Iverson Hooks and the Greatest WR Performances in UAB History
Where does Hooks' 172-yard, three-touchdown day rank in UAB's pantheon of single-game receiving performances?
There is little to say about what Iverson Hooks did against Memphis that hasn’t already been said.
With 172, the redshirt sophomore set UAB’s single-game FBS records for receiving yards against a ranked opponent and receiving yards by an underclassman. His 11 catches are tied for fifth-most in a single game in program history. For his efforts, Hooks was named the American Conference Offensive Player of the Week and was lauded on on ESPN.
Considering the stakes, the quality of opponent, and his age, Hooks’ performance is one of the greatest in the history of UAB football. But how does it stack up against the best days of legends like Roddy White, Derrick Ingram, and J.J. Nelson? Going by receiving yards, let’s take a look at the top wide receiver statlines in program history, first touching on some honorable mentions.
HM: Roddy White, 171, 10/11/03 vs. Cincinnati
In Cincinnati’s second-to-last season in Conference USA (and its last before it began its march to prominence under Mark Dantonio), UAB quarterback Darrell Hackney and wide receiver Roddy White left the Bearcats a parting gift. On a dreary Saturday afternoon at Legion Field, the Blazers’ battery torched the visiting secondary as White accumulated 171 yards on just four catches. The future Falcons star, a fixture on this list, caught touchdown passes of 56 and 95 yards.
HM: Iverson Hooks, 172, 10/18/25 vs. Memphis
Long after Hooks leaves Birmingham, his contested touchdown catch over former UAB safety Chris Bracy will be the lasting image from Saturday’s upset win.
HM: Roddy White, 177, 09/25/04 vs. Memphis
Another dominant effort against Memphis, this performance came during an era where UAB regularly defeated the Tigers. In 2004, the Blazers, fielding perhaps their best pre-Clark team, extended their winning streak against Memphis to five en route to securing their first-ever bowl bid. Running back Corey White (no relation) scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds left, but Roddy’s 177 yards and three touchdowns carried UAB to victory.
HM: Tejhaun Palmer, 179, 11/04/23 vs. FAU
This was the historic afternoon during which Jacob Zeno set the program’s FBS record for passing yards in a game, finishing 29-35 with 484 yards and five touchdown passes. Jermaine Brown and Palmer, who racked up nine catches for 179 yards, served as Zeno’s security blankets; with 4:20 left in the fourth quarter, the latter broke free for a game-tying touchdown. A Matt Quinn field goal eventually secured UAB the win.
HM: Trea Shropshire, 180, 12/18/20 at Marshall
The honorable mention status of this entry undersells the role Trea Shropshire played in capturing the Blazers’ second conference championship. Much of the 2020 Conference USA title game was a physical, low-scoring defensive showdown; the Green and Gold led 9-0 at the half, but Marshall reclaimed the momentum with a third-quarter fumble recovery. The Blazers were only able to break away thanks to the efforts of Shropshire, who entered the evening with just 130 receiving yards all year but accumulated 180 in the game alone. A dagger touchdown with 4:03 left in the fourth quarter is one of the most memorable plays of both Shropshire’s career and the Clark era.
HM: Trea Shropshire, 183, 12/16/22 vs. Miami
Two years after his performance at Marshall, Shropshire had matured into UAB’s leading wideout and one of the most dangerous deep threats in program history. He proved it in his final college game, torching Miami (OH) to the tune of 183 receiving yards and a touchdown on six catches. Shropshire tied the Bahamas Bowl record for receiving yards and hauled in three passes of 45-plus yards to ensure the Blazers emerged victorious from a wild game.
HM: Austin Watkins, 183, 9/24/20 at USA
No Tyler Johnston III, no problem. The absence of the Blazers’ injured starting quarterback didn’t bother Austin Watkins, owner of hands so steady he eventually parlayed them into an NFL stint. As was customary for the senior, he came down with all of his targets but one. The first play of the game saw backup Bryson Lucero hit Watkins for 56 yards on a play-action pass; their connection only grew stronger as the evening progressed, with Watkins later posterizing a South Alabama defender in the corner of the end zone to put UAB up 35-10.
