All of Spencer’s scoring plays from the last two years are in here. Sorry for the low quality in a couple of the clips. In 2017 especially, Conference USA did a terrible job of filming their games. 20 days left until the season!
Blog
Star CB Brontae Harris Suffers Injury
UAB’s All-American cornerback Brontae Harris went down with a non-contact foot injury during Thursday’s padless practice, as reported by Evan Dudley. It is apparently severe, as Harris was “seen wearing a cast and boot Monday during the early morning viewing period.” Harris, his family, and the coaching/medical staff are considering their options, which may include surgery.
There is no definite information about Harris’s situation yet, but Coach Clark’s demeanor on Monday indicated that Brontae will be out a significant amount of time. From Dudley’s article: “I usually don’t talk about injuries but then you lose a guy like that, it’s heartbreaking for him. We’ll know exactly what the timetable is, but with him being out, our prayers are with him, and somebody is going to have to step up. It’s the unfortunate part of any athletics. Things happen. This was not a contact injury, it was just a step and had a pop, but we’ll get him fixed by the best, and for his future.”
Harris has been a major contributor to the Blazer defense over the past two seasons, making game-changing plays nearly every week. By Pro Football Focus, he was the highest graded corner in Conference USA this past year, edging out even Louisiana Tech CB Amik Robertson. Brontae was an honorable mention for the All-CUSA teams in 2018 and was looking to build upon that success in 2019, being named to the Jim Thorpe Award (best DB in college football) watchlist this summer.
This is a gigantic loss for the Blazer defense. It always hurts to lose an upperclassman, but especially one with as much talent and leadership as Brontae. Although cornerback is a position UAB is deep at, it will be hard to replace Harris’s coverage skills. Hopefully he’ll be back for a few games later in the year, but from Clark’s tone it seems like that might not be a realistic possibility.
A few possible candidates to take the now-open corner spot are:
Dy’Jonn Turner – Most experienced candidate by far. Played the last two seasons, but last year his role expanded. Had one interception and one fumble recovery in 2018.
CD Daniels – Rated a high three-star. Had P5 offers. Recorded 2 tackles in limited game time last year before redshirting.
Starling Thomas V – Another three-star. Had P5 offers. Same as Daniels in that he recorded a few tackles before redshirting.
AJ Brooks – Played special teams last year, but is having an impressive camp and could end up in the rotation.
There are other talented players at corner, but the four mentioned above are the only experienced ones and the most likely to win the starting job.
There’s a lot of skill behind Harris, but not much experience. If UAB wants to defend the championship, someone will have to step up behind him.
Why UAB Men’s Soccer is On The Rise
Full previews for the men’s and women’s soccer teams coming in the next couple of weeks.
I know much of the recent sports attention has been focused on the start of fall camp, but today I want to talk about a different kind of football: UAB men’s soccer. The once-dominant program has slipped over the last five years or so, and many fans have become apathetic. In this post, I want to lay out my case for why Blazer soccer is entering a new, better, era, beginning this year.
At one point, in the early-to-mid 2000s, UAB soccer was going through arguably the most successful run of any Blazer athletic program ever. Under coach Mike Getman, they often pulled off huge upsets and were regularly ranked, reaching #3 in the country at one point in 2003. UAB also made multiple NCAA tournaments, making it as far as the Elite Eight. Not only was the team successful, but the fan support was just as strong. The Green and Gold would draw nearly 3,000 people to some games. For comparison, that number would put UAB 4th in national attendance in 2017, the most recent year for which I could find data. They were energetic and loud. According to Wikipedia:
Although many traditions, cheers, and chants take place at each home game, there is one that “stands above the rest,” according to former head coach Mike Getman. Led by alumni super-fan Andrew Robillard, who has not missed a UAB men’s home soccer match in 22 seasons, the whole student section sings “God Bless America” in unity. The Hillsborough Times has reported this tradition as one of its “12 College Sports Traditions you Don’t Want to Miss.”
- There are no sources attatched to the paragraph
- The Hillsborough Times doesn’t exist (the closest thing to it is the Hillsborough section of the Tampa Bay Times)
- If you Google search 12 College Sports Traditions You Don’t Want to Miss, there are only 8 results, all of which are copied word-for-word from the Wikipedia page with no sources. No one has ever actually found the article!
- I also couldn’t find any UAB-related results for Andrew Robillard
- This specific tradition might have been made up by some guy on Wikipedia
- I will choose to believe it because it helps prove my point, which is that UAB soccer is capable of being extremely successful and having large crowds with chants and traditions
Since those days, the supporters have fallen off a little bit. Although chants and cheers still happen at the games, they are less spirited and less often. Student turnout to games has declined, as well as overall attendance.
The fans aren’t the only thing that have struggled recently. The team itself has dealt with its fair share of losing the last few seasons. The last good year was 2013, a year in which the team had the top scoring offense in the country, beat #8 Indiana, and were ranked as high as #8.
It’s been only five seasons since then, but in that time period the Blazers haven’t been ranked. They have had one winning record. Last year, UAB lost to #160 Fairleigh Dickinson, and #120 Marshall the year before that. In 2016, the team didn’t win an away game. Since 2014, the Green and Gold have only won six of them. The team’s RPI has sunken into the mid-100s, a huge step down from #35 in 2013. The attendance has fallen out of the top 50 in the country. UAB is no longer a C-USA contender.
But! There’s finally hope. For the first time in five years, there is reason to believe the men’s soccer team is on the rise. There are five main reasons I say that.
The first: UAB is capable. The purpose of the first section of the post was supposed to remind people of how successful UAB soccer has been in the past and how passionate the supporters were at one time. There is no reason to think that, especially in a time when the city is obsessing over the Legion, the Blazers can’t build themselves into one of the best, most supported soccer programs in the NCAA.
