BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Quarterback Jacob Zeno set a school record with 38 pass completions to lead the UAB football team past North Carolina A&T 35-6 on Thursday night at Protective Stadium.
Zeno was 38-of-41 overall for 291 yards and three touchdowns. He surpassed the previous record of 33 completions held by John Whitcomb set back in 1994. The three touchdown passes were also a career high.
Zeno’s completion percentage of 92.7 percent was also the fourth highest completion percentage in American Athletic Conference history.
The victory was also the first for Head Coach Trent Dilfer and UAB has now won eight straight season openers.
Defensively, UAB held North Carolina A&T to just 163 yards of total offense and just 16 total passing yards. Linebacker Jackson Bratton led the charge with a career-high 12 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble. Overall, UAB had six sacks and nine TFL.
UAB (1-0) won the toss, elected to receive, and marched straight down the field on 13 plays to score a touchdown on its first possession of the season. Jermaine Brown Jr. capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run to give UAB the early lead.
The Aggies converted a 37-yard field goal on their first possession, but the Blazer surged ahead with another touchdown run from Brown Jr., this time a 4-yard score, to give the Blazers a 14-3 lead at the 12:07 mark of the second quarter. For Brown, it was his 20th career rushing touchdown.
UAB was unable to score on its third possession, but the Blazers turned right back around and scored on their fourth possession with :25 second left for a commanding 21-3 halftime lead. The touchdown was an incredible throw and catch from Zeno to Tejhaun Palmer in the corner of the end zone.
Zeno was 18-of-19 in the first half for 129 yards and a touchdown.
A 34-yard touchdown pass to T.J. Jones late in the third and a 4-yard pass to Iverson “Strap” Hooks in the fourth capped the scoring for UAB as they cruised to the 29-point victory.
Zeno found 13 different receivers throughout the evening with five players sharing a game-high four catches and nine players having at least three.
The Blazers now hit the road for a Week 2 contest at Georgia Southern next Saturday, Sept. 9, in Statesboro.
For more information on the UAB Football team, be sure to follow @UAB_FB on Twitter and Instagram.
