The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

https://www.al.com/uab/2021/08/he-wants-...ium=social

If you were to merge Jordan Howard, Spencer Brown and Darrin Reaves into one player, it would be Dewayne McBride.

Can't wait to see him get 20 carries a game.

(08-17-2021 09:27 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  If you were to merge Jordan Howard, Spencer Brown and Darrin Reaves into one player, it would be Dewayne McBride.

Can't wait to see him get 20 carries a game.

Agree. Would have been nice to learn more about him. I always enjoy getting his high school coach's perspective. I wonder how UAB discovered him and how much competition they had in recruiting him. Bunch of surface info in that story. I learned nothing.

(08-17-2021 09:39 AM)busch Wrote:  

(08-17-2021 09:27 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  If you were to merge Jordan Howard, Spencer Brown and Darrin Reaves into one player, it would be Dewayne McBride.

Can't wait to see him get 20 carries a game.

Agree. Would have been nice to learn more about him. I always enjoy getting his high school coach's perspective. I wonder how UAB discovered him and how much competition they had in recruiting him. Bunch of surface info in that story. I learned nothing.

That would require the part-time beat writer to take some actual initiative and for his company to care about its coverage, wouldn't it?

(08-17-2021 09:48 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  

(08-17-2021 09:39 AM)busch Wrote:  

(08-17-2021 09:27 AM)DuelingDragon Wrote:  If you were to merge Jordan Howard, Spencer Brown and Darrin Reaves into one player, it would be Dewayne McBride.

Can't wait to see him get 20 carries a game.

Agree. Would have been nice to learn more about him. I always enjoy getting his high school coach's perspective. I wonder how UAB discovered him and how much competition they had in recruiting him. Bunch of surface info in that story. I learned nothing.

That would require the part-time beat writer to take some actual initiative and for his company to care about its coverage, wouldn't it?

True

You know I appreciated Spencer Brown and the tremendous contribution he made to our program the past four seasons, but... I don't think we take any steps down with McBride carrying the ball compared to him. (Quite honestly, I have felt the same way about Lucious Stanley the past few years, and could never understand why he didn't get more carries. You'll never convince me that if he had gotten 20 carries a game, he wouldn't have run for a thousand yards the last two years.)

In fact, from what I saw from McBride last year, I think we are upgraded at that spot if he gets 20 carries a game--plus we have Stanley, little Brown and Witherspoon (not to mention Wooden and now Gates).

With an experienced offensive line, I expect a pretty dominant running game again this year. I would sure love for us to throw the ball a little more efficiently this season to keep defenses honest.

The one issue Brown always had was he lacked breakaway speed. He could get to the second level pretty quickly, but it always felt like a db or safety could chase him down if need be. He had a million other positives that made him a tremendous running back for us, and I am by no means trying to take away from what he did at UAB. I also think McBride could wind up being the better back for us though.

Spencer and Dewayne are very different backs. Spencer was exactly what this program needed from 2017-21. He could be counted on to get 3-4 yards when you really needed them, and it was rare for him to have a negative play if he got any blocking at all. His particular skills of reading blocks and exploding through contact really were a perfect fit what Bill was trying to build with the team's identity. Spencer made "UAB legit." He WAS that.

But McBride has toughness too, with an extra gear we haven't seen in a while. He has incredible feel and vision, too. I don't think he will approach Spencer's records but he's going to leave his own mark, and it's going to be big. And he's going to be a pro like Spencer and Jordan before him.

Spencer Brown was as tough as they come. He routinely ran the ball at UAB. He played hurt, and avoided injuries enough to be the all time rushing leader at UAB. He could still be playing this year. Without SB we would not have been as good. We shall see how McBride does as the main man. He has a long way to go to be listed with Reeves, Howard and Brown.
He can be great too. We have a heaping dose of expectations.