HM: Reggie Lindsey, 184, 10/08/05 vs. SMU
October 8th, 2005 is a day few Blazers look back on fondly. A 3-1 UAB squad, having suffered no setbacks but a one-possession loss to Tennessee, all but had a mediocre SMU team beat. In the first quarter, Darrell Hackney tossed an 89-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Lindsey before later finding him for a 50-yard strike. UAB clung to its advantage until the end of the game, when it led 27-22 with 22 seconds remaining… and lost. Despite Lindsey’s heroic effort, SMU wide receiver Bobby Chase hauled in a 31-yard heave with no time on the clock, sending Legion Field’s homecoming crowd into a state of stunned silence.
10. Derrick Ingram, 186, 9/17/94 vs. Jax State
The first receiver in our proper top ten is Derrick Ingram, perhaps the most potent offensive weapon in UAB’s FCS history. There were doubts that the 5’11” Dallas County native could cut it at the Division I level, but Ingram proved doubters wrong in 1993 when he turned in a second-team All-American season. He continued his hot streak at the beginning of the 1994 campaign as he hauled in 21 receptions for 311 yards over three games. One of these contests was a loss to Jacksonville State in which Ingram provided most of the Blazers’ scoring pop, taking a pass 95 yards for a first-half touchdown that gave UAB a short-lived halftime lead.
9. Kevin Drake, 187, 11/15/97 vs. Tennessee Tech
The greatest game of Kevin Drake’s career was perhaps the least interesting of any on this list. The Birmingham Post-Herald described UAB’s “workmanlike” 38-14 win over FCS Tennessee Tech as “drudgery,” contested on a “cold, dreary day before fewer than 5,000 people.” For most of the afternoon, the 3-6 Blazers played unmotivated football in a game that had neither stakes or an audience. The only bright spot was Drake, a converted quarterback, who turned in one of the most prolific halves in UAB football history. In the game’s first 30 minutes, he hauled in six receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, a second-half shoulder injury robbed Drake of a chance to break the 200-yard threshold.
8. Trea Shropshire, 193, 10/08/22 vs. MTSU
Before Saturday’s win over Memphis, the most impressive game UAB had played in Protective Stadium was arguably its 2022 demolition of Middle Tennessee. Although the campaign was a frustrating one that saw the Blazers suffer five one-possession losses after being projected a conference title contender, the Green and Gold lived up to its promise for one October afternoon, dropping 38 points on the Blue Raiders before halftime. Like Drake, Shropshire did all of his damage in the first 30 minutes, racking up six catches for 193 yards and one 68-yard touchdown.
7. Derrick Ingram, 194, 11/6/93 at Butler
For many years, the 1993 UAB football team stood as the program’s winningest of all time, finishing the year with a sparkling record of 9-2. One of the reasons for the Blazers’ success was their ability to adapt to their circumstances and find ways to achieve victory when their preferred path was blocked off. No game made that more evident than UAB’s November contest against Butler, during which the Green and Gold rushed for a mind-blowing seven yards on 18 carries. No matter; Ingram, a one-man offense, grabbed nine catches for 194 yards and powered UAB to a stunning 13-point comeback, then a school record.
6. Xavier Ubosi, 196, 10/13/18 at Rice
The first appearance of Xavier Ubosi, the premier deep threat of the early Return era. The California native turned in a productive but not spectacular 2017 campaign; in 2018, however, he led the entire FBS in yards per reception with 23.9. Ubosi introduced himself to the nation during UAB’s 42-0 October victory over Rice as he went for 196 yards and two touchdowns on just four receptions, posting a whopping 49.0 yards per catch. The latter mark remains UAB’s FBS record for single-game YPC among players that hauled in three or more receptions. Ubosi’s most memorable moment of the day, of course, was his 95-yard bomb that broke the game open in the Blazers’ favor.
