2012 FOOTBALL Important Dates in UAB Football Dec. 9: Senior center Johnny Rea is named First-Team Academic All-American by GTE and CoSIDA, becoming the first football player and just the fifth student-athlete from UAB to earn the honor; he is also the first to earn first-team recognition at UAB. 1998 Jan. 5: A revised 1998 schedule is released which includes a Nov. 7 trip to Knoxville, Tenn., to take on the Tennessee Volunteers, the 1997 Southeastern Conference champions. April 18: Senior cornerback Dainon Sidney becomes the first UAB player ever selected in the National Football League draft when he is chosen in the third round, with the 79th pick overall, by the Tennessee Oilers. A day later, senior safety Izell Reese would be drafted in the sixth round by the Dallas Cowboys, and senior wide receiver Kevin Drake would sign a free-agent contract with the Arizona Cardinals. Sept. 26: UAB plays its first-ever overtime game with a fourovertime contest against the Kansas Jayhawks. Nov. 14, 1996: Conference USA commissioner Mike Slive announces that UAB will become a football-playing member of the league for the 1999 season.
1996 Aug. 31: A little less than two years after the game was announced, the Blazers make their Division I-A debut before a crowd of more than 80,000 at Jordan-Hare Stadium when UAB takes on the 16thranked Auburn Tigers. The Blazers trail just 9-0 at halftime and hold Auburn without a touchdown until the fourth quarter; Auburn wins, 29-0, but UAB has officially moved to Division I-A. Sept. 14: UAB plays its 1996 season home opener and its first game at Legion Field, against Arkansas State, both as a Division I-A team and against a Division I-A opponent. The Blazers lead 14-10 and 21-10 after three quarters en route to a 42-17 win; UAB becomes the first of the four teams that moved to Division I-A in 1996 to post a victory over a I-A opponent. Nov. 14: Months of speculation and discussion come to an end with an afternoon press conference. Conference USA Commissioner Mike Slive announces that the league presidents have voted to admit UAB as a football-playing member of the conference beginning with the 1999 season. The league stands at eight members at that point (the six original participants plus East Carolina to join in 1997); an announcement comes a few weeks later that Army will join in 1998.
1999 Sept. 25: The Blazers make their Conference USA debut vs. Houston at Legion Field. UAB emerges with a 29-10 victory and serves notice that the newest member of the league is indeed competitive. Nov. 6: UAB upsets #17 East Carolina 36-17 at Legion Field; it is the Blazers’ first victory over a nationally-ranked team and sets the stage for UAB to claim a share of second place in Conference USA. Nov. 20: Jake Arians’ field goal in overtime gives UAB a 23-20 win at Tulane and clinches a tie for second place in C-USA. Dec.: Rodregis Brooks is named C-USA Special Teams Player of The Year and receives Second-Team All-America honors from the Associated Press. 2000 Sept. 23: UAB upsets LSU 13-10 on Homecoming in Baton Rouge. Daniel Dixon comes off the bench to throw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Leron Little, Rhett Gallego hits two field goals, including a 32-yarder as time expires to clinch the victory. The Blazer defense makes it a very long evening for Tiger quarterback Josh Booty, who throws four interceptions, including one by Chris Brown that sets up Gallego’s winning kick in the final seconds.
1997 June 24: The Bowl Alliance announces that Conference USA and the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) have been added to the alliance; a team from either league that ranks sixth or higher in the bowl-coalition poll is now eligible to participate in the alliance.
Oct. 28: The Blazers make it two wins in a row over East Carolina with a 16-13 win in Greenville. Once again the UAB defense makes it a miserable day for ECU quarterback David Garrard, and once again Rhett Gallego comes through with a game-winning field goal. With the sixth win, the Blazers are “bowl eligible” for the first time in school history.
July 27: UAB announces its 1998 football schedule, which includes opening the season against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. The Huskers would finish the 1997 season with a 13-0 record and win the national championship.
2001 Sept. 22: In their first game since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Blazers hosted Army in Legion Field. UAB posts its highest point total in 55 games in defeating the Black Knights by a 55-3 score. The
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