Box Score



BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Redshirt freshman Austin Brown completed 16-of-22 passes for 266 yards and a touchdown and UAB scored on four of its first five offensive drives in the first half while adding a defensive score to take a 31-3 lead at halftime and defeat Southeastern Louisiana, 52-3, Saturday afternoon at Legion Field.

UAB (1-4), which earned its first victory under head coach Garrick McGee, piled up 512 yards of total offense, including 356 through the air. Jonathan Perry came off the bench in the second half and went 8-for-10 for 90 yards with touchdown passes to Jay Davis and Nick Adams.

“We made some critical mistakes early in the game and that killed us,” Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. “They're (UAB) a good football team. They've played some tough opponents and we knew they had some great talent and we knew all those things coming into the game. I thought they were a scary opponent. It was not a very good game on our part, but hats off to UAB. I hope it kick starts their season and gets them rolling.”

The Blazers used their defense to get on the board first on the game's third play of the game when Marvin Burdette intercepted a Nathan Stanley pass on third-and-3 at the SLU 32, picked up a pair of blocks and scored on a 36-yard touchdown with 13:34 remaining in the first half.

After forcing the Lions to go three-and-out on its next drive, the Blazers drove 68 yards in four plays to extend their lead to 14-0.

A false start penalty and a pair of incomplete passes by Brown forced third-and-15, but the freshman found Jackie Williams for a 20-yard gain to the UAB 47. One play later, Brown found Greg Franklin down the left sideline and the running back scored on a 53-yard touchdown with 10:42 remaining.

The Blazers took a 21-0 lead as they drove 78 yards in 13 plays with Franklin capping the drive with a 16-yard run off right tackle. UAB capitalized on a five-yard penalty by Southeastern after the Lions held on fourth-and-8 at the SLU 39. On the following fourth-down attempt, Brown found Darrin Reaves in the right flat for a 4-yard gain to give the Blazers a first down at the SLU 30 and Franklin scored four plays later with 4:09 remaining.

Southeastern (2-4) got on the board as time expired in the first half as the Lions drove 50 yards in eight plays. Stanley found Blaine LeBlanc for 13 yards and Jeff Smiley for 24 as the Lions quickly drove to the UAB 29. Seth Sebastian capped the drive for the Lions when he drilled a 33-yard field goal to cut the UAB lead to 31-3.

Southeastern struggled against the Blazers' speedy defense as it recorded a season-low 125 yards total offense. Stanley completed 10 of 24 passes for 78 yards and was sacked three times. Freshman Xavier Roberson led the Lions with 37 yards while Smiley caught a team-high three passes for 37 yards.

“We played a lot of guys, especially in the second half,” Roberts said. “We had some young guys get a lot of reps late so we came out pretty healthy. It's tough to take a beating … it's damaging to your confidence after we've tried to build up their confidence the last two weeks. We've got to shake this thing off and get back to our (Southland) conference schedule and try to get untracked next week.”

Southeastern will resume Southland Conference play on Saturday when it plays host to Northwestern State in a game that will be televised on the Southland Conference Television Network. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:05 p.m.