5. J.J. Nelson, 199, 08/31/13 at Troy
J.J. Nelson’s 2013 effort against Troy bears many similarities to Reggie Lindsey’s above effort against SMU: both performances were turned in by fantastic all-around players, and both performances were erased by a heartbreaking loss. Like Lindsey, Nelson was a dangerous returner — the greatest in school history, in fact — but he wasn’t just a special teams threat, although he did take a kickoff 97 yards to the house in this game. Nelson also grabbed ten catches for 199 yards and two touchdowns, including one that gave his squad a late 14-point advantage. Alas, UAB blew that lead in the fourth quarter; it would go on to post a miserable 2-10 record that got Garrick McGee fired.
4. Patrick Hearn, 201, 11/24/12 at UCF
Patrick Hearn was a productive contributor across his four years on the Southside, starting 29 games; by the end of his career, Hearn ranked in the program’s all-time top ten in receptions (110) and receiving yards (1,551). However, Hearn was usually the second or third option and rarely The Guy, eclipsing 100 single-game yards just thrice. The most notable of those occasions was an otherwise-forgettable November loss to UCF in which some players had long since checked out of an uninspiring 3-9 campaign. Not Hearn, who not only broke the 100-yard threshold but broke the 200-yard threshold, taking a second-quarter pass 76 yards into the end zone.
3. Xavier Ubosi, 227, 12/18/18 vs. NIU
By December 2018, UAB football had accomplished nearly everything it had set out to achieve after the Return. Winning season, check. Division title, check. Ten-win season, check. Conference championship, check. Bowl berth, check. New stadium in the works, check. After Ohio thrashed the Blazers in the 2017 Bahamas Bowl, the only thing left on the list was a bowl win. That’s why Ubosi’s 227-yard, three-touchdown Boca Raton Bowl explosion is so memorable: from the first play of the game, when Ubosi scored on a 70-yard go route, it was apparent the wide receiver wasn’t going to let the Blazers go home with anything short of a trophy.
2. Roddy White, 253, 10/23/04 at Tulane
Like in many cases we’ve discussed today, White’s 2004 showing against Tulane was overshadowed by an incredible football game that ultimately went the way of UAB’s opponent. Entering the afternoon, the Blazers were 5-1 to Tulane’s 1-4 and were 18-point favorites as visitors to New Orleans; nevertheless, UAB managed to drop its third straight to the Green Wave despite putting up nearly 650 yards of offense and leading by three points with under two minutes left in the contest. Blazer defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt apologized to fans after the game, and The Birmingham News called UAB’s special teams performance “schizophrenic.”
In spite of the defeat, White’s performance can only be described as his magnum opus — 253 yards and a touchdown on ten receptions (seven yards off of what was then the Conference USA record). He made catch after catch on the day, converting a fourth and 13 that allowed UAB to jump ahead 55-52 in crunch time; unfortunately, Tulane responded.
1. Derrick Ingram, 289, 11/19/94 at PVAMU
Here we have it — the closest a UAB receiver has ever gotten to breaking 300 yards. Just over two months after rewriting the record books against Jacksonville State, Ingram did so again against one of the worst teams of all time, a Prairie View A&M squad in the midst of the longest losing streak in college football history. The Blazers certainly took advantage of their opponents’ weakness, describing their 48-6 smashing of the Panthers as though it was a flag football game.
“It was fun…” UAB quarterback John Whitcomb, who threw for 539 yards and six touchdowns, said. “The offensive line had probably the best game I’ve ever seen. I just set back and looked for the receivers.”
The primary beneficiary of Whitcomb’s unlimited time in the pocket, Ingram was unstoppable, posting 12 receptions for 289 yards and four touchdowns. After the victory, USA Today named both Whitcomb and Ingram its nationwide co-offensive players of the week.