The second: a new coaching staff. Mike Getman is one of the greatest figures in UAB athletics history. For 26 years, he coached the soccer team to the best of his abilities, bringing them as high as top three and Elite Eight appearances. But as the 2010s went on, his teams began to wane, and after another mediocre season in 2018, the administration decided it was time to move on. The hire of Jefferson Kinney is a great first step in a new direction. Kinney has spent the last nine seasons as a member of the Virginia Tech coaching staff, helping to take the Hokies to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2016. Before he went to Tech, he spent seven seasons as the top assistant at American University, where he helped to guide the program to two Patriot League titles and an NCAA tournament berth. Kinney is obviously qualified to lead a sleeping giant like UAB back to the heights it was once at, having been successful at every school he has stopped at. It is his first head coaching job, but he’s an experienced coach who knows what he’s doing. There’s no reason to think that he can’t handle being the man in charge. Though Getman was a great coach and a wonderful person, a switch was needed, and it will be exciting to see what changes Coach Kinney implements. He is NOT Jeff Kinney, AUTHOR of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid children’s series. That’s all.
The third: a new stadium. Attendance has waned because of the lack of success, obviously, but also people didn’t want to go sit on backless bleachers for an hour and a half. With BBVA Field being built, the Blazers now have one of the fanciest arenas in the NCAA. Birmingham can be a soccer-crazy environment even when the team is bad, as evidenced by the Legion. All we need is a nice venue to watch it in. The new field will be sure to increase attendance, regardless of how good UAB is, and will play a role in getting that early-2000s atmosphere back. Student turnout will rise, and fans will want to come see games. BBVA will also attract recruits who want to play in a real soccer stadium, which isn’t something many other colleges can offer.
The fourth: administrative competence. I didn’t think anything was going to change after the 2018 season. Because I am familiar with the Alabama Board of Trustees and the UAB athletic department, I was sure that they were going to keep Getman and not try and change a thing. Fortunately, I was wrong. Surprisingly, the athletic department showed they weren’t content with the status quo of the last couple of years, and made a move to change it. That, coupled with their willingness to build new facilities recently, leads me to hope that this is a program the administration is willing to support.
The fifth: a solid core. Although the Blazers’ record wasn’t great last year, they have some nice pieces to work with. One is midfielder Blake White. White was the leading goal-scorer for the Blazers in 2018. He finished the season with a team-leading 11 points, including an assist, and was named to the All-CUSA freshman team. He’s undeniably talented, and he’s gotten national attention before, making it on SportsCenter’s top 10 in 2018 as a member of ATL United’s developmental team. Although White is probably the most promising player on the team, there are other good players as well, including midfielder Joseph Buete, who only missed a game last year and recorded two assists, and midfielder Chase Rushing, who was named Most Improved Player by the team before the 2018 season. He played in every game and scored once.
In summary: I think the UAB men’s soccer program will come back from its recent struggles soon. We have a new coach, who has been successful at every stop he’s been at. We have one of the nicest stadiums in college soccer, which is a great way to get fans out and recruit players. We have a solid core that Kinney will be able to work with. It feels like the administration is at least kind of behind this program and won’t actively try and hinder it. There are more things going for Blazer soccer than there have been in years and years. Although the roster might not be completely put together this year, I think the team will click sometime in the next couple of seasons.
Come to both the men’s and women’s games. The first home exhibition for the men is on August 16th, the first real game is on August 30th, and the first real home game is on September 6th. The women don’t have any home exhibitions. The first real game for the women is August 22nd, and the first real home game for the women is August 25th.
2019 UAB Football Opponent Preview #1: Alabama State
John Reed – USA TODAY Sports
Fall camp is starting soon, which means football season is close. There are only about four weeks left until the Green and Gold begin their title defense at Legion Field on August 29th. To prepare for the season, I’ll be writing previews of every opponent the Blazers will face over the next couple of weeks. At the end, I’ll publish the UAB preview I’ve been working on that goes through every player at every position on the roster.
One disclaimer: I’ll use a few advanced statistics in the rest of these previews to help get a clear picture of whatever team I’m writing about. Because most of the data needed to calculate those stats doesn’t exist for FCS teams, this article won’t have those statistics. Also, depth charts and highlights are less available for FCS teams, and it was sometimes hard to find much information about players.
ALABAMA STATE FACTS
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Founded: 1867
Years playing football: 1901-present
Mascot: Hornets
Division: D1 FCS
Conference: SWAC, East Division
Coach: Donald Hill-Eley
Record last year: 4-7 (3-4 SWAC)
Picked 4th out of 5 in their division in the preseason SWAC poll
OFFENSE
Biggest loss: OL Tytus Howard, picked 23rd overall in 2019 NFL Draft
Points per game: 14.73
Passing yards per game: 161.45
Rushing yards per game: 108.0
Total yards per game: 269.5
Quarterback
ASU returns multiple QBs who saw playing time in 2018, but none of them are the main focus of the offseason. The Hornets are hoping that former Florida State Seminole Deondre Francois, confirmed to have visited Montgomery, becomes the new signal-caller. Francois, once considered a fringe Heisman candidate, was dismissed from the FSU program after being involved in a strange domestic abuse case, in which an allegation was levied against him, retracted, and re-retracted. Francois first stated he was walking on at FAU, but recently confirmed on his Instagram story that he would not become an Owl after all. The rumor mill has heated up since then, with Hampton and Alabama A&M being mentioned alongside ASU as candidates to win the services of the former Nole. If Francois does become a Hornet, Alabama State is getting a QB that has proven he can be successful at high levels, having thrown for 3350 yards and 20 TDs in 2016 with the Seminoles, and who should tear up the SWAC. In the context of this game, it’ll be hard to say how the UAB defense will approach a player this highly-touted. Francois can definitely burn the Blazers, but he’ll be surrounded by much less raw talent at WR and OL and will be re-adjusting to being the unquestioned starter. Of course, it’s no guarantee that Francois will even come to Montgomery, and if that’s the case, the Hornets will probably turn to either Darryl Pearson, Jr., who was a preseason 2nd-team All-SWAC selection last year, or KHA’Darris Davis, who took over for Pearson about halfway through the season. Pearson is a pocket passer who threw for 610 yards in 7 games, and Davis is more of a dual threat, having run for 240 (sacks removed) yards and passed for 951 yards in 9 games. Whoever starts under center will need to fix the anemic offense of last year, which only averaged about two touchdowns per game.
