He's been able to do it all. He's been able to capture the attention of a city, guide The University of Memphis football team to two straight bowl games and rewrite the record books. However, there is something running back DeAngelo Williams will never be able to say he did. And that is beat UAB.
The Blazers (4-4 overall, 2-3 in Conference USA) extended their winning streak over Memphis to six games with a 37-20 win over The U of M (4-4, 3-3) Tuesday night in front of 47, 669 fans.
Darrell Hackney excelled in the Blazers' passing game, despite early drops by receivers. Hackney threw for 334 yards on 25 of 42 passing with four touchdowns and one interception.
Hackney's ability to gain yards through the air allowed UAB running back Corey White to run anywhere he pleased. White gained 200 yards on 28 carries.
When asked if he felt like UAB should beat Memphis, Hackney responded, "I feel like we do."
That confidence was present throughout the game.
"We felt like it was our game in the first half," he said.
Memphis' offense started the game with a momentum producing drive that ended with a 26-yard touchdown catch from Maurice Jones, who leaped over a defender at the goal line to put the Tigers a touchdown ahead.
Riding that momentum, Memphis took a 17-3 lead and appeared to have a chance to beat UAB for the first time since 1999. However, momentum shifted when the Blazers cut the lead to seven on an eight-yard pass to Norris Drinkard. On the ensuing Memphis possession, the Blazers forced the game's first three-and-out on the Memphis 31-yard line.
A touchdown catch from Jhun Cook of UAB and a field goal by Memphis' place-kicker Stephen Gostkowski finished the scoring in the first half with the Tigers ahead 20-17.
That field goal by Gostkowski would prove to be Memphis' last addition to the scoreboard.
"We got beat at our own game in the second half," said head coach Tommy West.
West said he saw the change when UAB took the opening drive of the second half and scored a touchdown then stopped Memphis on their first drive of the half just three plays later. That initial second half drive went 74 yards in 11 plays and consumed more than five minutes off the clock.
White accounted for 49 yards of the drive and eight of the plays.
It was the start of a 92-yard quarter for White, who led the Blazers to 16 third-quarter first downs, two more than the team had in the entire first half.
Memphis couldn't put a scoring drive together, as penalties cut short any spurt of offense they could muster.
For the sixth try in as many years the Tigers couldn't exorcise the UAB demons, and Maurice Jones knows what a win would have meant to the upperclassmen.
"They just wanted this game so bad, and I feel sorry we couldn't pull it out for them," said the freshman wide receiver.
