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

(12-07-2018 04:51 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  I'll keep it simple. The strength of this years team were the offensive and defensive lines. It's the line play that will drop off next year.

Less simple:

Offensive line: Even if the backups were to turn out as talented as they guys that are leaving (and that's a big if), it will still take half the season for the new line to reach anywhere near the level of unit cohesion of the offensive line that we have this year. Thats going to hurt our offense, especially early in the year.

Defensive line: Anthony Rush is the best NT that has ever played at UAB. He is a 6'5 350 pound immensely powerful human being that moves well for his size. Teams have to double him every play, and he beats those double teams an unfair amount of the time. There is not another Anthony Rush on this roster. We have two 6'7-6'8 rush ends that are explosive and athletic. We lose them both. Over all, we lose six out of our top seven defensive linemen. Tre Cawford is technically a LB but he is a designated pass rusher for us, so if you want to count him as a lineman then we lose 7 of 8. We will take a big step back on defense because of these losses next year, it's unavoidable.

That's assuming Mareno returns - I think he will. We do have some players who have played meaningful minutes at the OL and DL positions, but we lack depth...

Will we be less experienced overall than we were kicking off against AL A&M last year? Plus who we have returning will have championship experience and confidence.

I don't expect back to back titles but some of the predictions of our demise are wishful thinking. We went from Death to 8 wins. I feel pretty good about how Coach Clark will put the team together.

we are also in a conference with some really horrible teams. we get utep and rice every year.

Some of you forget just how bad the 2013 UAB football team was before Clark came in.

If we can get our O-Line right, we can leviate the defense a bit by holding on to the ball on offense with TJ3 & Brown . Thus forcing our opponents to beat us with fewer possessions.

(12-07-2018 07:35 PM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  Will we be less experienced overall than we were kicking off against AL A&M last year? Plus who we have returning will have championship experience and confidence.

I don't expect back to back titles but some of the predictions of our demise are wishful thinking. We went from Death to 8 wins. I feel pretty good about how Coach Clark will put the team together.

I agree. Brown and basically Johnston didn’t play the first game against mtsu. We have some obvious holes at the moment, and I’m sure Clark is aware. As long as he’s around I expect us to be okay. Ten wins again is unlikely, but competing for the west isn’t out of the question.

(12-08-2018 12:58 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Ten wins again is unlikely, but competing for the west isn’t out of the question.

Why not 10 wins?

Akron fired Roly Poly Terry.

South Alabama went 3-9 (but did beat Coastal).

We have Alabama State.

Western sucked and has a new coach – who worked for Garrick McGee

We play Rice and UTEP here. And #CUAB refs will gift us another win over LaTech.

That’s seven. Just have to find three more.

Were dooooooooomed

We were supposed to take a step back this year is what people said. Snuck up on everyone. Take a step back on defense. We can’t replace what we lost. How can the line be better. We were blown out in a bowl how can we be better. BV Was a bad hire at OC blah blah blah

If we take a step back to 7 or 8 wins and another bowl I think I can live with that and then have another run at CUSA the next year. I’d like to see how we do in recruiting and watch spring and summer ball before I throw dirt on our grave. I’m not gonna rule out competing for the west next year until my eyes tell me otherwise.

(12-08-2018 01:20 AM)58-56 Wrote:  

(12-08-2018 12:58 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Ten wins again is unlikely, but competing for the west isn’t out of the question.

Why not 10 wins?

Akron fired Roly Poly Terry.

South Alabama went 3-9 (but did beat Coastal).

We have Alabama State.

Western sucked and has a new coach – who worked for Garrick McGee

We play Rice and UTEP here. And #CUAB refs will gift us another win over LaTech.

That’s seven. Just have to find three more.

This is one of the things that has helped us win a lot of games. We’ve played pretty easy schedules overall - that was smart IMO. Under our other coaching clowns, we played a schedule that pretty much doomed us to 0-3 or 1-2 off the bat every year. It was hard for us to scrounge up enough wins for a bowl after that and we would get beat up in those games. I’d love us to take more chances against the big boys as the program improves, but for now, I’m happy playing a schedule that makes it likely we can be bowl eligible most, if not all, years.

