorporate a new playbook, but McGee will be able to get this roster to become better.
Offense:
The Blazers had one of the most awful offensive years in years as they were able to score only 20.2 points/game. This was particularly upsetting as they had a defense that gave up virtually 40 points a matchup. Fans dream that they can move on from the catastrophe that was last season and get back on course.
It should be interesting to see if McGee stays with starting QB Jonathan Perry or comes to a decision to go with one of his recruits. Perry entered the 2011 year as the backup to Bryan Ellis, but Ellis could not enjoy health and finished only playing in 4 games. In eight starts, Perry threw for 2,042 yards with 10 touchdowns and was third on the team with 294 rushing yards.
The Blazers have slowly gone back in every one of the past two seasons after leading the conference in rushing back in 2009 with 230 yards/game on the ground. They've an chance to spin things around in 2012 as they have their top backs returning in Greg Franklin and Darrin Reaves. Dontavius Jackson is the player to look out for though as he looks to take over the starting spot come opening weekend.
Their wide receiver spot looks to be the most improved this year as they have sophomore Jackie Williams, Nick Adams, Patrick Hearn and Jamarcus Nelson all coming back and they ought to only improve from last year's already good production.
Things don't look as promising on the offensive line. The sole starter back up front is senior left tackle Chris Hubbard. This unit was moving in the wrong direction and will now feature four new faces who've never started a single game in their career. There's without any doubt this unit will struggle with all the new faces and their incapacity to keep the away team out of the backfield will be their biggest weakness on offense.
Defense:
The Blazers have fielded some of the most traditionally bad defenses in latest memory and this annoying trend should only continue in 2012. They gave up 36.8 points/game (most in school history) and virtually 90 more yards of total offense. Opposing offenses should once more have a great time as the Blazers only have four players coming back on defense.
UAB had a horrid time stopping the run last year, as they permitted 203 yards/game on 5.2 yards/carry. Their shortage of experience was essentially why it did them in last year as they had 1 or 2 true freshmen and sophomores playing enormously minutes. Now with a season and valuable experience under their belt, this should be one of the most improved defensive lines in the whole nation.
The Blazers have to replace starting outside linebacker Lamanski Ware, but get back one of the top linebackers in the conference in Marvin Burdette and beginning outside linebacker Greg Irvin. Sadly two of their leading backups in D.A. Autry and D.J. White are both dubious for the start of the year. White, who was the No. 3 tackler in 2010, suffered a knee injury in spring practice and Autry, No. 6 tackler in 2011, has a medical issue that might keep him from playing.
The Blazers pass defense last year was absolutely horrible as they authorized the other team to finish 71% of their throws, and that is as nasty as it can get for a defensive unit. With UAB needing to replace all 4 starters from last year, more of the same should be expected.
Conference USA Prophecy - 5th East Division
The addition of McGee definitely sets them up well in future times but he has just taken over a pretty mediocre team and he will have a particularly hard time to keep it competitive in 2012. Their offense has some major holes, especially on the offensive line and their defense against the run should get stronger, but it might not mean a thing as it may only open up gigantic plays in the passing game. With our previews we see aThe game versus Memphis is the single thing separating them from the basement team in the East, as they draw both Tulsa and Houston out of the West.