The Quest

College Football News said 3-8 and winless in the conference. The Sporting News had UAB at No. 100 in the country. Nobody outside Birmingham — and plenty of people inside it — expected Watson Brown's sixth UAB football team to do much of anything.

The players knew better, or at least they said they did. But saying it and proving it required 11 games, three quarterbacks, a season of attrition and one night in Baton Rouge that put this upstart program on the map.

This is the story of the 2000 season — not the context of what it meant (that was Wednesday's column) but the games themselves, from September to November, as they unfolded.

A shaky start

UAB opened on Sept. 7 against Chattanooga at Legion Field and nearly gave everybody reason to believe the pessimists.

The Blazers trailed in the fourth quarter against a Division I-AA team. Bryan Thomas forced a fumble that turned the momentum. Eddie Freeman recovered a fumble at the UAB 20 to kill another threat. Jegil Dugger scored the go-ahead touchdown from five yards out, and UAB survived 20-15 after Wes Foss nabbed an interception to seal it.

It was the kind of game that confirmed every skeptic's suspicion — or confirmed, if you were paying closer attention, that this defense was going to carry the season.

Nine days later, UAB went to Lawrence, Kansas, for one of the strangest games on the schedule. The trip was part of a 3-for-1 series arrangement — three games at Kansas, one at Legion Field — and because of CUSA's unbalanced scheduling, the game counted as a conference game.

The Kansas series told the story of the program in miniature. UAB had lost the first meeting 72-0 in 1994, when its upperclassmen were Division III players facing a Big Eight team. The second trip ended 24-0. The game in Birmingham in 1998 went four overtimes before Kansas escaped 39-37. Now in 2000, UAB led 20-14 in the fourth quarter before a late collapse and a 50-yard field goal by Jose Garcia at the horn gave Kansas a 23-20 win.

The margin had closed from 72 to three. Adrian Abrams, who had forced a fumble on the Kansas punter that Pat Burchfield scooped and ran 42 yards for a touchdown, was already looking ahead: "LSU will know, when they look at this film, that they'll have to play one of their best games to beat us."

He was right. On Sept. 23, UAB went to Tiger Stadium and beat Nick Saban's LSU 13-10 on Rhett Gallego's 32-yard field goal as time expired. The full story of that night is Friday's column. For now, the score: UAB 13, LSU 10. The Blazers were 2-1.

The pattern and the answer

UAB blew out Louisiana-Lafayette 47-2 the following week, the offense finally erupting for 419 yards. Dugger ran for 153. The game was so far out of hand that third-string quarterback Jeff Aaron got his first real action — 2-of-3 passing, 10 yards. Afterward, he said something that would matter later: "Until people just start believing in that. That's when I'll excel."

Then Louisville came to Legion Field on Oct. 7 and blasted UAB 38-17. Dave Ragone threw four touchdown passes. With the offense struggling at midseason, Brown made a move he had been building toward. He turned to Jeff Aaron — a former Class 6A state champion quarterback at Jeff Davis High School in Montgomery who had passed for more than 3,000 yards at Itawamba Community College in Mississippi before signing with UAB over interest from SEC programs. UAB had tried him at wide receiver in 1999 before he took a redshirt and moved to quarterback full time in 2000.

Over a crucial three-game stretch against Memphis, Middle Tennessee and East Carolina, the move proved to be a spark.

October

Aaron's first start came against Memphis on Oct. 14. Watson Brown would later call it the most important game of his tenure at UAB — more important, he said, than the win at LSU.

The Blazers trailed 9-3 entering the fourth quarter. Memphis had dominated possession — UAB's offense was on the field for fewer than 12 minutes across the second and third quarters. The defense was holding, but the offense could not move.

Then Pat Burchfield, a cornerback, came on a corner blitz — a call the UAB defensive staff almost never made. Scherer had no time to react. Burchfield drove him into the turf for an 11-yard loss, and the entire game shifted. "After they hit Scott on the corner blitz, you could just feel the momentum shifting dramatically," Memphis coach Rip Scherer said.

Brown kept the offense on the field on fourth-and-2 from the Memphis 39. Aaron rolled right on a bootleg and hit Cory Conley for 14 yards. The drive continued. On the next series of plays, Aaron pitched to Dugger on the option. Percy Coleman, playing with a shoulder so damaged he could not raise his arm, threw a block that put the Memphis defender on the ground. Dugger took it 24 yards to the end zone.

