Blazers torch Huskies to earn first bowl victory

TUESDAY’S BOCA RATON BOWL

ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM 37, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 13

BOCA RATON, Fla. — Two seasons after shutting down its football program, Alabama-Birmingham closed out this season on an electrifying note.

Tyler Johnston III threw for 373 yards and four touchdowns — three of them to Xavier Ubosi — and UAB beat Northern Illinois 37-13 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday night.

Ubosi had seven catches for 227 yards for the Conference USA champion Blazers (11-3), who got their first-ever bowl victory in three appearances.

UAB played in its second consecutive bowl since the

program was reinstated after a self-imposed hiatus.

“I guess in our wildest dreams we dreamed of winning a conference championship and then capping it off with a bowl win, so it’s really

that sweet,” UAB Coach Bill Clark said. “I don’t think it could have gone any better for us, so I’m very proud.”

Northern Illinois (8-6), the Mid-American Conference champion, has lost six consecutive bowl games since beating Arkansas State in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.

“We gave up three touchdowns on three deep balls,” Northern Illinois Coach Rod Carey said. “Old-fashioned go routes. Give those guys credit. They ran by us. They threw it, caught it. That’s the difference. If not, it’s 16-13. In the fourth quarter, I like our chances.

“We have to own it as coaches. We have to own it as players. We didn’t coach good enough. We didn’t play good enough. Thirteen points isn’t winning football. Bummer.”

Johnston, who took over the starting job for the injured A.J. Erdely at midseason, set career highs in passing yards and touchdown passes, and Ubosi’s 227 yards were the third-most receiving in a game in school history. Ubosi came into the game ranked second in the country at 21.8 yards per catch, and his TD receptions Tuesday covered 70, 46 and 66 yards.

“I’m surprised but at the same time you work for it,” Ubosi said. “Just practice hard and whatever you do in practice you’ll do in the game.”

All-American Spencer Brown, who entered with 1,167 rushing yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns, caught a 3-yard shovel pass for a score and had 78 yards on the ground. Alabama-Birmingham ...... 10 17 10 Northern Illinois ............... 7 3 3

First Quarter

UAB—Ubosi 70 pass from Ty.Johnston (Vogel kick), 14:42

UAB—FG Vogel 25, 8:08 NIL—Harbison 1 run (Gantz kick), :30

Second Quarter

UAB—S.Brown 3 pass from Ty.Johnston (Vogel kick), 12:08

NIL—FG Gantz 27, 7:41

UAB—Ubosi 46 pass from Ty.Johnston (Vogel kick), 5:11

UAB—FG Vogel 35, :00

Third Quarter

NIL—FG Gantz 21, 7:38

UAB—Ubosi 66 pass from Ty.Johnston (Vogel kick), 5:15

UAB—FG Vogel 42, :22

UAB NIL

First downs ................................... 19 21 Rushes-yards ............................ 36-103 44-102 Passing ......................................... 373 179 Comp-Att-Int ............................. 17-29-1 22-29-0

Return Yards ................................. 74 -1 Punts-Avg . ................................. 2-32.5 3-45.0 Fumbles-Lost ................................ 0-0 3-2 Penalties-Yards ............................ 9-73 5-30

Time of Possession .................... 28:08 31:52

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—UAB, S.Brown 25-78, Ty.Johnston 1028, Pollock 1-(minus 3). N. Illinois, Harbison 18-49, Childers 19-31, Huff 3-15, M.Jones 2-4, Wesley 1-2, D..Brown 1-1.

PASSING—UAB, Ty.Johnston 17-29-1-373. N. Illinois, Childers 22-29-0-179.

0 — 37 RECEIVING—UAB, Ubosi 7-227, Lisa 4-64, Wilson 0 — 13 2-43, Pittman 1-19, Carter 1-14, S.Brown 1-3, Street 1-3. N. Illinois, Tears 6-50, Wesley 5-34, Harmston 3-36, Co.Tucker 2-22, D..Brown 2-12, Nettles 2-10, Robinson 1-11, M.Jones 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.