Running back
The Hornets return versatile RB Ezra Gray, who almost returned a kickoff for a TD last year against Auburn and finished with over 1,000 all-purpose yards, 384 of those being rushing. Gray was named first-team All-SWAC before this season and is one of the best kick returners in FCS. Along with Gray, the Hornets have Talesin Farmer, who rushed for 202 yards last year, and George Golden, who ran for nearly 500 yards in 2017 before missing last season with an injury. USF transfer Duran Bell, who gained 148 yards on the ground in 2018 with the Bulls, is also an option if he’s eligible. Although there is experience, the ASU rushing attack wasn’t incredibly prolific last year, with no RB going for over 400 yards on the season and the offense as a whole only scoring 7 touchdowns on the ground.
Receivers
Alabama State’s paltry passing attack (161.5 ypg would be 114th in 2018 FBS) returns most of its producers. Deep threat Tyrek Allen, who averaged almost 30 YPC last year, is the team’s most productive WR, while Joe Williams, Wallace Corker, and Jeremiah Hixon are the most targeted. Like the other facets of the offense, the passing game has much room for improvement. The aforementioned wideouts will need to combine with Francois/Pearson/Davis to make the air attack a viable option.
O-line
The Alabama State offensive line allowed 25 sacks last year, which comes out to an average of about 2.27 per game. That isn’t terrible, but it’s not something to be bragging about (for comparison, that number would rank 68th in the 2018 FBS). Hornet running backs rushed for about 108 yards per game behind this line last year, another mediocre number. The good news is 4 out of 5 starters return from that ok-but-not-great unit. The bad news is that the loss was Tytus Howard, the highest drafted Hornet ever. Howard was first-team all-SWAC last year and is now a member of the Houston Texans after being drafted in the first round of the ’19 Draft. Again, although the line is experienced, the product wasn’t outstanding last year. Plus, the best member (by far; no other Hornet offensive lineman has been selected to any all-SWAC teams) of the group is gone.
DEFENSE
Biggest loss: DB Kurron Ramsey, considered NFL prospect
Points allowed per game: 37.00
Passing yards allowed per game: 180.00
Rushing yards allowed per game: 270.8
Total yards allowed per game: 450.8
D-line:
The ASU defensive line was terrible last year, allowing 270 rushing yards per game and barely reaching double digit sacks. The best member of the group returns in Christian Clark, picked preseason first-team All-SWAC this year. Clark led the D-line in tackles with 53, 5 of them for loss. There are also multiple experienced players who contributed last year coming back, but I’m not sure that’s a good thing with the performance of this unit in 2018. The bottom line is that if players can’t step up around Clark, Spencer Brown and the rest of the running backs ASU faces are going to feast.
Linebacker:
Alabama State returns Darron Johnson, a senior LB who was selected along with Clark to the preseason first-team All-SWAC. Johnson finished last year with 2 interceptions, 78 tackles, and 5 tackles for loss. This is a slightly less experienced group, and Johnson will need to get his younger teammates to step up. Like the defensive line, if this unit doesn’t provide more run support, there is no chance ASU will be winning this game or many others.
Defensive back:
The safeties and corners were two of the Hornets’ stronger units last year, allowing 180 passing yards per game. There is a decent amount of experience returning, and this group should continue to be solid. The one downside is that State loses a star NFL prospect in S Kurron Ramsey. Ramsey was a shutdown player last year with 74 tackles. Joshua Hill returns, though, and he’s another star in the defensive backfield. Hill intercepted 2 passes and had 3 pass breakups last season, and should only continue to develop.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Kicker
The only placekicker on ASU’s roster is Hunter Hanson, who hit a not-great 8 of 16 field goals last year, with his long being 39. Hanson only kicked 6 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs (for comparison 71 of Nick Vogel’s 80 kickoffs went for touchbacks last year) and kicked one out of bounds.
Punter
Punter Anthony Craven returns this year, and he makes this position one of the strongest on ASU’s team. Last year he averaged a solid 42.7 yards per punt with an 80-yarder against South Alabama. Only one of his punts was blocked, and it was against Auburn. Craven was also named to the FCS Punter of the Year watchlist before this season.
Punt returner
Joshua Hill, who handled most of the punt returning duties for the Hornets in 2018, is back for another season. He had an OK year, averaging 14.25 yards per return with a long of 55 and no touchdowns, but I wouldn’t call this position a strength.
Kick returner
As stated before, Ezra Gray is one of the best kick returners in both the SWAC and the FCS. He was named to the preseason first-team All-SWAC this year, and returned 26 kicks for 608 yards with an average of 23.4. Gray’s longest was 72 yards, and he had one against Auburn that might have been 80 if it wasn’t called back.
Why UAB will win: UAB has high-major level talent at multiple positions and should easily outclass the Hornets.
Why Alabama State will win: Ezra Gray will get loose on multiple kickoff returns and runs, Tyrek Allen will burn the Blazer CBs, and the Hornet defensive line somehow manages to get to Tyler Johnston multiple times per drive.
