Boca Raton Bowl 2018: 3 takeaways from UAB win over Northern Illinois

After quite the adventure the last few years, the UAB Blazers got their very first bowl win in the Boca Raton Bowl over Northern Illinois.

This was a game that quite a few people were excited about due to all of the excitement surrounding a UAB program that was shut down just a few seasons ago. Now, they were looking for their first bowl win in program history and they got it in style with a 37-13 win against the defensive power house that is NIU.

Behind a strong performance from both the Blazers offense and defense- UAB cruised to a victory in this one. It seemed that every time NIU put something together, UAB had the answer to stop it. What did we learn in this one about two Group of Five teams that were slugging it out from start to finish down in Florida?

3. Northern Illinois got in its own way

Northern Illinois has been one of the better defenses this season and as a result, it found itself facing off against a UAB team that was looking to lock up an 11-win season so quickly after the reinstatement of their program.

However, that strong defense wasn’t enough to get a win in this one.

With two turnovers, five sacks and multiple bad reads, Northern Illinois couldn’t get out of its own way long enough to put together a winning effort.

While many of those Huskies, especially on the defensive front, will be making their way into the NFL draft, they won’t be in the winners circle for the Boca Raton Bowl this season.