UAB jumped out to an early lead and never looked back as the Blazers routed Tulsa, 59-21, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Blazers improving their record to 2-6 overall and 1-4 in the American Athletic Conference. The Golden Hurricane dropped to 3-6 and 1-4 AAC.

The Blazers scored three touchdowns in the first quarter and then three touchdowns and a field goal in the second quarter, to lead 45-0 with 2:25 left before halftime, before Tulsa got their first score of the game.

Tulsa quarterback Cooper Legas connected with Joseph Williams on a 13-yard touchdown pass to put Tulsa on the scoreboard with 17-seconds left on the clock before halftime

The Blazers put up 537 yards of offense in the game, while their passing attack was practically unstoppable. UAB amassed 424 yards through the air.

Tulsa’s Legas completed 21-of-31 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns, while Williams pulled in six of those passes for 112 yards and one touchdown. Viron Ellison Jr. led the ground game with a season-best 73 yards on 12 carries.

The Blazers were led by wide receiver Kam Shanks and quarterback Jalen Kitna, who each turned in school record performances.

Shanks set a school record for single-game all-purpose yards with 311, including a school record 139 punt return yards. He had five catches for 153 yards and three touchdowns, while adding a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown in the second quarter. Shanks added 19 rushing yards for his final tally of 311 total yards.

UAB’s Kitna completed 25-of-32 passes for 404 yards and a school-record tying six touchdown passes. He became just the second player in school history to throw six touchdown passes in a game.

Mistakes were a big problem in the game for Tulsa, and special teams played a big role for both teams. Tulsa’s Kamdyn Benjamin fumbled a punt reception at his team’s 35-yard line, and it was recovered by UAB’s Michael Moore at the Tulsa 17. The Blazers scored two plays later to make the score 21-0 at the 3:13 mark of the quarter.

Shanks’ 58-yard punt return gave the Blazers a 38-0 lead with 7:30 remaining before halftime.

UAB led 45-7 at halftime and the Blazers held a 311-to-192-yard edge in total offense while 121 of Tulsa’s yards came on its final two first half possessions.

As both teams were giving second and third string players an opportunity to play late in the game, Tulsa scored the only points in the final quarter as true freshman Tim Carpenter threw a six-yard touchdown pass to another true freshman Corey Smith with 24-seconds remaining, making the final score 59-21.

Tulsa is off this week before returning to H.A. Chapman Stadium on Thursday night, Nov. 14, against East Carolina at 6:30 p.m.