SportsDirect Inc. staff
Aug 30, 2014

Alabama-Birmingham 48, Troy 10: Jordan Howard rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns as the host Blazers snapped a three-game losing streak to their in-state rival.

D.J. Vinson added 106 rushing yards and a late touchdown and Cody Clements went 12-of-18 for 150 yards and two scores for Alabama-Birmingham (1-0). Kennard Backman caught the two touchdown passes and had three catches for 41 yards while Jamarcus Nelson had two catches for 65 yards.

Brandon Silvers went 16-of-23 for 153 yards for Troy (0-1), which was outgained 489-272. Brandon Burks rushed for 42 yards and Jordan Chunn ran for the Trojans' lone touchdown.

Troy scored on Chunn's one-yard run 89 seconds into the game but the Blazers answered with Howard's 2-yard run and Clements' 3-yard pass to Backman after a Trojans' fumble. Backman's second touchdown catch pushed the lead to 24-7 with 6:54 left in the first half before Troy's Ryan Kay hit a 47-yard field goal as time expired.

Troy couldn't score off two turnovers early in the second half and the Blazers went on to score 24 straight points. Howard scored on a 55-yard run, Clements added a 1-yard run in the third quarter and Vinson scored from 3 yards out in the fourth.