Coleman stayed down after the play, holding his shoulder.

"The epitome of the team was Percy Coleman on the option play," Brown said. "He can't raise his arm he's hurting so bad but he knocked the guy to the ground he was blocking."

Gallego hit a 41-yard field goal with 1:28 on the clock. Stewart picked off Scherer with 1:11 left. Final: 13-9.

Brown had been a head coach at Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Rice, Vanderbilt and now UAB. He had lost more games than he had won at most of those stops.

"This is the best win we've had since I've been here," he said.

Above LSU. Because of the adversity.

The next week brought a personal grudge match. Middle Tennessee running back Dwone Hicks, a Huntsville native, had originally committed to UAB before flipping to the Blue Raiders on National Signing Day. He came into the game as the sixth-leading rusher in all of college football and would go on to become one of Middle Tennessee's all-time greats, eventually playing in the NFL for the Tennessee Titans and Chicago Bears. On UAB's homecoming at Legion Field, the Blazers held him to 14 yards. Final: 14-9.

Dugger ran for 102 yards, his second straight 100-yard game. UAB controlled the ball for 39 minutes and 43 seconds, an I-A program record.

Then came East Carolina. UAB was a 14-point underdog in Greenville, and ECU's David Garrard threw for 253 yards and ran for 77. It did not matter. Aaron found T.J. Simmons for a 28-yard score with five seconds remaining in the third to tie it, and Gallego drilled a 43-yard field goal with 2:24 left to win it.

Garrard's final throw traveled 50 yards to Terrance Copper, who caught it at the UAB 16 with no time on the clock. Bryan Thomas: "My heart might have stopped on that play."

UAB was 6-2. First winning season at the I-A level. Bowl eligible. Brown's voice cracked as he addressed reporters.

"This winning season means a lot to me," Brown said. "But it means a lot to a lot of people — the fans, the ones that have stuck with us, the players that came before and played on teams that went 2-9. It means a lot to the university and to this community. It's a whole family deal. I'm just happy we could do it."

Then he said something more personal: "I can look at my football career and say I've been through some hard times. But nothing I went through has prepared me for something like this. This is what you coach for."

The fall

The euphoria lasted one week.

UAB went to Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and could not slow down the Bearcats. Deontey Kenner went 20-of-32 for 351 yards — he had been averaging 174 per game — against a defense that had entered the game ranked in the top 10 nationally in yards allowed. Cincinnati scored or turned it over on nine straight possessions without punting once. UAB gave the ball away four times — after committing only two turnovers across the Memphis, Middle Tennessee and East Carolina games combined.

The Blazers trailed 27-7 entering the fourth quarter and ultimately fell 33-21.

"I didn't think this would happen," Brown said. "They just beat us all around. We couldn't slow them down. I'm surprised. I did not think that somebody could do this to us."

The bowl picture was darkening. At 6-3 with only two conference wins, UAB needed to beat Southern Miss the following Saturday at Legion Field — and then win at Army — to have any real shot. Ironically, the LSU and Kansas games figured into the conference race. Because of an unbalanced schedule, the conference had given UAB the choice to designate one of its non-conference games to count in the CUSA standings. UAB chose Kansas, where it lost a close one on a late field goal, instead of LSU, where UAB would stun the Tigers on a late field goal.

The Blazers may have been kicking themselves for that call, but it really didn't matter. UAB still had destiny in its control when Southern Miss came to Legion Field.

Three minutes from a bowl

Southern Miss arrived at the Old Gray Lady on Nov. 11 ranked 25th in the country. What followed was the most painful game in UAB's young history.

The lead changed hands three times in regulation, and the score was knotted three more. UAB's offense, which had struggled to move the ball for most of the season, gained 337 yards against the nation's second-ranked defense. Dugger ran for 101 yards on 26 carries. Aaron and Willie Quinnie had both redshirted in 1999 and used that year to work on their own — the two of them on the practice field after games, running routes nobody had asked them to run. Against Southern Miss, Quinnie caught six passes for 88 yards.

UAB led 20-17 with 3:43 left, and the defense — the unit that had carried the team all season — had the ball back in its hands.

It could not hold.

A delay of game penalty on the UAB defense moved the ball five yards closer, from the UAB 15 to the UAB 10. Watson Brown was physically restrained by an official while arguing the call. Brant Hanna kicked a 20-yard field goal with five seconds left to force overtime.

