UAB Football: Blazers Set To Take Field For First Time In 42 Days

BIRMINGHAM, AL — UAB fans wondering if the Blazers will ever get to play another football game this season will be pleased to know that the team still plans to play Rice in the regular season finale Saturday.

UAB has not played a football game in more than a month. By the time the Rice game kicks off, 42 days will have passed since the last time the Blazers took the field. However, COVID-19 has ravaged the team, and coach Bill Clark will head to Houston with a depleted roster.

"It has been a crazy season and last few weeks," Clark said. "I think the last time I spoke, we were getting ready for Middle Tennessee. We were super excited, but that game got canceled and now it has been trying to get this Rice game in. There have been a lot of things that have happened since the game got canceled. Toward the end of the week, we had some positive COVID cases. With contact tracing, it ended up knocking out about 25 of our guys."

Clark said he asked the conference if UAB could move its Saturday game to later in the week to try to get a few guys back. "We understand that the conference championship is on Friday and they just said that they could not move it," Clark said. "It is what it is. We will be going in to Rice without some players. That is the world we all live in now. Our team is ready to go and play."

A win against Rice would make UAB the first team in league history to claim a C-USA divisional title for a third consecutive season. UAB is back-to-back divisional champs and became the first road team to win the C-USA title in 2018 with a 27-25 victory at Middle Tennessee.

UAB's game against Rice kicks off at 12 noon and can be viewed on ESPN3.