Bottom line: This is a game that UAB should win without breaking a sweat. Although ASU has plenty of talented players, the fact remains that the Hornets are a mediocre-at-best FCS team and the Blazers are the defending Conference USA champions. Even if State trots out an ACC-caliber quarterback, the defense should have no problems and the offense should roll. If that’s not the case, we might be in for a long season.
Predicted final score: UAB 55, Alabama State 6
UAB Media Day Recap
Watch the full thing from earlier today here.
Bill Clark
On how it felt to win a conference championship: “Even when we think back, we get emotional. You know, it’s – you kinda get tears in your eyes just thinking about all the work, and it’s so happy for these players and the coaches and the fans and our community, it’s still emotional today.”
On if expectations will affect the team: “We have a standard we’ve set. We thought that was our standard before, that’s the standard I’m used to having… I think it’s what we believe (about our team)… We’ve gotta live with that bullseye on our chests, which means we’ve gotta work even harder.”
On who is going to replace the 35 seniors: “That’s one of the things we’ve been working on… I think if you looked at our group you would be surprised how they look. I think top to bottom we look better than we did last year. The one thing that’s hard to replace is experience, so we’ve gotta do a great job in how we practice. Guys like this (Mofor and Dufour) that have been through the wars are doing a great job talking to those (younger) guys about what it looks like to line up in this conference. We can’t have a learning curve. We’ve gotta start like that now.”
On QB Tyler Johnston III, WRs Austin Watkins and Kendall Parham, and the receiving corps as a whole: “Tyler was one of those guys that was a winner in high school. I’ve known him for a long time. Him and his brother both played with my son growing up… He waited his turn, but was working the whole time. I think he did a lot of good things last year, but I think he’d be the first to tell you that he had a lot of things he wants to do better. From the receiving corps standpoint, we had a bunch of guys that were waiting in the wings last year. I’m really excited about this receiving corps and what they do with him. They’ve had a really good offseason of work… I’ve got high expectations for that (receiving) group. I really do. We got to practice against those guys (Parham and Watkins)… I can name those guys and can name about 2 or 3 others, including a tight end, that were there every day going against the defense, and one of the reasons I think we were great defensively last year is we had a really good scout offense that they went against every day, and I know Fitz would echo that statement about those guys. We’ve got some good talent coming at the receiving corps.
On Spencer Brown running with high expectations and a new offensive line: “Well, I’ll say two things. One of them, I’ll say that the guys around Spencer, Jonathan Haden, Lucious Stanley, Larry Wooden, that group of running backs is better than we were last year… Spencer – he’s not a guy to make excuses – I don’t know if anybody even knew he had a turf toe all of last year. I would say he was probably at about 80%. He’s at about 238 pounds right now – 236 to 238. He’s running probably as good as I’ve seen him run since we’ve got him there. He’s had a great offseason. I think you’re going to see what this guy really looks like this year.
On how attention to detail on defense has become the norm at UAB: “I think Fitz, once again, would probably tell you this, I am a stickler for every minute thing. I tell guys all the time, ‘You’ve got 70 great plays on defense, if there’s 80 snaps and you gave up 10, that’s 70 points.’ You don’t know what the play’s going to be defensively in a game that can be a score, so you’ve gotta have attention to detail.”
On if former high school teammates Fish McWilliams and Antonio Moultrie will have expanded roles: “No doubt. We had Anthony Rush, Q Thagard in front of them. Fish McWilliams was the Player of the Year down in the Panhandle a couple years ago. Moultrie, believe it or not – when you see this guy, he’s 6’4”, 300 plus – was a free safety his ninth grade year, so he’s an athlete. That group, along with – obviously, Garrett Marino coming back, who’s got a chance, I think, to keep playing on Sundays – that group may not be as – I don’t know if they’re as talented in a couple spots, but depth-wise, we may be better.
(I haven’t been able to find what radio show this is) On how they felt about a recent radio show where someone playing a Conference USA team said the only reason UAB has succeeded is their weak conference: “(Dufour starts shaking head) I think any competitor would probably get a little agitated over that… The bowl head-to-head competition, I think we won that again when we were 4-2 this year, if you just talk about what we do in the bowl games, we’ve won that 3 out of the last… what, 5-6 years? So I don’t know what else to say other than that. I do think there are a lot of similarities between all of our teams. I think we’re pretty close, and we probably beat up on each other pretty good. This is a good league, there’s really good coaches, they care, we’ve got great athletes and you see them playing on Sundays all the time, so I feel pretty good about our league, and I think it speaks for itself when you see that bowl matchup.”
Biggest takeaways:
1. The team isn’t going to let expectations shape how they play. They’re going to live up to the UAB standard and focus on playing with a bullseye on their backs.
2. Coach thinks the depth chart looks better, top to bottom, than it did last year. It’s difficult to replace experience, though, and the upperclassmen have been doing a great job of getting the newcomers ready.
3. Tyler Johnston still thinks he has room to make improvement.
4. The new receiving corps is very talented and helped shape last year’s defense.
5. Coach thinks the running back rotation as a whole is better than last year’s.
6. Spencer Brown played at 80% last year with a turf toe. According to Coach, he’s “running probably as good as I’ve seen him run since we’ve got him there” and “I think you’re going to see what this guy really looks like this year.” This is terrifying.
7. The defensive line may not be quite as talented, but it’s deeper.
Lee Dufour
On if he was motivated to come back from his injury quicker once he realized he could play in a conference championship game and a bowl game: “Absolutely. Going that far into the season, having that injury, and expecting to be out for the rest of the season, I just started crying when I got to the locker room. After they told me I broke my arm, I was like, ‘Welp. There it goes.’ But thanks to the amazing staff we have at UAB, the surgeons, the doctors, everybody on our training staff, they made sure I was in physical training, physical therapy 2-3 times a day, every single day of the week. Being able to come back and start for the championship game, that was just the perfect end to my season. Being able to start and win that game and then go to the bowl game and start that game as well with my robotic elbow brace – it was a lot of fun, it was really exciting, I was glad I was able to be there for my teammates.
