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FACTS & STATS: Site: Kyle Field (83,002) -- College Station, Texas. Television: None. Home Record: UAB 1-1, Texas A&M 2-0. Away Record: UAB 0-1, Texas A&M 0-0. Neutral Record: UAB 0-0, Texas A&M 0-0. Conference Record: UAB 1-1, Texas A&M 0-0. Series Record: First-ever meeting.

GAME NOTES: The Texas A&M Aggies will try to remain unbeaten as they welcome the UAB Blazers to Kyle Field in College Station for a non-conference showdown.

Texas A&M has opened its season with victories over New Mexico (41-6) and Utah State (38-30), with a bye week sandwiched in between. This weekend's contest is the third of three straight home games to start the season for A&M. The Aggies will play three of their next four games on the road.

UAB, on the other hand, is coming off back-to-back losses after opening the season with an impressive win over Rice to start the season. The Blazers got off to another brutally slow start last weekend at Troy, and the result was a disappointing 27-14 setback to a school from the Sun Belt Conference. Head coach Neil Callaway was blunt in his assessment of the offense, saying guys are simply out of sync right now.

This marks the first-ever meeting between UAB and Texas A&M on the gridiron.

While the offense was sputtering, the UAB defense didn't exactly hold down the fort. In fact, the Blazers allowed Troy to pile up 25 first downs and 551 yards of total offense. Trojan quarterback Levi Brown had his way with the UAB secondary, throwing for 413 yards and two TDs. He completed passes to 10 different receivers and finished 24-of-32. After three games, it's safe to say the Blazers' pass defense is a major concern. They rank 118th in the nation in that department, allowing 334 passing yards per game. It all starts with the defensive line. The front four simply hasn't been able to pressure the quarterback with any consistency, and opposing QBs have used the extra time in the pocket to really pick apart the Trojans' secondary.

Behind quarterback Jerrod Johnson, the Aggies were able to move the ball and generate points fairly consistently against Utah State last Saturday. Johnson threw for 322 yards and four touchdowns, three of which went to emerging freshman Uzoma Nwachukwu. In fact, Nwachukwu scored four touchdowns (one rushing) on only four touches. That's the good news. The bad news for the Aggies is that a couple of key offensive players left the game with separate leg injuries and their status is uncertain at this point. One of those injured players is sophomore wideout Jeff Fuller, who had a career-high 10 catches in the season opener. The other is freshman running back Christine Michael, who had 94 yards on 17 carries before leaving the game. Head coach Mike Sherman said after the game that he thought Fuller cracked his fibula, while Michael has a strained calf, which is obviously a less severe injury.

Both defenses have had some problems limiting big plays. As a result, this game could turn into a shootout pretty quickly. And if that happens, the edge goes to the Aggies, who have done a better job moving the ball on offense.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Texas A&M 45, UAB 35