Young UAB football program is still creating tradition

The state of Alabama is known for great college football.

Be it the Crimson Tide’s 12… The state of Alabama is known for great college football.

Be it the Crimson Tide’s 12 national championships or the cry of “War Eagle” on an Auburn kickoff, Alabama’s institutions of higher learning have fostered some of the richest traditions in college sport.

And while the University of Alabama-Birmingham doesn’t have as storied a football legacy as its cross-state rivals, it continues to attempt to forge a tradition of its own.

The UAB football program officially began on March 13, 1991, when athletics director Gene Bartow announced the Blazers would play NCAA Division III football in the fall. Dr. Jim Hilyer, who had previously been the coach of the school’s club football team, was named head football coach.

UAB’s first NCAA-sanctioned football game came Sept. 7, 1991, in a 28-0 loss at Milsaps College. But it didn’t take long for the Blazers to get on the winning track. On Sept. 21, the Blazers went on the road to defeat Washington ‘ Lee 34-21 in Lexington, Va., scoring their first victory in intercollegiate competition. UAB went on to finish its inaugural season with a 4-3-2 record.

The Blazers’ most successful season under Hilyer came two years later, in their first season of Division I-AA play. On Nov. 19, 1993, UAB capped off an eight game winning streak by gaining 449 passing yards in a 58-6 victory over Prairie View A’M. The winning streak remains the longest in UAB history, and a 9-2 record earned the Blazers a trip to the Division I-AA playoffs.

Following the 1994 season, Hilyer announced his resignation as head coach of the football program in order to take a position as an assistant athletics director for UAB. During his four-year tenure as head coach of the Blazers, Hilyer never had a losing season and posted a 27-12-2 record.

The Blazers quickly found a replacement for Hilyer in Watson Brown, a former head coach at Vanderbilt and offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. On the heels of Hilyer’s arrival, Bartow announced that the Blazers had officially been approved to play Division I-A football in 1996.

Transition to Division I-A proved to be an adjustment for the Blazers, as they went 5-6 in their first three years under Brown’s leadership. A major turning point came for the program in 1999, when they were admitted into Conference USA. On Nov. 6 of that year, the Blazers upset No. 17 East Carolina 36-17 to earn their first victory over a nationally ranked team in school history.

In 2000, the Blazers went 7-4 for their first winning season as a Division I-A squad. Highlighting the season was a 13-10 upset of the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge. The shocking victory proved to be the biggest win in UAB history, and showed the country Blazer football had arrived on the national scene.

As their football program has grown, the Blazers have had their share of individual success stories as well. In 1994, UAB wide receiver Derrick Ingram became the first and only Blazer to earn Associated Press First-Team All-America honors. And on April 20, 2002, UAB defensive end Bryan Thomas became the first Blazer to be selected in the first round of the National Football League Draft, going 22nd overall to the New York Jets.

The only previous meeting between UAB and Pitt came in December at Heinz Field. Pitt defeated the Blazers 24-6 to improve its record to 6-5 and earn a trip to the 2002 Visit Florida Tangerine Bowl. UAB finished 6-5 as well, but for the second consecutive year, the Blazers were not invited to play in a bowl game despite a winning record.

Pitt’s Sept. 14 trip to Legion Field will mark the first time that the Panthers will play a game in the state of Alabama.