On he ever expected this type of success in his freshman year, before the program was shut down: “I could have never saw that coming, honestly. I knew there was something special about UAB when I came here my freshman year, when Coach Clark and his staff had just got here. I knew the capabilities that were there. I knew what Birmingham was capable of. I knew what UAB was capable of, and it’s just been exciting, this journey that I’ve been on since 2014, the program shutting down, leaving and going to South Alabama for two semesters and coming back, you couldn’t – I don’t know if anybody could’ve – in 2014 told me, ‘Hey, you’re going to do all these things, and this is where you’re going to be at in four or five years.'”
On why he came back to UAB: “This guy right here. Coach Clark, sitting right next to me. I can’t say enough good things about this guy. Coach Clark – you know – you can’t put it into words, the respect you have for him, he’s always going to be there for you, you know he cares about you, you know he loves you – even when you’re done with football, he’s going to be there for you. It’s hard to find that in college coaches nowadays, I think. There’s a lot of relationships that you build when you’re in college football, and the one I have with Coach Clark, I wouldn’t trade for anybody else.
Fitz Mofor
On why he walked on at UAB: “Just knowing that I would have the 2016 season to improve myself and to be able to compete every day and step up into another level of competition. I just knew there was an opportunity I couldn’t let go.
On the new-look defense: “I feel like the younger guys aren’t going to miss a beat. Going through spring ball, watching those guys grow and get better every day, was just a special experience, because – honestly, in the beginning I thought it would be a stretch to try and get them to catch up to the speed of the guys before, but just going through practice everyday and seeing how hard they work and how relentless they are, I was really impressed, obviously, by how fast they’re catching up.
Conference USA Football Predictions 2019-20
(i know predictions don’t matter and it’s pointless to even try and guess what’s going to happen but it’s the middle of the offseason and I need to do something with football)
EAST PREDICTIONS
1. FIU
2. Marshall
3. FAU
4. MTSU
5. WKU
6. ODU
7. Charlotte
FIU is a great team that has strengths at every position. QB James Morgan is (in my opinion) the second best in the conference, their running back rotation is experienced and talented with Napoleon Maxwell, Shawndarrius Phillips, and Anthony Jones, they have a couple explosive receivers, the offensive line is solid, and the defense is covered in playmakers (DL Teair Tart, LB Sage Lewis, CB Stantley Thomas-Oliver III). I see them as the favorite to win the East and the main challenger to our title. Marshall and FAU definitely have some talented pieces (there’s something about those two schools picking up ex-Seminoles accused of crimes), but I don’t know if enough is there to put it all together this season. It could happen, though, and both of these teams would be dangerous opponents if we ended up in the championship. I have Marshall above FAU because I trust their QBs (Isaiah Green and Alex Thomson) much more than I trust the Owls’ Chris Robison, but nothing is for certain with these two schools. From there, we have Middle, WKU, ODU, and Charlotte. Each have their own reasons for not being a contender, but the common point between all four is questionable QB play. MTSU is losing the greatest Raider QB ever in Brent Stockstill, WKU has a bunch of quarterbacks that aren’t that good, ODU lost their best signal-caller to seminary school, and Charlotte is having a all-out competition to decide who new coach Will Healy installs in his system. Without a steady hand to guide them, it’s just hard to believe that any of these teams will challenge for a spot in upper C-USA.
WEST PREDICTIONS
1. Southern Miss
2. UAB
3. North Texas
4. Louisiana Tech
5. UTEP
6. UTSA
7. Rice
I’m completely torn on who will win this division. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the past couple of years, it’s to never count out a Bill Clark team, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Blazers clawed their way to another title. At the same time, North Texas has a superstar QB and Southern Miss has a vicious defense that’s probably going to be one of the best in the country. Any of the UAB/UNT/Southern Miss trio could do it. If the Golden Eagles have an above average offense, which they are entirely capable of with Quez Watkins and Jack Abraham, their defense might be so good that they could have a 2014 Marshall type year. Of course, that’s no guarantee, and if the offensive game is mediocre again, that could provide room for Tyler Johnston III, Spencer Brown, and Brontae Harris to keep their top spot, provided the lines are rebuilt well. Another thing we’ve learned over the last few years is to never count out Mason Fine, and with favorite target Rico Bussey returning, the passing game could remain explosive. This will be one of the most fun division races in the country. I decided on USM, but that’s no guarantee. Like the East, I think everybody under North Texas won’t contend, and the reasons are similar. Tech is definitely the best of the four, and will have an solid offensive line, decent returning running backs, and All-American CB Amik Robertson… but they still have J’Mar at QB (experienced doesn’t mean good!) and are losing arguably the most productive defensive lineman in FBS history. In my opinion, there isn’t really a reason to think that Tech will break out of the consistent mediocrity this season. The Bulldogs are starting over at QB in 2020 and will bring in a nice recruiting class, but that’s next year. As for the other three, they’re still a year or two away from respectability. I think UTEP will improve the most, win-wise, because they significantly got better over the course of last season, they don’t lose too much production, and the schedule isn’t brutal. Who knows, though, because now Kai Locksley did some stuff and they haven’t decided on a starter. The UTSA offense can’t get worse (this statement is almost literally true!) and former LSU QB Lowell Narcisse will be an interesting experiment. The Roadrunners could jump a little bit in the win column. Rice has a crushing schedule, don’t have anyone particularly inspiring in the QB room, and are inexperienced, so it’ll probably be another miserable season for the fans in Houston.
