UAB Pulls Away From Samford in the Fourth Quarter
Take away one fumble return and this is a 33-7 game. Samford scored 14 points, and half of them came from a Jalen Nelson run of 95 yards with a UAB fumble, which is how a team gets to halftime ahead while being outplayed. UAB still won 33-14.
The lead changed hands four times. UAB opened with a 44-yard Jonah Delange field goal, Samford took it back on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Gabarri Johnson to Marquise Henderson, and EJ Reid ran 36 yards for a touchdown to put UAB up 10-7. Delange kicked another from 46 yards, and then Nelson's fumble return gave Samford a 14-13 lead with 3:36 left in the second quarter. Delange's third field goal, a 23-yarder in the third quarter, put UAB back ahead 16-14, and that was the margin entering the fourth.
Samford did not score again. Bam McReynolds ran in from 28 yards with 12:37 to play, Ryder Burton hit C.J. Smith for a 31-yard touchdown with 2:58 left, and Delange finished with a 26-yarder with 24 seconds to go. That was four field goals for him, which is a lot of work for a kicker on a day when his team also lost two fumbles. UAB ran 51 times for 248 yards and threw for just 152.
UAB is 3-2. The fantasy numbers are small, and they should be: the best scorer on the board, Smith, had 16.5 points on two catches. Burton threw for 139 yards on 8 of 18 and added 35 on the ground.