Southern Miss scored first in the first overtime. UAB answered. Conley — one of the 21 seniors whose Legion Field careers were ending that day — scored from a yard out to tie it.

In the second overtime, UAB settled for a Gallego field goal. Southern Miss drove to the UAB 16 and faced fourth-and-inches. Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower went for it. "I thought to myself, if we're not good enough to punch something in over the line from six inches away, then we don't deserve to win the game," Bower said afterward. Kelly dove forward for three yards and the first down. Two snaps later, he found Dawayne Woods wide open on a throwback. Touchdown. Game over.

Southern Miss 33, UAB 30.

The scene afterward said everything. Myles hurled his helmet to the ground and beat the turf with his fist. Jones, the noseguard, broke down crying and would not let his teammates console him. Burchfield, the same corner whose blitz had saved the Memphis game a month earlier, dropped to his knees in the end zone. Abrams never took off his helmet. He stood with his hands on his hips and his eyes fixed on nothing for close to a minute.

"In a game like this, when you give it so much, it doesn't seem right that it can all just be over in one play," Abrams said. "Anytime you go out there and give it everything you have, and you still lose, it hurts. But we can't go back and second-guess this and second-guess that. If we do, we'll be up all night. We gave it our all and we lost it."

Watson Brown had red, swollen eyes. "This one will hurt, there's no doubt about it," he said. "There's no way to feel good about this. It's hard to take."

The bowl bid was almost certainly dead. Cincinnati had beaten Memphis that same afternoon, clinching the last CUSA bowl slot. All five of the league's bowl-eligible teams had at least six wins, but UAB's two conference victories put it last among them.

The curtain call

UAB traveled to West Point on Nov. 18 for the season finale at Michie Stadium — a cold, windy afternoon against a 1-9 Army team. After the Southern Miss loss, nobody expected this to be easy, and it was not, at least not at first.

"It was real hard to get ourselves up for this game in the wake of a close loss to Southern Miss," Aaron said. "We were relaxed till we were almost asleep."

UAB was sloppy, unfocused and penalized 15 times for 104 yards. The Blazers led only 10-7 at halftime despite blocking two Army punts and dominating field position. But Brown calmed the team at the break, and the second half was a different game.

Aaron hit Leron Little on a 67-yard touchdown, the farthest any UAB pass had traveled all year. (Army's cadets accidentally fired their cannons after UAB scored.) On the first play of the fourth quarter, Wes Foss intercepted a Chad Jenkins pass and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown that emptied the home side of Michie Stadium.

Percy Coleman, in his final college game, took the first handoff 49 yards and finished with 83 yards on six carries. The senior went out running.

UAB 27, Army 7. The Blazers lifted their helmets above their heads. The best season in the program's Division I-A history was complete. The record was 7-4.

"This football team deserves a bowl," Brown said. "There is no doubt about it in my mind."

Athletic director Herman Frazier, who had run the Fiesta Bowl while at Arizona State, was already networking with CUSA commissioner Mike Slive. "I'll be on the phone all week working on this," Frazier said.

They did not get one. CUSA had four guaranteed bowl slots. Louisville, Cincinnati, East Carolina and Southern Miss all had more conference wins. UAB, with its three league victories, finished fifth. The best season in program history ended without a postseason.

Senior offensive tackle Tony Dollison put it plainly: "It will be disappointing if we don't go to a bowl, but we know we've accomplished a lot. We made history this year."

Sophomore Willie Quinnie — who had missed most of the season with an injury, had 12 catches for 157 yards across the Southern Miss and Army games and would be back in 2001 — saw further: "There's no way this season can be a disappointment. This season was a big turnaround for UAB. I think in the future, you're going to see a lot more credit given to UAB."

The first bowl bid would not come until 2004. But the standard was set here.

Friday: Breakthrough on the Bayou — the night UAB went to Tiger Stadium, 85,339 strong, and beat Nick Saban's LSU on the last play of the game.

