Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the UAB season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– UAB Previews 2018 | 2017
2018 Record: 11-3 overall, 7-1 in Conference USA
Head Coach: Bill Clark, 4th year: 25–14
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UAB OFFENSE
– The offense wasn’t all that efficient throwing the ball, and it finished fifth in Conference USA, but Spencer Brown and the ground game were fantastic – averaging over 200 yards per game – and the O was outstanding at keeping the chains moving. But now a slew of key parts are gone with four starters done on the line, the top four receivers finished, and QB AJ Erdely gone, but …
– Tyler Johnston got in plenty of work and appears ready to keep the offense going just fine. He had a good offseason and looked and played the part of a starting quarterback to build around, and the receiving corps should be good, too … with a little bit of time. It was an explosive group last year – led by bowl star Xavier Ubosi – and now it’s up to Kendall Parham and Austin Watkins to fill in the gaps. They looked ready this spring to blow up.
– The offensive line got just enough work in among the backups to not be starting from scratch, but there will be a step back. There are promising, big blockers, and now the coaching staff needs to find the right combination for the front five. Greg Fecanin is back after starting at center, but he could move around, and Lee Dufour and Colby Ragland should grow into decent tackles … maybe. Give it a full fall camp before this comes together.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE UAB DEFENSE
– Yeah, it might not be quite as bad as it seems, but you don’t get better after losing ten of the top 14 tackles and a slew of all-stars off a fantastic D. The Blazers finished fifth in the nation in sacks, ninth in total defense – allowing fewer than 300 yards per game – and was second in the country in third down defense. The basics are there, but there’s still work to be done, mostly because …
– The secondary takes the biggest hit at the safety spots. Fitzgerald Mofor is a star at one outside linebacker spot, and Kris Moll is going to do even more in the corps, but not having Mar’sean Diggs and Broderick Thomas is going to take a bit to get over. However, Dy’Jonn Turner is a good one, and Brontae Harris is a terrific corner.
– Five of the top six sackers are gone. However, the heat won’t stop coming just because Jamell Garcia-Williams, Tre Crawford and Quindarius Thagard are done. The Blazers bring it from several spots – 16 Blazers registered a sack. The nice part about the system is how it appears to be good enough to not have a problem losing any one player, but now the prospects have to turn into producers.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP UAB PLAYERS
Best UAB Offensive Player
RB Spencer Brown, Jr.
Was Brown the real deal after a 1,329-yard, ten-touchdown freshman season? Absolutely, taking off for 1,227 yards and 16 touchdowns with a receiving score. A strong 6-0, 220-pound runner with the burst to come up with big dashes to go along with his power and thump around the goal line. With nine games with 20 carries or more, he’s able to handle the load and take a beating, but the closer he is to 200 carries than 300 by the end of the season, the better.
2. QB Tyler Johnson, Soph.
3. WR Kendall Parham, Sr.
4. OT Colby Ragland, Jr.
5. C Greg Fecanin, Jr.
Best UAB Defensive Player
DT Garrett Marino. Sr.
A short, powerful defensive tackle whose main ability is to hold firm up front in the 3-4. He only came up with 19 tackles, but he generated 3.5 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss and a slew of quarterback hurries. The former transfer from Montana State won’t do anything gaudy, but every coach would love to have a guy like him up front.
2. CB Brontae Harris, Jr.
3. LB Fitzgerald Mofor, Sr.
4. LB Kristopher Moll, Jr.
5. DT Fish McWilliams, Soph.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The UAB Offense
The interceptions have to slow down. Considering Spencer Brown and the running game should dominate the time of possession, and the offense as a whole is going to be good again at moving the chains, it would be nice to limit the picks. Granted, this is a deep-play attack at times, and it’s easy to rely on the great defense to clean up the mess, but the Blazers threw 16 picks with just two games without giving one away. Overall, UAB was -4 in turnover margin in the three losses, and +4 in the 11 wins.
Biggest Key To The UAB Defense
The run defense has to always hold up. The Blazers have been amazing over the last two seasons of rebirth and controlling the tempo and tenor of games, but that goes bye-bye when the run defense gets hammered. Two years ago, UAB allowed 200 rushing yards or more six times and lost four of those games.
Last season, the D gave up two bills just twice, and lost both games. In those games, Coastal Carolina and Texas A&M combined for seven rushing scores – no one else came up with more than one against a run D that allowed 13 total all year. To take this even further, UAB is 2-6 over the last two years when allowing two or more rushing scores.
Key Player To A Successful Season
OT Colby Ragland, Sr.
Even with so many parts missing from the receiving corps, at linebacker, and on the defensive front, it’s the offensive line that’s going into fall camp with the most unsettled situation. The pieces are there, but the puzzle has to be put together. On the plus side, the 6-5, 305-pound Ragland appears to have cemented one of the tackle gigs. If he can become a rock at left tackle, everything else should turn out fine.
Key Game To The UAB Season
at North Texas, Nov. 30
The road date at Southern Miss in early November matters, and hosting Louisiana Tech on the UAB Senior Day will be a big deal, but it’ll be probably be hard to take the West again without beating the explosive North Texas team in Denton to end the regular season. In a perfect world, thanks to a not-that-bad slate, UAB will have it wrapped up by the end of November.
– UAB Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 UAB Fun Stats
– Sacks: UAB 48 for 303 yards – Opponents 23 for 171 yards
– Penalties: UAB 95 for 1,023 yards – Opponents 63 for 597 yards
– Fumbles: Opponents 18 (lost 11) – UAB 11 (lost 4)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. UAB WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
UAB had to reboot the program two years ago, and head coach Bill Clark did a wonderful job of getting it all going again in a hurry with 19 wins, two bowl appearances and a Conference USA title.
Now it’s time to reload.
The basics are in place for UAB to keep this terrific run going, but with so many key parts gone, so many new starters, and so many uncertain factors, assume this will be more like the eight-win team of 2017 than the 2018 powerhouse of last season.
But that’s still a major positive. It’s not often that a program – especially at the Group of Five level – can lose 17 starters and not fall off the map. The replacements are good enough to make some noise again, but there’s too much of an overhaul to make it two straight C-USA championships.
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 8
The nice part about the rebuild is the schedule – it couldn’t be lighter and breezier.
The first ten games of the Blazer season are against teams that didn’t go bowling last year, and then comes the Louisiana Tech showdown at home. Of course, going to Tennessee won’t be easy, and playing at Southern Miss is a problem, but it’s not totally insane to suggest that UAB might just be around the 8-2 mark going into late November.
There will be a misfire or two, though – sort of like the clunker against Coastal Carolina last season – but anything less than another bowl appearance and a shot at the C-USA West title going into Thanksgiving weekend would be a massive disappointment.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
