11-11-2018, 10:47 AM
Guys, I'm running out of superlatives.
2018 CUSA West Champion UAB Blazers. Naturally, in a brawl with Southern Miss. I mentioned last night that UAB football has been conditioned to expect a fight and last night was no exception.
Three interceptions. One hundred yards in penalties. special teams mishaps. We did everything to lose this game.
And then we didn't.
This was a gut-check game. Southern came ready and punched us in the face. We responded (like good teams do) with 17 unanswered to take the lead. I thought they were done at that point, but I was wrong. Give them credit. They looked like a team primed to take it. If they'd played all year like they did last night, they'd be better than 4-5.
I can honestly believe we got their best shot.
And we won.
Most of you are old enough to remember going 0 for our first 9 against them. You'll also remember that the first 8 were close, hard-fought, and (for us) heartbreaking games.
We've beaten them before, but last night we were heartbreakers.
Anywho, on to the observations.
Don't piss the big man off
Anthony Rush. Senior. Cary High School. Raleigh, NC. 3 tackles. 1 solo. 1 sack. 1.5 TFL. If you think those aren't big stats from the nose position, try it some time. Big man was a destructive force last night.
It's nice to have you in SACKINGHAM
We put that kid on the ground seven, count them, seven times last night. Caused him to throw it away numerous other times, as well. This had a lot to do with their total of 5 rushing yards. Speaking of...
#FIREWALL
Take way all the sacks and they still only have 47 yards on the ground. They totaled 165 yards. But for the short fields we repeatedly gave them, and the penalty-aided drive to tie, our D straight up smothered them. But for the turnovers and penalties, we cover the spread. They were dominant.
Growing Pains
TJ3 came down to earth. The freshman finished 14/27 for 207 yards 1 TD. 3 picks. In fairness, one wasn't his fault, because Ubosi fell down. But also in fairness, Kalen Carter bailed him out on that TD. The DB had position, and Carter made one hell of a catch. He will learn from this game, and be better down the road because of it. The kids are a little faster at this level than he saw at Spanish Fort.
What can Brown do for you?
23 carries. 75 yards for a paltry 3.3 yard average. Southern's game plan was clearly to stop him, and it mostly worked. Until it didn't.
When we got to 3rd and two in OT, I was muttering to myself, "Spencer will get you two yards, Coach. Spencer will get you two yards, Coach." Well, you know how that played out. Got to talk to him briefly after the game. Level-headed, humble kid. May leave with the south side with every rushing record we got in his pocket.
Chillin'
Having sweated through my clothes at football games into the month of October, I was not going to complain about the weather. Layers. The key is layers. Besides, I had adrenaline keeping me warm all night, which is probably why I feel like the wrath of God this morning.
The Good
blazerwkr
We call him the Mad Genius, and those bacon-wrapped chicken bombs were proof of a loving God.
If you like defense...
Both teams brought it last night. No pinball shootout here.
The Bad
Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?
Tech fans. We were warned.
Laundry truck overturns on football field.
All these damn penalties! It's been a problem all year long, and accounted for about half their yards on a touchdown drive. That said, the officiating was typically abysmal.
The Ugly
Our tailgate and the guys' next to us were ransacked during the game last night. First time in 15 years of tailgating. Thievin' rat bastards. Really put a bad taste in everyone's mouth after coming off such a huge win.
So, what does this mean, Barbara?
I'll tell you what this means. It means UAB will play 14 games this year. One of them will be the conference championship game and one will be a bowl game. If you told me in December of '14 that we'd be here this morning, I'd have wondered if you'd gotten into the grapes.
Meantime, we've got A&M (not nearly as important a game as the local media and your SEC homer friends would have you believe) and Middle, a game in which we'll be favored.
There are a lot of teams that would like to be us right now. Let that marinate in your head for a minute. Better. Than. It's. Ever. Been. Done. Before.
That's all I got. For now. I think.
2018 CUSA West Champion UAB Blazers. Naturally, in a brawl with Southern Miss. I mentioned last night that UAB football has been conditioned to expect a fight and last night was no exception.
Three interceptions. One hundred yards in penalties. special teams mishaps. We did everything to lose this game.
And then we didn't.
This was a gut-check game. Southern came ready and punched us in the face. We responded (like good teams do) with 17 unanswered to take the lead. I thought they were done at that point, but I was wrong. Give them credit. They looked like a team primed to take it. If they'd played all year like they did last night, they'd be better than 4-5.
I can honestly believe we got their best shot.
And we won.
Most of you are old enough to remember going 0 for our first 9 against them. You'll also remember that the first 8 were close, hard-fought, and (for us) heartbreaking games.
We've beaten them before, but last night we were heartbreakers.
Anywho, on to the observations.
Don't piss the big man off
Anthony Rush. Senior. Cary High School. Raleigh, NC. 3 tackles. 1 solo. 1 sack. 1.5 TFL. If you think those aren't big stats from the nose position, try it some time. Big man was a destructive force last night.
It's nice to have you in SACKINGHAM
We put that kid on the ground seven, count them, seven times last night. Caused him to throw it away numerous other times, as well. This had a lot to do with their total of 5 rushing yards. Speaking of...
#FIREWALL
Take way all the sacks and they still only have 47 yards on the ground. They totaled 165 yards. But for the short fields we repeatedly gave them, and the penalty-aided drive to tie, our D straight up smothered them. But for the turnovers and penalties, we cover the spread. They were dominant.
Growing Pains
TJ3 came down to earth. The freshman finished 14/27 for 207 yards 1 TD. 3 picks. In fairness, one wasn't his fault, because Ubosi fell down. But also in fairness, Kalen Carter bailed him out on that TD. The DB had position, and Carter made one hell of a catch. He will learn from this game, and be better down the road because of it. The kids are a little faster at this level than he saw at Spanish Fort.
What can Brown do for you?
23 carries. 75 yards for a paltry 3.3 yard average. Southern's game plan was clearly to stop him, and it mostly worked. Until it didn't.
When we got to 3rd and two in OT, I was muttering to myself, "Spencer will get you two yards, Coach. Spencer will get you two yards, Coach." Well, you know how that played out. Got to talk to him briefly after the game. Level-headed, humble kid. May leave with the south side with every rushing record we got in his pocket.
Chillin'
Having sweated through my clothes at football games into the month of October, I was not going to complain about the weather. Layers. The key is layers. Besides, I had adrenaline keeping me warm all night, which is probably why I feel like the wrath of God this morning.
The Good
blazerwkr
We call him the Mad Genius, and those bacon-wrapped chicken bombs were proof of a loving God.
If you like defense...
Both teams brought it last night. No pinball shootout here.
The Bad
Would you like some cheese to go with that whine?
Tech fans. We were warned.
Laundry truck overturns on football field.
All these damn penalties! It's been a problem all year long, and accounted for about half their yards on a touchdown drive. That said, the officiating was typically abysmal.
The Ugly
Our tailgate and the guys' next to us were ransacked during the game last night. First time in 15 years of tailgating. Thievin' rat bastards. Really put a bad taste in everyone's mouth after coming off such a huge win.
So, what does this mean, Barbara?
I'll tell you what this means. It means UAB will play 14 games this year. One of them will be the conference championship game and one will be a bowl game. If you told me in December of '14 that we'd be here this morning, I'd have wondered if you'd gotten into the grapes.
Meantime, we've got A&M (not nearly as important a game as the local media and your SEC homer friends would have you believe) and Middle, a game in which we'll be favored.
There are a lot of teams that would like to be us right now. Let that marinate in your head for a minute. Better. Than. It's. Ever. Been. Done. Before.
That's all I got. For now. I think.