ALL-CONFERENCE 1ST TEAM
The player on the left in italics is last year’s 1st teamer at that position, and the player on the right in regular font is the player I predict will replace them this year.
QB – Brent Stockstill, MTSU/Mason Fine, North Texas
RB – Spencer Brown, UAB/Spencer Brown, UAB
RB – Devin Singletary, FAU/Benny LeMay, Charlotte
WR – Tyre Brady, Marshall/Ty Lee, MTSU
WR – Rico Bussey, Jr., North Texas/Rico Bussey, Jr., North Texas
WR – Quez Watkins, Southern Miss/Quez Watkins, Southern Miss
OL – Reggie Bain, FAU/Cameron Clark, Charlotte
OL – O’Shea Dugas, Louisiana Tech/Manase Mose, North Texas
OL – Levi Brown, Marshall/Levi Brown, Marshall
OL – Justice Powers, UAB/Tyler Witt, WKU
OL – Chandler Brewer, MTSU/Miles Pate, WKU
TE – Harrison Bryant, FAU/Harrison Bryant, FAU
DL – Alex Highsmith, Charlotte/Alex Highsmith, Charlotte
DL – Jaylon Ferguson, Louisiana Tech/Lorenzo Dantzler, UTSA
DL – LaDarius Hamilton, North Texas/Teair Tart, FIU
DL – Oshane Ximines, ODU/Channing Hames, Marshall
DL – Jacques Turner, Southern Miss/Jacques Turner, Southern Miss
LB – Sage Lewis, FIU/Sage Lewis, FIU
LB – Darius Harris, MTSU/Lawrence Garner, ODU
LB – EJ Ejiya, North Texas/Racheem Boothe, Southern Miss
DB – Kemon Hall, North Texas/Brontae Harris, UAB
DB – Amik Robertson, Louisiana Tech/Amik Robertson, Louisiana Tech
DB – Reed Blankenship, MTSU/Reed Blankenship, MTSU
DB – Malik Gant, Marshall/Ben DeLuca, Charlotte
MVP
Last year’s winner: Brent Stockstill, QB, MTSU
My prediction: Mason Fine, QB, North Texas
The UNT QB was snubbed of this honor last year, despite being ranked higher than Stockstill by PFF, and will finally get what he deserves in a conference MVP.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Last year’s winner: Mason Fine, QB, North Texas
My prediction: Mason Fine, QB, North Texas
Fine has put up prolific passing numbers over the last couple of years, and there’s no reason to think he’ll stop now. He is surrounded by first-team all-CUSA talent in the receiving corps and the o-line, and is now an experienced, savvy senior. The Mean Green QB will three-peat as OPOY.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Last year’s winner: Jaylon Ferguson, OLB/DE, Louisiana Tech
My prediction: Sage Lewis, LB, FIU
Lewis amassed 18 tackles against Indiana the first week of last season, set the Panther single-season record with 132 tackles, consistently made game-changing plays like this, is ranked as the second best player in the conference by Underdog Dynasty, and is described in that same article as “maybe the most underrated LB in FBS football.” This year is his coming out party.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Last year’s winner: Jack Fox, P, Rice
My prediction: Jonathan Cruz, K, Charlotte
I predict Cruz, only a sophomore, will start a run of three straight special teams POTY awards in 2019. He made all of his extra point attempts last year, connected on 17 of 22 FGs (including a 56-yarder), beat FAU on a clutch last second field goal, and has shown no signs of slowing down.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Last year’s winner: James Morgan, QB, FIU
My prediction: BJ Emmons, RB, FAU
Emmons, a former Alabama running back, was a five-star prospect and the second-best RB in the country coming out of high school. After taking a year off from football, he’s ready to run behind a solid Owl O-line and maybe become the next great FAU back.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Last year’s winner: Rick Stockstill, MTSU, because the voters were tired of Coach Clark winning every award
My prediction: Jay Hopson, Southern Miss
With my prediction that Southern Miss will win the West, it’s only logical that Jay Hopson would be voted Coach of the Year, taking a bowl-less team to a conference championship berth.
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UAB football highlights
Every 2018-2019 UAB Takeaway
It’s the middle of the offseason, and there’s no better time to take a look back at the magical year that was 2018. All 20 turnovers the Blazer defense forced are in this video.
Every 2018-2019 UAB Touchdown
It’s the middle of the offseason, and there’s no better time to take a look back at the magical year that was 2018. I put 51 out of the 52 TDs the Blazers scored in the video, with one being omitted because I don’t think Coastal Carolina films their football games.
Every C-USA Power 5 Game, Ranked
When planning the out-of-conference schedule for a football season, most Power Five teams have two main things in mind: win games and make money. They can’t easily achieve both of these goals by playing other P5 teams, so they pay low and mid-majors hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars, to come onto their home field and (usually) get demolished. This adds another home game to a Power 5’s schedule, which increases revenue, and (again, usually) leads to an easy W. Rarely, big teams will venture into smaller stadiums, but that’s usually as part of a 2-for-1 or even 3-for-1 deal. Although these contracts might sound bad for G5 and FCS teams, they end up being win-wins. First of all, a million dollars is a huge amount of money, especially for schools with small athletic budgets. Second, telling a two-star recruit that he’s going to play in front of 105,000 people at the Big House is a great selling point. And lastly, nobody cares if the underdog loses because it’s expected, but everybody cares when they win. For example, I would bet that like 10 people alive right now have any recollection of this game, but this game has become one of the most famous in football history. As always, almost every team in Conference USA is playing at least one of these “buy” games this year. 2018 brought rare success, with North Texas absolutely crushing Arkansas in Fayetteville! Granted, Arkansas is basically a mid-major at this point and had one of their worst seasons ever, but still. We celebrate our conference mates’ accomplishments here. That game was one of the funnier occasions of a buy game backfiring horrendously. Not only did UNT embarrass the Hogs, but they pulled off a trick punt return that was played on ESPN for weeks. (Sidenote: even after losing by 27 to a C-USA team and winning two total games, Arkansas brought in a top 25 recruiting class. It’s very cool how the NCAA has given up on even attempting to stop schools from cheating!) We hope to replicate that success this year, and that’s what the topic of this article is about. I will be going through every C-USA matchup against a P5 team, saying a couple of things about how I think the game will go, then rank them all at the end.
