2020 UAB Blazers football team
The 2020 UAB Blazers played the 28th season of football for UAB, their 22nd in Division I-A, and their 19th as a member of Conference USA. The team was coached by Bill Clark, in his 5th season as head coach, not including two years that the program was on hiatus. The Blazers won their second Conference USA championship and their third consecutive western division championship.
The 2020 season was threatened by the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic, with the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mid-American, and Mountain West conferences all postponing play. As the season wore on, several games were postponed and eventually canceled, giving the Blazers a 42-day break between games on October 31 and December 12.
UAB defeated Marshall in the Conference USA Championship Game on December 18 in Huntington, West Virginia and were invited to play the 2-8 South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference in the Gasparilla Bowl in Tampa, Florida on December 26. That game was canceled after a member of the South Carolina coaching staff tested positive for COVID-19 and the other coaches went into quarantine.
Roster
- starting offensive line: Ragland Colby, Jakoby Jones, Andrew Smith Jr, Matthew Trehern, Sidney Wells
- starting offensive backs: Austin Watkins Jr, Myron Mitchell, Rob Johnson, Hayden Pittman, Tyler Johnson III, Spencer Brown
- starting defensive line: Tyree Turner, Fish McWilliams, Antonio Moultrie, Jordan Smith
- starting defensive backs: Alex Wright, Kristopher Moll, Noah Wilder, Brontae Harris, Grayson Cash, Will Boler, T. D. Marshall, Dy'jonn Turner
- special teams starters: Kyle Greenwell, Matthew Quinn, Jacob Fuqua, Kyle Greenwell, Myron Mitchell
Schedule (6-3)
- September 3: UAB defeated the Central Arkansas Bears 45-35 at Legion Field.
- September 10: UAB lost 14-31 to the Miami Hurricanes in Miami Gardens, Florida.
- September 24: UAB defeated the South Alabama Jaguars 42-10 in Mobile.
- October 3: UAB defeated the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners 21-13 at Legion Field.
- October 17: UAB defeated the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 37-14 at Legion Field.
- October 23: UAB lost 20-24 to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns at Legion Field.
- October 31: UAB lost 34-37 in double overtime to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in Ruston, Louisiana.
- November 14: The game scheduled with the North Texas Mean Green at Legion Field was postponed and eventually canceled.
- November 21: The game scheduled with against the Texas-El Paso Miners in El Paso, Texas was canceled.
- November 27: The game scheduled with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Legion Field was canceled.
- December 6: The game scheduled with against the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders Murfreesboro, Tennessee was postponed and eventually canceled.
- December 12: UAB defeated the Rice Owls 21-16 in Houston, Texas (rescheduled from October 10)
- December 18: UAB defeated the Marshall Thundering Herd 22-13 in Huntington, West Virginia for the Conference USA championship
- December 26: The Gasparilla Bowl against the South Carolina Gamecocks in Tampa, Florida was canceled.
| Preceded by: 2019 |
UAB Blazers football 2020 |
Succeeded by: 2021 |
References
- Dudley, Evan (September 2, 2020) "UAB updates 2020 schedule; TV and kickoff times announced." The Birmingham News
- Goodman, Joseph (December 15, 2020) "Playing like there’s no tomorrow, UAB football fights on." The Birmingham News
External links
- UAB Sports website
- UAB football coverage at AL.com