UAB manhandles Georgia Southern in 35-21 victory

In the words of Eminem, “back to reality”.

Georgia Southern was force fed a healthy portion of humble pie on Saturday, allowing UAB to run the ball at will and looking entirely inept on defense in a 35-21 loss to the Blazers.

UAB running back DeWayne McBride starred for the home team in this one, running for a whopping 223 yards and four touchdowns as the Eagles looked defeated in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

Blazers quarterback Dylan Hopkins did not have to do very much to pick up the win in this game, throwing for just 125 yards and a score as UAB was content to led McBride pick up chunks on the ground seemingly at will.

While the defense for Southern should have never gotten over its skis considering they have now allowed 77 points in the last two weeks combined, the Eagles offense took entirely too long to get started while the defense was getting gashed repeatedly by McBride.

GS signal-caller Kyle Vantrease turned in his first dud wearing navy blue, tossing 3 interceptions and completing less than 50 percent of his passes in the loss. The Eagles scored just 7 points in the first half, and the offense never seemed to get clicking as Vantrease repeatedly made bad decisions throwing the football.

The lone bright spot for the entire Southern team was running back Jalen White, who rushed for 116 yards on just 14 carries (8.3 yards per carry) and two scores. One of the aforementioned touchdowns was a long 71-yard scamper that saw White hit paydirt nearly untouched to pull the game within 7 with 9:54 remaining in regulation, 28-21.

With the touchdown run being the Eagles’ one chance to get back into the game, the defense once again folded like a cheap suit on the next few drives, as McBride cashed in his fourth TD of the day and Vantrease threw another boneheaded pick on the ensuing possession.

Whatever the defensive gameplan was for Southern in this one, it needs to be thrown in the garbage. Tie an anchor to it and drop it in Eagle Creek. Last week showed that Georgia Southern may need to score 35+ in every game in order to pick up wins, and this contest all but confirmed that to be true.