Before the summer, I wanted to take a very quick look at who is on the slate for football next year. This is not a detailed preview at all, and there will be much more in-depth ones to come before August 29th, but it contains a couple of interesting things to think about.
VS Alabama State – Thursday, August 29th
AT Akron – Saturday, September 7th
BYE
VS South Alabama – Saturday, September 21st
AT WKU – Saturday, September 28th
VS Rice – Saturday, October 5th
AT UTSA – Saturday, October 12th
Homecoming VS Old Dominion – Saturday, October 19th
BYE
AT Tennessee – Saturday, November 2nd
AT Southern Miss – Saturday, November 9th
VS UTEP – Saturday, November 16th
VS LA Tech – Saturday, November 23rd
AT North Texas – Saturday, November 30th
New interdivisional opponents
The last two years have featured the same two opponents from the East Division, Middle Tennessee and Charlotte. This year, the rotation switches and the Blazers take on Western Kentucky and Old Dominion instead. In terms of game difficulty, the new rivals probably don’t change much. Old Dominion is going to be in a spot much the same as they were last year, and is comparable to Charlotte in terms of talent level. Western is better, and should be closer to .500 this season. They are still not back to the elite level they were in 2016, though, and the contest against the Hilltoppers should be a close one.
Possible UAB records
Spencer Brown – All-time UAB rushing yards leader, all-time UAB rushing touchdowns leader, 3,000 career rushing yards
If Spencer recovers well from the offseason surgery that kept him out of the spring game, he could possibly break the yards record before conference play begins. Brown is currently 3rd on the career rushing list with 2,556 yards, behind only Joe Webb (2,774 yards) and Pat Green (2,817 yards). Spencer could run for over 100 against ASU and Akron’s weak run defenses before going up against a tougher challenge in USA. Even if he doesn’t recover quickly enough to break it before C-USA play, we will without a doubt see Brown become the all-time rushing yards leader this season. As for the rushing TD record, Spencer sits at 26 right now. He needs 10 to pass Green’s 35, and it’s a safe bet to say he’s going to break that one too, as he averaged 1.33 TDs per game last year.
Most interesting games
vs South Alabama, September 21 – Although it will be somewhat interesting to see how many fans USA brings, the main attraction in this game should be Spencer Brown breaking the UAB all-time rushing yards record. As mentioned above, the first two teams we play don’t have great defenses, and Spencer should amass at least 200 yards, barring complications from surgery. Clark and Vincent will feed him in this game if he’s close, trying to get him to break the record at Legion. It’ll be an emotional moment if we can see Spencer, one of the biggest symbols of the Return, break the record at home, five years after the team was supposedly gone for good. South Alabama will also be better than Akron and ASU, and the game will give a good indication of how good UAB will be this year.
at Tennessee, November 2nd – Another year, another mediocre SEC team. I don’t know if this one will be more like Florida, where we were crushed all-around, or like Texas A&M, where we put up a valiant fight in front of almost 100,000 Aggie fans. Tennessee is not expected to be outstanding, and I think this could possibly be a game that sneaks up on them. Their defense was significantly worse than ours last season, and if that doesn’t change, I can see Brown having a big game. But like always, resting and preparing for the home stretch is the greatest priority in games like these. Either way, it gets the school money, and it’s fun to see the Blazers on national TV.
vs LA Tech, November 23 – I think the game against Tech has become our main football rivalry over the past couple of years, even surpassing Southern Miss. It’s always fun to get into Twitter arguments with them, which were escalated recently when CBs Amik Robertson and Brontae Harris debated over who was better. This game is always circled on the calendar, but even more so now that our All-America caliber players have a budding rivalry.
The Daily Dragon 