The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Now that we have had a chance to see our Blazers in action, as well as some of our opponents, what's your take on the rest of the season? Here's what I see:

At home vs. Alabama A&M: This should be an easy win. I can't imagine us losing this game in the Bill Clark era.

At home vs. FIU: Any team that loses to FIU this season should be disbanded. Another easy win.

That puts us at 3-1 going into the meat of our conference schedule, an unthinkable place to be under our last two buffoons of head coaches.

At Western Kentucky. This will be a test for our defense and our offense. WKU is a solid team. However, we showed we can go on the road into a hostile environment against MSU, and hold our own. I think this game comes down to the team that makes the most mistakes, and I hope we learned our lesson about mistakes last week out of conference. We win in a close one.

At home vs. North Texas. This team confuses me. It looked terrible against Texas, which in turn looked terrible against BYU. However, it bounced back and destroyed SMU. We'll know more about UNT after La Tech, Nicholls State and Indiana, three games they should win. Since we are at home, I give us the edge. Another win.

This puts us at 5-1, one win away from bowl eligibility. But we also enter the hard part of our schedule at this point.

At Middle Tennessee. This game concerns me. MTSU went into Minnesota and found itself down 28-0, and managed to mount a decent second-half comeback. It was two first-half interceptions deep in Gopher territory that helped Minnesota take that big first-half lead. This is a strong team, and at MTSU could be a problem. They have more depth than us, and by this point in the season, both teams are bound to have some injuries. Plus, it's on the road. I think we lose this one. 5-2.

At Arkansas. It's an $EC school. Need I say more? 5-3.

At Florida Atlantic. Who knows what this team is like? It's first two games were against Nebraska and Alabama, and while Nebraska showed Saturday it's no powerhouse anymore, it's not as if FAU is in their league. Even though we travel there, we win this one, and become bowl eligible. 6-3.

At home vs. Louisiana Tech. Destroyed by Oklahama. Crushed La-La, a bad SEC school. We should win this at home without problem. Holy crap, we're 7-3?

At home vs. Marshall. This is our conference's pre-season premiere pick to win the conference. Hell, many have picked them to go undefeated. They didn't look all that solid at Miami of Ohio. They demolished Rhode Island. They don't play a single game against a Big Five conference, or against a top program, for that matter. The closest things to a test Marshall has before us are a road game at ODU and its homecoming games against. MTSU. While Marshall may be undefeated when they hit Legion Field, it will not have been tested like we have, and they come into our house. We take the thunder out of the Herd and any hopes our conference may have had of playing in a New Year's Six Bowl with a good, old-fashioned beating. And Jesus Christ, we've got our best record in school history at 8-3.

On the road at Southern Miss. Revenge shall be ours. And we end the regular season 9-3 and are headed to our first-ever C-USA Championship game. Earthquakes, boils, locusts and frogs, however, cancel the game. Paul Bryant Jr. is seen in a cloak on Red Mountain summoning demons from the gates of hell, and is revealed as the anti-Christ. But it was fun while it lasted.

I feel like we have a real chance in every game we have left to play and that we could foresee 8 or 9 wins. The only thing that worries me is the false hope that McGee gave us with great performances versus Ohio State and the like early in the season. I hope and pray it's for real this time. Fun part is we get to find out soon

I like what you have done here... I say if that happens we are going to average over 30,000 fans at home games and the BOT approves an on-campus stadium by August 2015.

I'm gonna say 7-5.

A&M=win
FIU=win
WKU=loss
North Texas=win
MTSU=loss
Arkansas=loss
FAU=win
La Tech=win
Marshall=loss
USM=win

I think we have a chance in each of our remaining games, but this is my conservative estimate with us losing some games on the road and going down to probably the best team in the conference in Marshall. If we end up 7-5 and headed to a bowl game I think everyone here would be ecstatic.

(09-07-2014 06:35 PM)BTR Wrote:  I say if that happens we are going to average over 30,000 fans at home games and the BOT approves an on-campus stadium by August 2015.

I still don't think that will happen for another decade, or possibly ever, but I like your spirit. In a just world, you would be right.

Finis & PBJ may catch the plague.

Oct is the month that separates the pretenders from the contenders. I think we'll be in the latter

(09-07-2014 06:35 PM)BTR Wrote:  I like what you have done here... I say if that happens we are going to average over 30,000 fans at home games and the BOT approves an on-campus stadium by August 2015.

We could average 40,000 three years in a row and they would not approve it

I'd trade MTSU for Marshall. We owe them a beatin' and even though Marshall's not the same team on the road, they're going to be awfully tough.

On second thought, let's just run the friggin' table.

(09-07-2014 06:15 PM)Grammar-Nazi Wrote:  At home vs. Alabama A&M: W

At home vs. FIU: W

At Western Kentucky. Toss up. This is where the real season starts. Can we win on the road? This is where we can make a turn from pretender to contender. (Remember I said this game will turn the season.)

At home vs. North Texas. Toss up. Can we beat a proven winner?


