By Joshua Huff, sports editor
For those living in the Trussville area and fans of UAB, a familiar face will look to add to the Blazers’ woes in the upcoming New Orleans Bowl as a one-loss Appalachian State team led by former Hewitt-Trussville quarterback Zac Thomas will square off against a UAB team coming off a disappointing 49-6 loss to FAU in the C-USA championship game.
Thomas, who finished his career at Hewitt-Trussville with 3,675 passing yards and 25 touchdowns after going 267-for-437 in his three seasons as a starter, will return to the same field on Dec. 21 where he was named the 2018 New Orleans Bowl MVP after passing for three touchdowns in the 45-13 victory of Middle Tennessee State.
“We’re a really good football team,” Thomas told the
“You can see that, so it’s very rewarding to go out there and win another one, back-to-back.”Thomas, who is a junior and a two-year starter with the Mountaineers, had once considered transferring away from Hewitt-Trussville.
“I just felt like the program was in the same place every year. I didn’t know if this was the right place for me to allow me to reach my goals,” Thomas said. “Then athletic director Karen Johns had some conversations with me and told me they were going to bring in the right guy to turn things around. I give her a lot of credit for me staying and bringing in such a great choice in Coach Josh Floyd.”
The 2018 Sun Belt Player of the Year remained with the Huskies and went on to record 6,000 yards of total offense in 31 games played.
The Mountaineers are coming off their fourth consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship victory following a 45-38 win over Louisiana this past Saturday. In that game, Thomas threw for 149 yards with two touchdowns. On the season, Thomas has thrown for for 2,576 yards and 26 touchdowns.
Appalachian State will square off against a UAB team that jumped out to a 6-1 start this season before dropping two consecutive games on the road. The Blazers rebounded and won the Conference USA west division title in the final week of the season.
The New Orleans Bowl, which will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m., will be the second straight season in which the Mountaineers will take to the field will an interim coach as Elliott Drinkwitz has finalized a deal to become the new head coach at Missouri. Despite the turnover, Appalachian State has made five straight bowls, winning its first four. On the other hand, UAB is 1-2 in bowl games. The Blazers recorded their first win last season when they beat Northern Illinois, 37-13, in the Boca Raton Bowl.
This will be the first season in which a ranked team will play in the New Orleans Bowl – Appalachian State sits at No. 20 in the nation.
Appalachian State and UAB have never met.