By David Walsh
HUNTINGTON – Conference USA East Division winner Marshall University will face West Division champion University of Alabama-Birmingham in the Conference USA Championship Game at 7 p.m. this Friday at Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
CBS Sports Network will televise the game live at 7 p.m.
The Thundering Herd won the east division title (7-1, 4-1) despite its final game of the regular season against Charlotte Friday night being cancelled due to COVID-19 protocols. Marshall won the east division outright when Southern Miss defeated Florida Atlantic on Thursday.
UAB secured its third straight west division crown on Saturday with a 21-16 victory over Rice in Houston in a game it had to win to advance. A loss would have put UTSA in the title game.
UAB rallied with two touchdowns in the fourth period, both passing scores by quarterback Tyler Johnson, who finished with 217 yards through the air.
The UAB defense recorded five sacks, 12 tackles for loss, six pass breakups and picked off one pass.
Down 11 key players, traveling with just over 40 scholarship players and taking the field for the first time in 42 days, the Blazers withstood Rice’s last-second Hail Mary pass as Grayson Cash picked off the ball to secure the win.
UAB (5-3 3-1 C-USA) will look to win its second league crown in the past three years. Marshall has won the conference crown once, in 2014.
Johnston, in his first start since Sept. 10, completed 9-0f-18 passes to surpass 4,000 yards for his career. He’s fifth on the career yardage list with 4,177.
Complete title game details will be released Sunday by the league.
Marshall holds an 8-2 edge in the all-time series against UAB, including a 5-0 mark at Edwards Stadium. The teams last met in 2014 when the Herd recorded a 23-18 win at Legion Field in Birmingham, Ala., to move to 11-0 that season.
In 2013, the Herd rolled past the Blazers, 56-14, and rolled up 657 yards in total offense.