UAB Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

UAB College Football Preview 2024

It’s so crazy that this just might start to work.

UAB was going along just fine. Bill Clark dominated the Coach of Does Most with the Least award, and Bryant Vincent wasn’t all that bad with a 7-6 season taking over in 2022.

But he was out, Trent Dilfer was in, and…

UAB had its worst season since 2013.

The offense was good—the system changed, and it worked—but the defense couldn’t hold up. When the defense was merely awful—and not totally miserable—the team managed to get by.

There’s hope. A few transfers are helping, and the starting 22 should be okay. But Dilfer has to prove he can start winning. The team didn’t just lose to four teams that finished with losing records, it got rocked in most of those games.

But Clark proved it’s possible to win at UAB—it helped that most of those schedules came against mediocre-to-bad teams, but that’s for another day. UAB has a light enough schedule, good enough talent, and a year of seasoning under the new coach’s belt.

This could quickly be a dangerous team in the AAC race if the offense keeps producing with...

UAB Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Dink … dunk … dink … dunk … Alex Mortensen - son of the legendary ESPN NFL reporter, Chris Mortensen - came in to run Trent Dilfer’s offense.

There was decent production throwing the ball around with the short-range game keeping things moving. The Blazers hit 72% of their passes and finished 18th in the nation averaging 450 yards per game.

Former Baylor Bear Jacob Zeno got his chance to shine, and he was solid throwing for over 3,100 yards with 20 touchdowns and nine picks. He can run, too.

- The receiving corps lost leading yardage man Tejhaun Palmer, but it gets back a slew of veterans. Palmer was the deep threat, but Amare Thomas led the team with 53 catches. He’s back, TE Bryce Damous is a reliable target, and the offense will get the ball to at least eight players on a regular basis.

- The offensive line was a struggle. Overall the attack worked, but the line allowed a whopping 4.1 tackles for loss and 2.25 sacks per game. There’s some shuffling to be done, but four starters are back - C Brady Wilson is a decent leader of the group - with good size.

The running game wasn’t like UAB was used to, but it still averaged 4.5 yards per carry. Leading man Jermaine Brown is gone, but the 1-2 punch of Isaiah Jacobs and Lee Beebe is good, and again Zeno will get on the move.

UAB Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense struggled - to be nice about it. It allowed 41 points or more seven times, was 118th in the nation, and struggled mightily to get off the field - there weren’t enough third down stops.

The front three isn’t totally starting over, but it’s close. There’s bulk with Indiana transfer LeDarrius Cox and 300-pound Kevin Penn two big guys on the inside - Penn is the veteran of the group - and there’s size at the end rotation so …

- There has to be more from the pass rush at linebacker. There weren’t any tackles for loss, but the Blazers got a little bit of pressure on the quarterback. Purdue transfer OC Brothers has to be a factor right away on the outside.

The combination of Michael Moore in the middle - he can get into the backfield - and Everett Roussaw should crank up the tackles inside. The transfer portal is helping the linebackers and coming up big for …

- The secondary - it should be a bit better. Alabama State transfer Adrian Maddox is a playmaker at safety, and the corner combination of Colby Dempsey and Trey Miles should be okay. Georgia Tech transfer Sirad Bryant will matter in the safety rotation.

Key To The UAB Football Season

Don’t let teams hit their throws.
It all combined together. UAB didn’t generate any pass rush, so there weren’t a lot of third down stops, and bad things happened when the D couldn’t come up with stops.

Completion percentage might be a big deal for the Blazer O, but it was every bit as strong last year for the other side. UAB was 4-0 when allowing offenses to hit fewer than 55% of their passes, and 0-8 when allowing quarterbacks to connect on more.

UAB Key Player

OC Brothers, DE Sr.
The Blazers needs players up front who can do some damage. They have size, and they’ll hold up here and there against the run, but who can get to the quarterback?

Brothers is a 6-2, 245-pound hybrid who started out at Auburn before going to Purdue. He made 73 tackles with three sacks in his three seasons with the Boilermakers, but he has the athleticism to be a breakout factor.

UAB Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Adrian Maddox, S Jr.
There are a few interesting transfers coming in to make some noise, but Maddox should be one of the most important.

The 6-3, 200-pounder is versatile enough to play anywhere in the secondary, but he’ll likely roam as a third safety. The former Alabama State star made 90 tackles with three sacks, two picks, and ten tackles for loss over the last two seasons.

Top Transfer Out: BJ Mayes, CB Jr.
The Blazers need as many good defensive backs as they can get, but they lost a solid corner in Mayes. He made 41 tackles with two picks and ten broken up passes last year. Now he’s off to Texas A&M to be a part of the rotation.

UAB Key Game

Navy, Sept. 28
After an awful 2023, UAB has a real shot at starting 3-1 with Alcorn State and ULM early before dealing with Arkansas. Beat Navy to start the AAC schedule, and all of a sudden the Blazers start to look interesting going into October.

Lose, and there’s a problem with Tulane and road games against Army and USF to come.

10 Best UAB Football Players

1. Jacob Zeno, QB Sr.
2. Amare Thomas, WR Soph.
3. Michael Moore, LB Sr.
4. Isaiah Jacobs, RB Jr.
5. Bryce Damous, TE Sr.
6. OC Brothers, LB Sr.
7. Lee Beebe, RB Soph.
8. Adrian Maddox, S Jr.
9. Colby Dempsey, CB Sr.
10. Brady Wilson, C Sr.

UAB 2023 Fun Stats

- 2 Point Conversions: UAB 3-of-8, Opponents 2-of-2

- 3rd Quarter Scoring: Opponents 107, UAB 52

- Fumbles: Opponents 24 (lost 11), UAB 13 (lost 7)

UAB Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

Every once in a while the offense will work - like it did against Florida Atlantic and USF - and the Blazers will shock a team or three in a shootout.

If the defense can provide just a little bit more, there’s a real shot at getting to six wins and a bowl game. The team has to own Legion Field to do that.

It should beat Alcorn State and former head coach Bryant Vincent and ULM to follow. Between Navy, Tulsa, UConn, and Rice, there should be enough wins to hope to get close.

And there will be just enough misses defensively to biff a game it should own. Missing UTSA helps, and not playing North Texas isn’t bad, but missing East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, and Temple might not be a plus.

After an up-and-down season, this should come down to the regular season finale at Charlotte.

Set The UAB Win Total At … 6

Likely Wins: Alcorn State

50/50 Games: at Army, at Charlotte, Navy, Rice, Tulane, Tulsa, UConn, at ULM, at USF

Likely Losses: at Arkansas, at Memphis

2024 UAB Football Schedule

Aug 29 Alcorn State
Sept 7 at ULM
Sept 14 at Arkansas
Sept 21 OPEN DATE
Sept 28 Navy
Oct 5 Tulane
Oct 12 at Army
Oct 19 at USF
Oct 26 OPEN DATE
Nov 2 Tulsa
Nov 9 UConn
Nov 16 at Memphis
Nov 23 Rice
Nov 30 at Charlotte

Missing: East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, North Texas, Temple, UTSA