UAB rally falls short against FAU

BOCA RATON, Fla. (WBRC) -Despite overcoming an early 10-0 deficit to take a halftime lead, the UAB Blazers came up short Saturday on the road against Florida Atlantic, falling 24-17.

The Blazers had an opportunity to tie the game on their final possession, marching down the field to the FAU 23-yard-line. After three incomplete passes, Jacob Zeno’s pass to Tejhaun Palmer was broken up in the endzone to seal the win for the Owls.

Zeno went 18-of-32 for 192 yards and a touchdown in his first career start for the Blazers.

Florida Atlantic (4-5, 3-2) scored on consecutive drives to end the first quarter. Morgan Suarez hit a 20 yard field goal to go up 3-0 and then, with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, N’Kosi Perry completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Ford to go up 10-0.

The second quarter, however, was all Blazers.

UAB (4-4, 2-2) needed only one play in the second quarter to get on the board as DeWayne McBride ran up the middle 63 yards for a score.

McBride led the Blazers in rushing with 24 carries for 169 yards.

After forcing FAU to punt, UAB took over at their own 1-yard-line. Zeno, from the shadow of his own goalpost, connected with Trea Shropsire to get near midfield. Nine plays later, Zeno threw a four yard touchdown pass to TJ Jones to take a 14-point lead into halftime.

Owls quarterback, Perry, threw scoring passes on consecutive drives to start the second half, including a 50-yard touchdown to Je’Quan Burton and an eight-yard throw to Tony Johnson, to go up 24-14.

The Blazers, after taking over at their own 25-yard line, marched down to the Florida Atlantic 15-yard-line. The drive stalled and UAB had to settle for a 32-yard field goal from Quinn to make it a one-score game.

A scoreless fourth quarter ended when UAB failed to convert on 4th down in the endzone, allowing the Owls to take a knee and the win.

UAB led the Owls in total offense, 472 yards to FAU’s 359.

The Blazers return to Protective Stadium next week when UTSA comes to Birmingham in Conference USA play.

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