At Middle Tennessee. Toss up

At Arkansas. Toss up. If we are on a roll, I can see this being a win.

At Florida Atlantic. W

At home vs. Louisiana Tech. W

At home vs. Marshall. Toss up. Home field advantage and a strong team at this point of the season can turn this game in our favor.

On the road at Southern Miss. W We will beat them like they stole something. We will not forget last season. Our motor will be running until the last second. Even the backups will make the point.

Worst case: 6-6
Best Case: 11-1


Coaching is the major difference. Mackin needs to start thinking long term plans now, not later.

(09-07-2014 07:32 PM)bladhmadh Wrote:  

(09-07-2014 06:35 PM)BTR Wrote:  I like what you have done here... I say if that happens we are going to average over 30,000 fans at home games and the BOT approves an on-campus stadium by August 2015.

We could average 40,000 three years in a row and they would not approve it

In that case, they would be happy to move us to a smaller stadium!

Even if we can get an average of 30,000 or even 35,000 I would bet the BOT will then claim that we haven't shown support CONSISTENTLY. Initially they just say they want to see support, but once there's support, they are going to likely demand consistent support.

Short term stadium talk is irrelevant. We have other needs that are more pressing and affordable. Indoor practice facility, more meeting room space and continued enhancements of existing facilities right now are more important. The practice facility is especially important.

The most pressing issue right now is A&M. Take it one week at a time.

A&M: win
FIU: win (worried it may be closer than we think)
WKU: loss
North Texas: loss
MTSU: loss
Arkansas: loss
FAU: win
La Tech: loss
Marshall: loss
USM: win

We are light years better under HCBC, but I am not sure that we are 9-3 material. There are 4 more wins out there for us to take. To me, UNT and La Tech are the question mark games. If we beat UNT, then that is a statement because I believe they will be really good this year. WKU will be very tough to defeat, especially on the road. MTSU falls into that same category. For now, I still see 5-7, but I really hope that I am wrong.

What I do know for certain is this: It is so much fun to see a well-disciplined football team play with passion, yet be fundamentally sound in most areas. There is something special happening on the south side!

Let's get a crowd to the game Saturday, and show our appreciation for restoring hope to our football program.

Go Blazers!

"Short term stadium talk is irrelevant. We have other needs that are more pressing and affordable. Indoor practice facility, more meeting room space and continued enhancements of existing facilities right now are more important. The practice facility is especially important."

This statement is absolutely correct. An indoor practice facility and new coaches offices are the most important capital needs to elevate our recruiting.

If we get an indoor practice facility approved and built, I will take gymnastics classes to learn how to do a standing back tuck, get somebody to tape me doing it, and post it on YouTube. Write that down.

If we get an on-campus stadium approved and built in my lifetime, I will attend all games in its inaugural season dressed in drag. You can write that one down as well.

(09-07-2014 09:05 PM)Taylor Blazer Wrote:  A&M: win
FIU: win (worried it may be closer than we think)
WKU: loss
North Texas: loss
MTSU: loss
Arkansas: loss
FAU: win
La Tech: loss
Marshall: loss
USM: win

We are light years better under HCBC, but I am not sure that we are 9-3 material. There are 4 more wins out there for us to take. To me, UNT and La Tech are the question mark games. If we beat UNT, then that is a statement because I believe they will be really good this year. WKU will be very tough to defeat, especially on the road. MTSU falls into that same category. For now, I still see 5-7, but I really hope that I am wrong.

What I do know for certain is this: It is so much fun to see a well-disciplined football team play with passion, yet be fundamentally sound in most areas. There is something special happening on the south side!

Let's get a crowd to the game Saturday, and show our appreciation for restoring hope to our football program.

Go Blazers!

Based on what I've seen so far this is a worst case scenario. I can tell you Arkansas fans are certainly not writing us off as a win for sure. They have their own issues right now. I do agree that watching this team is fun no matter what. Yesterday was just a matter of upfront personnel. Frankly we matched up with them even or better in a lot of positions. And they played like it.

I hear they have these things called Bowl Games where if you win enough games you get to play another game after the end of the season.

Heck, I think you may even be able to play in a conference championship game if you are good enough.

Frankly, we are in such unusual circumstances that we fear we will awake to find the season going south on us. We are experiencing the same "learning how to win" phenomenon as the team may be having but complicated by our much longer experience with seasonal collapse. We seem to be waiting for the "other shoe" to drop and bring us back to the reality we had in the past. Maybe one day we will be more confident that the season will be successfully completed and a bowl game on our annual schedule.

As usual, cb is dead on

Turning Point #1 was Troy. We passed with flying colors. After that game, there was a 90% chance that we'd begin the season 3-1. Now, WKU is Turning Point #2. The players must maintain focus going into the next two games, but as fans, we're allowed to look a bit into the future.

There are four remaining games in which we should be comfortable favorites. That means we need to win two of the five remaining toss-ups (assuming Arkansas is a loss). I think the odds of going 7-5 and reaching a bowl are looking much better. We'll know for sure after the WKU game whether this team can contend for a Top 3 finish in the East division.