The UAB football team is back in the win column after rallying for a 45-42 victory over Florida Atlantic, Saturday, Nov. 4, at Birmingham’s Protective Stadium.

Jacob Zeno returned to the lineup with fury and finished 29-of-35 for a career-high 484 yards and five touchdowns. He gave up a fumble and interception and was sacked three times in the second half.

Jermaine Brown Jr. finished with 210 all-purpose yards, moving into second place on UAB’s career all-purpose ranks, and led the rushing effort with 22 carries for 69 yards while hauling in four receptions for 72 yards and his first receiving touchdown.

Tejhaun Palmer led all receivers with a career-high nine catches for 179 yards and a touchdown, and true freshman Amare Thomas had six receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown. TJ Jones finished with two receptions for 93 yards and a score and Malachi Holt-Bennett had a 37-yard touchdown reception for the first score of his UAB career.

True freshman linebacker Everett Roussaw led the defense with a career-high 10 tackles, followed by Michael Moore with nine tackles and a sack. Michael Fairbanks II finished with three tackles and two sacks and Kendall Johnson had a 26-yard interception return for a touchdown.

Like Riding a Bike

UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno suffered a concussion three weeks ago at UTSA and cleared protocol on the morning of the Memphis contest. He did not take part in practice that week but had two weeks to prepare for the Owls and the junior signal-caller was no worse for wear in his return.

Zeno finished the first half against FAU going 17-for-19 passing for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, and did not take a sack. He had short passes to Jermaine Brown Jr. and TJ Jones that resulted in long touchdown plays – Brown taking a tunnel screen 46 yards for a score and Jones taking a jet sweep 72 yards to the house – and showcased his downfield accuracy with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Holt-Bennett. Zeno also displayed touch to his passes on a 13-yard toss to true freshman Amare Thomas, who high-pointed the ball in the middle of the end zone.

For the entire game, Zeno was 4-of-8 for 42 yards on third down, converting four, and all five of his touchdown passes came on second down. He completed passes to 11 different receivers and 18 first downs, along with averaging 16.6 yards per completion. However, Zeno also took three sacks and gave up two turnovers in the final 30 minutes of action.

Second-half Implosion and Last-Minute Rally

The Blazers held a 28-14 lead coming out of the halftime break and extended the advantage to three scores on the first possession of the second half with linebacker Kendall Johnson picking off Florida Atlantic’s Daniel Richardson and returning 26 yards for UAB’s first defensive score of the season.

Unfortunately, the Blazers gave up 28 straight points following the defensive touchdown and found themselves staring down a 42-25 deficit with 11:43 remaining in the game. UAB allowed 248 second-half yards – Florida Atlantic receiver LaJohntay Wester taking the Blazers to task on 11 receptions for 219 yards and four total touchdowns — and gave up possession on a three-and-out, a turnover on downs and two turnovers from Jacob Zeno.

Despite all of that, UAB stepped up on its final two defensive possessions and held Florida Atlantic to 31 yards on nine plays. Jacob Zeno connected with Tejhaun Palmer for a 70-yard touchdown strike to tie the game at 42-all with 4:20 remaining and led the game-winning drive that was capped with Matt Quinn’s 26-yard field goal with three seconds left in the game.

In all, UAB’s defense gave up 484 yards of offense but forced two three-and-outs and a 3-for-12 performance on third-down conversions while collecting five tackles for loss and four sacks.

Brown Moving Up the Ranks

Jermaine Brown Jr. entered the Florida Atlantic matchup 268 yards shy of setting UAB’s all-purpose yards record and is now 58 yards away after amassing 210 all-purpose yards against the Owls. He finished with 141 yards combined, rushing and receiving, and scored his first career receiving touchdown on a 46-yard shuttle screen at the end of the first quarter.

The senior running back now sits at second place in all-purpose yardage for the program (4,612 yards) and is 20 yards shy of passing Joe Webb for fourth place in career rushing yards. His most prominent contribution to UAB’s win over the Owls was an 11-yard run to open the final drive and a 14-yard reception to move the Blazers across midfield on the next play.

For the season, Brown has 479 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and 30 receptions for 342 yards and a score, combining for 821 yards on 135 touches for an average of six yards per play. He also has 314 yards on kick returns this season for a total of 1,135 all-purpose yards.