Nov. 10, 2011

MEMPHIS, TENN. -

The Tigers will continue Conference USA action this week when they host the UAB Blazers on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. The game will be carried on CSS, which is available nationally through a cable provider.

Fans with a Memphis Tiger Vision subscription located in the following states (AR, KY, WV, NC, VA, TN, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS, LA and TX) will not be able to view the online streaming of the game on GoTigersGo.com due to contract stipulations for a televised broadcast by CSS. WREC AM 600 will carry the game on the radio with Dave Woloshin and Wayne Weedon providing the commentary in the booth, and Matt Dillon handling the sideline reports.

Saturday’s game, which is dubbed the Battle For The Bones for the BBQ contest and bronze rack of ribs trophy, is also Senior Day for 16 senior Tigers. Senior Day is typically the last home game, which will be against Marshall on Nov. 17, but because that game was moved to a Thursday night, UAB was selected to honor the seniors so that their parents would be able to come in for the weekend contest. The seniors will be honored in a pre-game ceremony beginning at approximately 2:50 p.m. The 16 seniors to be honored are: Michael Antonescu, Cam Baker, Dasmine Cathey, Lavaris Edwards, Andrew Ene-Ita, Billy Foster, Adam Johnson, Skylar Jones, Ronald Leary, D’Angelo McCray, Tannar Rehrer, Clint Rogers, Daniel Thomas, Terrence Thomas, Frank Trotter, Tommy Walker.

Fans are also encouraged to bring in food items for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee’s (SAAC) “SAAC Hunger” promotion. Collection bins will be at Gates 3 and 4 at the stadium.

For more fan information regarding Saturday’s game, please CLICK HERE and to purchase tickets, please CLICK HERE.

Saturday’s game is the 14th overall meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. The Blazers lead the series 9-4 and have won the last two encounters (31-21 in 2009; 31-15 in 2010). The Tigers’ last win in the series was a 33-30 victory in Birmingham in 2008. UAB holds a 4-2 series edge in games played at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The Blazers posted a 31-21 win in the last game played in the Bluff City in 2009. Memphis’ last home victory over UAB was a 25-9 win in the 2007 campaign.

Battle For The Bones History
The annual Conference USA football contest between Memphis and UAB was dubbed in 2006 as the “Battle For The Bones” game, and a 100-pound bronzed rack of ribs is up for grabs to the team that wins the game Saturday. The Battle for the Bones was developed by the student support groups of both teams - the U of M’s Blue Crew and UAB’s Gang Green. The game is also surrounded by a barbecue contest where fans are invited to sign up and have their grilling skills judged against fans from the other school to determine which city has the best barbecue.

Many Memphis-UAB Connections
Tiger Nation is going to recognize a couple of familiar faces on the UAB sideline today. Tyson Helton, Rick Mallory, John Wozniak and Tommy West — all of whom coached for the Tigers recently — will be wearing the Blazers’ Green and Gold when the teams meet at the Liberty Bowl. Helton is in his fifth season with the Blazers as the quarterbacks coach. He joined the UAB staff after serving as the Memphis special teams/tight ends coach from 2004-06. Mallory (offensive line coach), Wozniak (running backs) and West (defensive coordinator) began their assistant coaching stints with the Blazers this season. Mallory served as the Tigers’ offensive line coach from 2000-09; Wozniak was the Tigers’ special teams coordinator in 2009; and West was Memphis’ defensive coordinator (2000) and head coach (2001-09). Wozniak also worked with Coach Larry Porter in 2007 when LSU won the BCS National Championship.

Get The Halftime Lead
In the Memphis-UAB series, come-from-behind victories are rare. So, in other words, the team with the halftime lead typically wins the game. In 11 of the previous 13 meetings, the squad leading at the intermission went on to win the game. The two games in which a team came from behind to win were the 2000 and 2005 encounters. In 2000, UAB scored 10 fourth-quarter points for the victory, and in 2005, the Blazers pitched a 20-0 second-half shutout for the win.

Alabama Tigers
Seven players on the Memphis roster call Alabama home. They are Ricky Hunter, Blayze Jones, Tyler Marzette, Bobby McCain, Derek Smith, Terrence Thomas and Frank Trotter. In addition, Jones and Marzette both hail from Birmingham.

Up Next
After a busy month of October, with four of the five games on the road, the Tigers will close out their 2011 schedule with two of three games at home. Following the Battle for the Bones this weekend, the Tiger will host Marshall just five days later on Thursday, Nov. 17. The game was moved up to accommodate a televised broadcast by Fox Sports.

The Tigers end their season with a trip to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. That game, slated for Nov. 26, will be the final of eight televised games for Memphis this year as CSS will air the game with a 3 p.m. kick-off time.

Please see interviews below with senior defensive lineman Frank Trotter and senior receiver Cam Baker as they talk about facing UAB and their former coach Tommy West, as well as the team goal of "winning November."