(12-08-2018 08:15 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Were dooooooooomed

We were supposed to take a step back this year is what people said. Snuck up on everyone. Take a step back on defense. We can’t replace what we lost. How can the line be better. We were blown out in a bowl how can we be better. BV Was a bad hire at OC blah blah blah

If we take a step back to 7 or 8 wins and another bowl I think I can live with that and then have another run at CUSA the next year. I’d like to see how we do in recruiting and watch spring and summer ball before I throw dirt on our grave. I’m not gonna rule out competing for the west next year until my eyes tell me otherwise.

I agree. Our defense won’t be as good, but hopefully we can adjust our play style to compensate. I think we will be fine next year. I think Clark will field a winner no matter what. Win CUSA again the following year, maybe even make a run at it next year too

We have three gimmies in fcs utep and rice. We just need to find three more to be bowl eligible

Six wins we most likely don’t go bowling better get 7.

Southern Miss says hello.

(12-08-2018 09:01 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  

(12-08-2018 01:20 AM)58-56 Wrote:  

(12-08-2018 12:58 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Ten wins again is unlikely, but competing for the west isn’t out of the question.

Why not 10 wins?

Akron fired Roly Poly Terry.

South Alabama went 3-9 (but did beat Coastal).

We have Alabama State.

Western sucked and has a new coach – who worked for Garrick McGee

We play Rice and UTEP here. And #CUAB refs will gift us another win over LaTech.

That’s seven. Just have to find three more.

This is one of the things that has helped us win a lot of games. We’ve played pretty easy schedules overall - that was smart IMO. Under our other coaching clowns, we played a schedule that pretty much doomed us to 0-3 or 1-2 off the bat every year. It was hard for us to scrounge up enough wins for a bowl after that and we would get beat up in those games. I’d love us to take more chances against the big boys as the program improves, but for now, I’m happy playing a schedule that makes it likely we can be bowl eligible most, if not all, years.

Another great post from The Answer.

(12-08-2018 10:32 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Six wins we most likely don’t go bowling better get 7.

Heck it's about at 8 now.

May have received a commitment from this DL from Decatur today.

https://247sports.com/player/kevin-penn-46057355/

(12-07-2018 08:58 PM)Dracorex Wrote:  Some of you forget just how bad the 2013 UAB football team was before Clark came in.

Umm.. but we had some serious talent and experience, big difference.

(12-08-2018 09:20 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  May have received a commitment from this DL from Decatur today.

https://247sports.com/player/kevin-penn-46057355/

So, how are the visits going? Any news - aside from Penn mentioned above?

(12-08-2018 09:57 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(12-08-2018 09:20 PM)the_blazerman Wrote:  May have received a commitment from this DL from Decatur today.

https://247sports.com/player/kevin-penn-46057355/

So, how are the visits going? Any news - aside from Penn mentioned above?

Jordan Smith must be done with his visit. Hasn’t said nothing abt UAB and already posted USM graphics for his OV there Tomorrow.

Terrell McDonald posted a tweet with pic in UAB Uni under the pavillion. Included “Dec 19” in post. That’s early signing day, day after our bowl game.

Just like rebuilding a football program to modern state of the art competitiveness requires more than one new building and new practice fields, it also takes a constantly refreshed supply of talented players and skilled replacement coaches (when hired away). Coach Clark knows well how this game is played and won. I'm sure his "wish list" in all these categories is still far from complete.

I have never heard of Clark saying in 2014 that "UAB can win with the facilities we already have and the players we already have" as stated by former FBHC McGee before having his 5-19 two season record. Many applauded his arrival words - until the real results were recorded.

The reality is that UAB has just begun to build the program FBHC Clark desires to build and several more seasons - some better than others - are looming ahead. Don't expect a smooth ride every year.