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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

UAB rolls past Northern Illinois for first bowl win

UAB wide receiver Xavier Ubosi  avoids a tackle by Northern Illinois safety Kyle Harrell  on his way to scoring one of three touchdowns during UAB’s 37-13 win in the Bota Raton Bowl on Tuesday. (Lynne Sladky / Associated Press)
Associated Press

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Two seasons after shutting down its football program, UAB closed out the year on an electrifying note.

Tyler Johnston III threw for 373 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Xavier Ubosi, and UAB beat Northern Illinois 37-13 in the Boca Raton Bowl on Tuesday night.

Ubosi had seven catches for 227 yards for the Conference USA champion Blazers (11-3), who got their first bowl victory in three appearances. UAB played in its second consecutive bowl since the program was reinstated after the self-imposed hiatus.

“I guess in our wildest dreams we dreamed of winning a conference championship and then cap it off with a bowl win, so it’s really that sweet,” UAB coach Bill Clark said. “I don’t think it could have gone any better for us, so I’m very proud.”

Northern Illinois (8-6), the Mid-American Conference champion, has lost six consecutive bowl games since beating Arkansas in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.

“It really comes down to three things. We gave up three touchdowns on three deep balls,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “Old-fashioned go routes. Give those guys credit. They ran by us. They threw it, caught it. That’s the difference. If not, it’s 16-13. In the fourth quarter, I like our chances.

Johnston, who took over the starting job for the injured A.J. Erdely at midseason, set career highs in passing yards and touchdown passes, and Ubosi’s 227 yards were the third-most receiving in a game in school history.

Ubosi came into the game ranked second in the country at 21.8 yards per catch, and his TD receptions covered 70, 46 and 66 yards.

“I’m surprised, but at the same time you work for it,” Ubosi said. “Just practice hard and whatever you do in practice you’ll do in the game.”

All-American Spencer Brown, who entered with 1,167 rushing yards and a school-record 16 touchdowns, caught a 3-yard shovel pass for a score and had 78 yards on the ground.

UAB’s 10th-ranked defense harassed Huskies quarterback Marcus Childers, sacking him five times and forcing two fumbles (one lost). Childers finished 22 of 29 for 179 yards and had 35 yards rushing on 18 carries.

Johnston hit Ubosi in stride for a 70-yard TD just 18 seconds after the opening kickoff.