(I know it’s impossible to predict these games and a lot could change before they’re played and preseason predictions are useless and all that but I am so tired of talking about the AAC and wanted to write about anything else)
The games
Charlotte – at Clemson, Saturday, September 21st
Will Healy, it doesn’t matter what kind of “culture change” you’ve put in place or whatever the Charlotte fans have been talking about all offseason, if you beat Clemson in Death Valley I will do one of those insane Twitter bets where I get a tongue tattoo or something. I mean, admittedly, Charlotte is a rising team with a good, new, young coach that has some decent talent to work with. But the last time we saw Clemson play a football game they beat ALABAMA by 28. Nobody just does that, and I think Clemson is on the verge of taking over from the Tide as the most feared name in college football. No disrespect to Charlotte, I just don’t think they are the team that’s going to stop this rising dynasty in their tracks.
FAU – at Ohio State, Saturday, August 31st
(It has nothing to do with this game but I remembered this stupid thing while writing)
This is another upset that would take a near-miracle to pull off. This game is a little reminiscent of last year when the Owls traveled to Norman to open up their campaign against Oklahoma. FAU, coming off of a dominant season in which they won the conference title and didn’t lose after September 23rd, was a popular upset pick and… were crushed by 49. I can see another game like that possibly coming up if OSU puts it together this summer. However good FAU’s pass defense may be, I just don’t think they’re going to stop a team full of blue-chips.
FIU – vs Miami, Saturday, November 23rd
This will be a fun game at FIU’s Riccardo Silva Stadium between two teams that have a clean, wholesome history. In this world of trash talking and rivalry, it’s nice to see two schools with mutual respect for one another. And the fans as well! I love to read the civil discourse between Miami residents that happen to support different schools but don’t let that get in the way of loving their neighbor. I’m sure the fact that FIU could win this game doesn’t bother Hurricane fans. In fact, if I had to pick any team to win one of these games, I would pick FIU, because James Morgan is back and probably surrounded by more talent than he ever has been. Couple with the fact that the Canes still have a lot of question marks following their disastrous 2018, and I think the Panthers could be the team to beat in Miami.
Tech – at Texas, Saturday, August 31st
That’s right everybody, it’s the first ever Consistent Mediocrity Bowl! Featuring theeeee University of Texas at Austin and prestigious Louisiana Tech University. These two teams have never played before, but if they had the all-time series score would be 7-5. Tech is coming off of another average season, while Texas was actually kind of good last year. That doesn’t change the fact that they’ve been proclaimed to be “back” every year since the 2009 BCS Championship and have never really accomplished anything. Either way, Sack Daddy is gone and Ehlinger is good and surrounded by blue-chips, so I’m not betting on Tech in this one.
MTSU – at Michigan, Saturday, August 31st
It’s tough to open up a season at the biggest stadium in the United States, but thankfully the Blue Raiders have the steady hand of Brent Stockstill guiding th-
Oh no.
Actually, the Blue Raiders don’t have a QB on their roster that has played even half a season! Not a recipe for success when there are a hundred thousand insane Michiganians screaming obscenities at your team. Good luck Middle!
MTSU – vs Duke, Saturday, September 14th
It’s Duke, whose fans don’t care about Duke football, vs Middle Tennessee, whose fans don’t care about Middle Tennessee! The attendance for this game will be a beautiful sight to see. MTSU has a chance, I think, because absolute megastar Daniel Jones is finally done terrorizing the NCAA, and Duke will probably not have a great run defense again. Even though Middle lost Stockstill, they still have some playmakers at skill positions, and I could see them exploding through the line for big gains.
MTSU – at Iowa, Saturday, September 28th
Middle’s third Power 5 game of the year comes against a team that’s actually pretty good. I don’t think they will win this game, but I still ranked it 7th because there is absolutely no way that the bottom 4 teams are competitive. Iowa has a really solid defense with a couple of great DEs and an emerging offense. I don’t think Middle is going to be able to contest the slow, pounding Big 10 style and will allow the Hawkeyes to grind down the field and grind down their stamina. The new QB (whoever that may be) is also not going to be able to do much against the experienced Iowa secondary, and the Hawkeyes should win this one pretty easily.
Marshall – None
but Cincinnati is in the Power Six-*gunshot*
North Texas – at Cal, Saturday, September 14th
Cal deserves to go undefeated this year as a reward for gifting us the greatest football game of all time. Sorry, UNT. If you really want to anger the gods by winning this game, so be it, but don’t say I didn’t warn you when Mason Fine blows out his arm playing air hockey. Fine is an incredible QB, and the Cal defense will be a huge test for him and his receivers. If the Mean Green can put up enough points on the board, they might be able to outlast Cal’s stagnant offense.
Old Dominion – at Virginia Tech, Saturday, September 7th
please let it happen again
Old Dominion – at Virginia, Saturday, September 21st
Virginia is supposed to be pretty good this year, coming of one of their better seasons in recent memory, while ODU isn’t, coming off their weirdest season in recent memory, and I would agree with those assessments. The Monarchs lost maybe their greatest player ever in Oshane Ximines, a very good wide receiver in Travis Fulgham, and aren’t replacing those guys with anybody incredibly promising. I hope they succeed this year because I like Bobby Wilder, but I think UVA is going to blow them out of the water.
