Jacob Zeno was not going to make the same mistake twice. Or errant throw for that matter.

A season ago, the now junior quarterback led the UAB football team down the field on the final drive against Florida Atlantic but came up short as his last four passes fell incomplete, the last of which was in Tejhaun Palmer’s grasp before being wrenched away at the last moment.

Not so much this time around.

After allowing four straight scoring drives and falling behind by a touchdown, Zeno slung a dart to a wide-open Palmer, who raced untouched to the end zone for a game-tying score and then directed the game-winning drive to lift the Blazers to a 45-42 victory over Florida Atlantic, Saturday, Nov. 4, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

UAB improves to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in AAC play and is still in play for bowl eligibility needing to win its last three games of the season.

“Proud of them, more proud of them in terms of the season,” UAB head coach Trent Dilfer said. “If you talk to all the 2-6 teams, I bet you most of the coaches are interviewing for other jobs and players are miserable. They’re not going to school, their grades are tanking, but that’s not been the case for us.”

“You would have thought we were 8-0 with how they came to work this week,” he added. “They were happy. They practiced really hard. We had fun. They’re starting to understand that the process, the journey itself, if you invest in it and you take it really seriously, good things happen. It’s a reflection of how they handle the season instead of just this game.”

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Rewinding UAB’s 45-42 comeback win over Florida Atlantic

Despite giving up 484 yards offense, UAB’s defense stepped up on the last two Florida Atlantic possessions after Zeno was sacked back-to-back to end a promising drive that had reached midfield.

The Owls were forced into a three-and-out on its penultimate drive of the game, setting up Palmer’s highlight reel touchdown from Zeno to tie the game with less than five minutes remaining.

“The defense didn’t roll over where they were supposed to,” Zeno said. “I knew, pre-snap, that I was going to have that for a touchdown.”

On Florida Atlantic’s final offensive possession, the Owls converted a third down up to their 40-yard line but came up shy on the next third down and punted back to the Blazers, who were aided by a late hit on Florida Atlantic after Mac McWilliams signaled for a fair catch.

Beginning at its own 25-yard line, UAB went to Jermaine Brown Jr. on the first two plays — an 11-yard run and 14-yard catch — and then a 12-yard pass from Zeno to Palmer set the Blazers up at the Florida Atlantic 33-yard line inside the final minute.

Facing a 3rd-and-6, Zeno found Palmer once more on a 20-yard rope to provide Matt Quinn adequate room to convert his game-winning 25-yard field goal attempt.

“Playing the quarterback position, you got to be level-headed at all times,” Zeno said. “If I throw a touchdown to T-Palm (Palmer) or if I throw a pick, I’ve got to stay level-headed. The biggest thing is keeping the guys around me calm and collected. We had to stay poised and not shoot ourselves in the foot. We did that and we executed.”

Brown finished with 69 yards rushing and four catches for 72 yards and his first receiving score, amassing 210 all-purpose yards, and moved into second place and is now 58 yards shy of setting the program record for career all-purpose yardage.

“He’s a catalyst for everything we do offensively, even the way we practice,” Dilfer said. “Getting him going and getting him touches. When your best player touches the ball and finishes play the way he finishes, it gives you a sense of confidence offensively.”

In the first half, Zeno was a man-possessed and looked no worse for wear after missing UAB’s loss to Memphis. He practiced the last two weeks in-full and finished the opening two frames going 17-for-19 passing for 289 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Zeno 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.

Leading by two scores to open the second half, linebacker Kendall Johnson picked off Florida Atlantic’s Daniel Richardson and returned the interception 26 yards to put the Blazers up 35-14 not even a minute into the third quarter.

“That was my first touchdown ever,” Johnson said. “It felt like the ball was falling just so slowly when I got it in my hands. I was thinking don’t fumble and make sure you get in the end zone.”

Although all the momentum resided with UAB following the defensive score, it quickly slipped away as the Owls scored on four consecutive drives — aided by two turnovers, a turnover on downs and a three-and-out from the UAB offense — to take their first lead of the game at 42-35 with 11:43 left in the game.

The Blazers gave up 248 yards and four scores in the second half but the final two defensive possessions were instrumental in allowing Zeno and Company to rally and complete the comeback.

“We are not a very consistent defense but we have made some plays defensively,” Dilfer said. “If that’s our method to winning next week, I’ll take that. But we got to get off blocks better, we got to identify receivers in the second level. There are a lot of things to get better at but I was proud of how they stepped up and made plays. Even after not playing great defense there for four series in a row.”