DALLAS – Conference USA Champion UAB has accepted an invitation to the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 26, at 11 a.m. CT. The Blazers will play South Carolina at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida and the game will air on ABC for the first time in the bowl’s 13-year history.
UAB (6-3) is appearing in its fourth-consecutive bowl game since returning to action in 2017. The Blazers are three-time defending C-USA West Division champions and just captured their second league title in the past three years with a 22-13 victory at Marshall on Friday. Since returning to the field in 2017, UAB has compiled the most wins of any team in Conference USA with 34 total victories.
UAB ranks second in Conference USA in rushing defense (137.9 yards per game), passing defense (173.2 yards per game) and total defense (311.2 yards per game). Senior DE Jordan Smith (4.5 sacks, 9.5 tackles for loss) and senior LB Kristopher Moll (59 tackles) headline the stars on that side of the ball. Senior RB Spencer Brown leads the Blazers offense. One of two active players with 4,000 career rushing yards (4,011), he is averaging 111.1 rushing yards per game this season with 889 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns in eight games.
The Gamecocks finished 2-8 this seas/on and lost their final six games of the regular season, but did notch victories over then No. 15 Auburn and Vanderbilt. Shane Beamer, the former assistant coach at Oklahoma, was named the new head coach of South Carolina on Dec. 6, 2020. Beamer was an assistant at South Carolina under Steve Spurrier from 2007-10 and won the SEC East Division title in 2010.
This will be the fourth all-time meeting between UAB and South Carolina and the first since 2012. The Gamecocks lead the overall series 3-0.
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