2000 UAB roster

Source: Blazer Football Illustrated (2000 media guide)

1. Cedric Thatch — WB, 5-11, 190, Sr. — Tanner, Ala.

2. Jeff Aaron — QB, 6-3, 205, Sr. — Montgomery, Ala.

3. Cory Conley — FB, 6-1, 225, Sr. — Smyrna, Ga.

4. Tyson Eason — LB, 6-0, 205, Sr. — Huntsville, Ala.

5. Willie Quinnie — FL, 6-2, 180, So. — Theodore, Ala.

6. Charles Griffin — FL, 6-2, 170, Fr. — Montgomery, Ala.

7. Kenny Borders — FL, 6-3, 190, So. — Tallahassee, Fla.

8. Thurman Pearson — DB, 6-1, 185, Fr. — Melvin, Ala.

9. Otis Leverette — DE, 6-7, 275, Sr. — Americus, Ga.

10. Rod Taylor — LB, 6-2, 245, Jr. — Montgomery, Ala.

11. T.J. Simmons — SS, 6-3, 205, So. — Chipley, Fla.

12. Troy Stackhouse — RB, 5-11, 195, Fr. — Avondale, La.

13. Matt Johnson — QB, 6-8, 215, Fr. — Selma, Ala.

14. Thomas Cox — QB, 6-2, 190, So. — Birmingham, Ala.

15. Andrew Kopecky — WS, 5-11, 180, Jr. — Birmingham, Ala.

16. Daniel Dixon — QB, 6-3, 195, Sr. — Cleveland, Ala.

17. Jeff Tippetts — TE, 6-3, 195, Fr. — Jacksonville, Ala.

18. Tommy Babakitis — QB, 6-0, 195, So. — Birmingham, Ala.

19. Travis Johnson — FL, 6-3, 195, Jr. — Jacksonville, Ala.

20. Maurice Gallery — WB, 5-11, 180, Jr. — Mobile, Ala.

21. Patrick Burchfield — CB, 5-11, 175, Jr. — Maben, Miss.

22. Carl Fair — RB, 6-2, 215, Sr. — Starkville, Miss.

23. Mario Stanley — DB, 5-9, 175, Fr. — Athens, Ala.

24. Jegil Dugger — RB, 5-11, 212, Jr. — Birmingham, Ala.

25. Percy Coleman — RB, 5-10, 185, Sr. — Birmingham, Ala.

26. Andre Ollie — RB, 5-11, 200, So. — Birmingham, Ala.

27. Deijon Hart — DB, 6-2, 205, Jr. — LaGrange, Ga.

28. Leroy Harris — DB, 6-2, 205, Fr. — Demopolis, Ala.

29. Torrey Hale — DB, 5-9, 180, Jr. — Gadsden, Ala.

30. Jason Southall — DB, 5-11, 170, Fr. — Birmingham, Ala.

31. Chris Brown — CB, 6-2, 190, So. — Atlanta, Ga.

32. Bernard Anderson — RB, 6-1, 218, So. — Tallahassee, Fla.

33. Dedric Hardrick — FB, 6-2, 230, So. — Bridgeport, Ala.

34. Rodney Jones — NG, 6-2, 285, Sr. — Birmingham, Ala.

35. Adrian Singleton — FS, 6-2, 200, Jr. — Mobile, Ala.

36. Nick Stewart — LB, 5-11, 217, Jr. — Montgomery, Ala.

37. Avery Warner — SS, 6-2, 205, Jr. — Decatur, Ga.

38. Jon Criswell — RB, 5-7, 185, Jr. — Snead, Ala.

39. Sentell Winston — WS, 6-2, 197, So. — Demopolis, Ala.

40. Cordell Davis — RB, 5-7, 180, Fr. — Hillsboro, Ala.

41. Alfred Rodgers — SS, 5-8, 175, So. — Birmingham, Ala.

42. Derrick Bush — SS, 6-4, 215, Jr. — Indianola, Miss.

43. David Crawford — RB, 6-2, 195, So. — Birmingham, Ala.

44. Wes Foss — SS, 6-1, 195, Jr. — Rome, Ga.

45. Bryan Buckner — RB, 6-0, 185, Fr. — Reno, Nev.

46. Bryan Thomas — DE, 6-4, 255, Jr. — Birmingham, Ala.

47. Rajohn Myles — DE, 6-1, 265, Sr. — Ashland, Ala.

48. Cody Flournoy — SS, 5-10, 180, So. — Smiths, Ala.

49. Eric Lampley — DE, 6-3, 235, Sr. — Douglasville, Ga.

50. Chad Ferraez — SN, 6-0, 230, Sr. — Columbus, Miss.