Rice – vs Wake Forest, Friday, September 6th
Rice is bad, and I do not feel like writing very much about Rice football because it’s boring to me. It’s a very nice school, though.
Rice – vs Texas, Saturday, September 14th (Houston, NRG Stadium)
Wanted to share that NRG Stadium has a higher capacity (72,220) than the total number of living Rice alumni (51,961). I think it’s safe to bet that most of the attendees of this blowout with be wearing orange.
Rice – vs Baylor, Saturday, September 21st
Southern Miss – at Mississippi State, Saturday, September 7th
By some metrics, USM is supposed to be the best team in the conference in 2019, and I can definitely see where that’s coming from. They had a nasty defense last year, and almost all of the players responsible for that nasty defense are returning this year. The only thing they have to make sure of if they want to contend for the conference championship is that they have an actual offense. Jay Hopson tried this offseason very hard to make sure that was the case, um, by attempting to hire Art Briles, which everyone was supportive of and happy about. Outside of that move (which really painted their university and our conference in a great light), Hopson made some solid coordinator hires. There were multiple games where the outstanding defensive effort was wasted by the stagnant offense, and USM might have had a chance to win the title if that wasn’t the case. I’ve sort of gone off on a rant, but all this to say: the defense is going to be great again. If the offense performs well against MSU, we might have an upset on our hands.
Southern Miss – at Alabama, Saturday, September 21st
A UAB fan’s two favorite schools on earth will go at it this season, and we all know how this is going to end. I mean, Southern Miss deserves to suffer, but does it really have to be at the advantage of… that team?
UAB – at Tennessee, Saturday, November 2nd
Every year we say we’re going to beat the one P5 we play, and every year we lose by double-digits. This might be the worst one we’ve played since The Return, but we also have no idea how good we will be. I think it might go either way. If our new guys step up and the lines even come near last year’s level of production, we might have a chance. Tennessee improved their offensive line, but Guarantano is still an inconsistent QB and makes mistakes that can be capitalized on. Spencer Brown will also have many opportunities to break down the Vol defensive front, which is replacing four starters and will be inexperienced. Also we better win because I’m going and I’m not going to drive like 4 hours to see us lose to a not even that cool SEC team.
UTEP – at Texas Tech, Saturday, September 7th
I found this cool game from when both teams were semi-relevant. Too bad UTEP’s terrible now. C-USA is more fun with a good UTEP.
UTSA – at Baylor, Saturday, September 7th
Frank Wilson is not very good, I do not enjoy watching his teams, it’s sad to see a fanbase as good as UTSA’s saddled with Wilson, I am sorry to Roadrunner fans, remember when they won this game? That was pretty cool. That will not happen this year, because the offense will probably continue to be MIND-BLOWINGLY bad. Bill Connelly is a college football writer, formerly of SB Nation and now at ESPN, who uses really interesting tools to evaluate teams. One of those tools is a radar, which shows how proficient a team is in categories he believes to be the most important for success. I would like to share UTSA’s 2018 offensive radar.
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The closer the dots are to the middle, the worse a team is in a category. For comparison, this is the 2018 offensive radar for my favorite team, UAB.
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Do you notice anything off about the first one?
Maybe that
UTSA ranked almost dead last
in EVERY category Connelly considers important for offensive success?
And it’s not looking too much better for 2019, so strap in, Runner fans!
UTSA – at Texas A&M, Saturday, November 2nd
We thought we could win in College Station, too. Seeing as A&M is markedly better than they were last year, and UTSA is markedly worse than we were last year, the math isn’t very hard.
WKU – vs Louisville, Saturday, September 14th (Nashville)
Ah yes, the Cleanest Teams in College Sports bowl. I wish both of them could win, because Western and Louisville really exemplify what it means to be part of the NCAA family. But one of them does have to lose, and it will probably be WKU because they are terrible. Louisville is also terrible, yes, but they do not have this special teams unit, meaning they will win the game.
WKU – at Arkansas, Saturday, November 9th
It was funny when North Texas did it, but if Western Kentucky University strolled into Fayetteville and won by 27, my life would be complete. I’m higher on Arkansas than most, due in some part to their aforementioned recruiting class, and I believe their defense is going to improve by a decent margin. Although the Tops have been rescued from the coaching of Mike Sanford, I still don’t think they are going to be good enough to beat any SEC team, even Arkansas, at home. The QB situation is still in question, and the rushing defense will, in all likelihood, be horrible again.
Rankings
I really don’t believe the conference has many chances to pull off an upset this year in general, which is why USM at Mississippi State is ranked so high. I don’t think there’s any way that a team like UTEP, Rice, or UTSA beats any of the teams they play, and I also don’t think anyone in the conference is going to beat Alabama or Clemson or Michigan in their home stadiums.
Ranked from 1. upset most likely to occur to 21. upset least likely to occur.
1. FIU vs Miami
2. USM at Mississippi State
3. MTSU vs Duke
4. UNT at Cal
5. UAB at Tennessee
6. WKU at Louisville
7. MTSU at Iowa
8. WKU at Arkansas
9. LA Tech at Texas
10. ODU at Virginia
11. ODU at Virginia Tech
12. UTEP at Texas Tech
13. Rice vs Wake Forest
14. Rice vs Baylor
15. Rice vs Texas
16. UTSA at Baylor
17. UTSA at Texas A&M
18. FAU at Ohio State
19. MTSU at Michigan
20. Southern Miss at Alabama
21. Charlotte at Clemson
I know this wasn’t high-level analysis in any way, but if you liked it, consider following on Twitter.
Twitter: @UABBlog
Quick Look at the 19-20 Football Schedule
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 