51. Starlin Ridley — LB, 6-0, 225, So. — Atlanta, Ga.

52. Adrian Abrams — LB, 6-1, 235, Jr. — Theodore, Ala.

53. Gaylon Black — LB, 6-1, 205, Fr. — Childersburg, Ala.

54. Barker White — OL, 6-4, 270, Fr. — Pensacola, Fla.

55. John Humphries — LB, 6-2, 247, Jr. — Montgomery, Ala.

56. Ryan Meeks — DE, 6-3, 235, Jr. — Evergreen, Ala.

57. Brad Spencer — OG, 6-5, 295, Jr. — Birmingham, Ala.

58. Tony Williams — DL, 6-2, 344, Fr. — Montgomery, Ala.

59. Nigel Eldridge — LB, 6-2, 217, Fr. — Montgomery, Ala.

60. Nick Hayes — PK, 6-1, 180, Fr. — Birmingham, Ala.

63. Aron Dickerson — OG, 6-3, 300, Jr. — Killen, Ala.

64. Kevin Ford — OG, 6-1, 305, Sr. — Vicksburg, Miss.

65. Preston Fray — OG, 6-5, 305, Jr. — Lithonia, Ga.

66. Brett Richards — C, 6-4, 285, Jr. — Buford, Ga.

67. Mark Pettus — SN, 6-2, 225, Fr. — Lineville, Ala.

68. Kirk Tuck — C, 6-1, 300, Jr. — Pelham, Ala.

69. Eddie LaFavour — OG, 6-4, 265, Fr. — Glencoe, Ala.

70. Tony Dollison — OT, 6-2, 285, Sr. — Starkville, Miss.

71. Tim Medders — OG, 6-3, 295, Sr. — Alabaster, Ala.

72. Andy Galloway — OG, 6-4, 280, Fr. — Dothan, Ala.

73. Shamar Abrams — DT, 6-2, 305, Fr. — Harpersville, Ala.

74. Ryan Estes — C, 6-3, 285, Fr. — Chino, Calif.

75. Kevin Grace — OT, 6-4, 295, Sr. — Meridian, Miss.

76. Josh Case — DT, 6-6, 295, Jr. — Pell City, Ala.

77. Artavious Williams — OT, 6-5, 340, Fr. — Montgomery, Ala.

78. Philip Gambrell — OT, 6-7, 290, So. — Florence, Ala.

79. James Orrick — OT, 6-5, 305, Sr. — Phil Campbell, Ala.

80. Drew Roberts — FL, 6-0, 190, So. — Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

81. Patrick Murrah — FL, 5-10, 170, Sr. — Birmingham, Ala.

82. Royd Williams — SE, 6-2, 205, Jr. — Birmingham, Ala.

83. Leron Little — SE, 6-6, 212, Jr. — Aliceville, Ala.

84. Johnni Arrington — TE, 6-5, 257, Sr. — Birmingham, Ala.

85. Shane Pearson — TE, 6-7, 250, Fr. — Athens, Ga.

86. Cory Nix — TE, 6-4, 255, Fr. — Woodstock, Ga.

87. Undrae Crosby — TE, 6-5, 270, Sr. — Millbrook, Ala.

88. Josh Holden — TE, 6-0, 245, Sr. — Florence, Ala.

89. Eddie Freeman — NG, 6-6, 285, Jr. — Mobile, Ala.

90. Marlon Bush — DT, 6-3, 275, Jr. — Athens, Ala.

91. Tanner Allen — DT, 6-5, 250, So. — New Albany, Miss.

92. Ross Stewart — P, 6-0, 180, So. — Blountsville, Ala.

93. Jeremiah Hendrix — DT, 6-5, 305, Fr. — Piedmont, Ala.

94. Wilbert Hamilton — DT, 6-4, 270, Fr. — Montgomery, Ala.

95. Rhett Gallego — PK, 6-0, 185, Jr. — Hueytown, Ala.

96. Hassan McKeithan — DE, 6-2, 265, So. — Marietta, Ga.

97. Kenneth Harris — DE, 6-3, 245, Fr. — Atlanta, Ga.

98. James Malone — DT, 6-3, 285, So. — Cedartown, Ga.

99. Will Morthland — PK, 5-8, 156, So. — Selma, Ala.

Sidebar: The flag — Wayne Champion's daughter made him a sign for the LSU game in 2000. Twenty-six years later, it's still here.

The 2000 UAB Season Series

Part 1: Setting the standard

Part 2: The Quest (you are here)

Part 3: Breakthrough on the Bayou