The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Brown Talks About Upcoming Game Against Army
10/27/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 27, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- After back-to-back narrow defeats to a pair of nationally-ranked opponents, UAB head football coach Watson Brown and selected players discussed their upcoming game against Army with the media here Monday. The Blazers will celebrate Homecoming as they host the Black Knights on Saturday, November 1 at 3 p.m. at Legion Field.
"Their (Army) last two games, they've played very well," Brown said. "They lost a very close game at home to East Carolina and then lost by four to Cincinnati. They are playing good football right now. The games we've played with them, except one, have been close. Last year, we had to go 82 yards in 1:02 minutes to beat them, so I wouldn't say that we're an overconfident bunch right now."
The Blazers are coming off their second-straight three-point loss to a top-25 team. UAB narrowly lost to No. 4 Georgia, 16-13, at Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga., last Saturday. The Blazers played the game with redshirt freshman quarterback Chris Williams, who was making his first-career start. One week earlier, UAB almost knocked off No. 13 TCU, falling, 27-24.
"We played well, but we didn't play well enough to win," Brown said. "We're very disappointed. Hopefully, we'll gain a lot from it, gain some confidence. Unfortunately, we got on the bus with a loss. Now, we've got four straight conference games, two of them at home. They are all very important games and we've got to get our minds right. We have to get ready for Army and that's not going to be easy."
UAB has won all three of the previous meetings between the two teams. The Blazers won by a 29-26 score last year at West Point. Quarterback Darrell Hackney connected with wide receiver Willie Quinnie on a 20-yard touchdown pass with only :08 remaining in the game. UAB won 55-3 at Legion Field two seasons ago.
"It's a lot of the same players from last season," Brown said. "They returned a lot of starters. We didn't move the ball well last year, so we're going to have to work hard to score some points. I think that's going to be our issue the rest of the year. Anytime you lose key players and people have to step up, that's a concern. Army's a pass first, run second team. The last couple of teams we've played have been run first, pass second. We're going to have to adjust to that a little bit. It's been awhile since we played that style of offense, but we've played it well. We had more trouble stopping the run in the past and I hope that trend doesn't change. We have done a good job of stopping the pass and I hope that continues because that's what Army is going to try to do."
After starting the season 1-3, the Blazers have won two of their last four games. UAB is now 3-5 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Despite many key changes in personnel, the Blazers have played more consistently and have also cut down the number of turnovers during the past few games. UAB started the year with 12 turnovers in its first four games, but has only given the ball up five times in the last four games.
"I think the effort has been there all year," Brown said. "I think we had an attitude problem in Columbia, but we've played better the last four games. Nine turnovers in those early losses (versus Southern Miss and Troy State) covered up a lot of nice plays by a lot of players. The last four games, we've played good football. The kids have had an aggressive attitude and they've learned how to win. They've gone in with a gameplan and have executed them well. Even though we're playing with a lot of different kids than we were five weeks ago, the effort is still there. I hope we take the positives from Georgia and get ready to play Army because if we don't, we lose."
Player Quotes
Defensive Tackle Shamar Abrams
On how the defense played against No.4-ranked Georgia "After the first drive (when Georgia scored its lone touchdown), we got together on the sideline and figured out what we had to do in order to settle down and we did."
On finishing the season against four Conference USA opponents
"Right now, we're just worried about taking it one game at a time. We're just focused on Army and we're looking forward to working on our game plan for this week."
On Army's offense
"Their offense is really good and they've been in almost every game this season. It has just been the little things that have kept them from pulling out a win. I know that they have a really good offense and we're just going to have to continue doing what we've been doing in the last four games. Hopefully, then we can stop their offense."
Quarterback Chris Williams
On making his first start in front of 92,000 people against Georgia
"I was very excited. I loved it. I believe that I could do it again if I had to."
On the importance of completing the first big pass of the day to Bradly Chavez
"It was very important. I believe that it boosted my confidence, but we weren't able to come away with a win and that's all that we were really worried about."
On his first conference start against Army
"Army is very good on defense. We know that they will be a tough team, but I think that we are playing really well as a team."
On if he is comfortable with the offense
"I know the offense, it's just a matter of running it to perfection. I have to get it perfected."
On if he has picked out a go-to receiver
"No, I like all of the receivers. As long as they catch the ball, I like them."
On the importance of having someone like Trey Chaney (running back) with him in the backfield
"It's very important, because a good running game makes it easy on me whenever I drop back to pass. When we can run the ball well, then they can't get that much of a pass rush on me."
Offensive Lineman Larry Coachman
On doing a good job of protecting Chris Williams in his first start against Georgia
"As an experienced offensive line, the most important thing that we wanted to do was to run the ball. It keeps the pressure off of Chris and as the game went on we were able to ease into the passing game. Our main goal was to go in there and run the ball and fortunately we were able to do that."
On the talk in the locker room at halftime after tying the game at 10-10
"We knew that we could not only stay in the game, but that we could play with them. We realized that they were the No. 4-ranked team in the nation, but our intentions every week are to go out and to win. We just wanted to give ourselves a chance to win in the fourth quarter and we were able to do that."
On facing a winless team in Army this week
"I've played against Army three times in my career and I know that they will definitely give us their best. Last year, we went up to West Point, N.Y., and they gave us a fight in the game. I expect nothing less than that this year, because you know that they will always give 100 percent. This is a conference game and we're going to have to be ready to play ball against them. Hopefully, we can go out there and do our best to win this game."
Wide Receiver Bradly Chavez
On his big first catch in the Georgia game
"I think that it was a big play for us, because we were able to run the ball so well against them. Toward the end of the game, they started to put more people up in the box and it opened up some more opportunities for us in the passing game."
On what he does differently to help Chris Williams
"I don't really do anything differently, because Chris is his own man and he's grown and matured. It's helped me that I had practiced with him on the second team a lot earlier this season. He's his own person and he's handled it all really well."
On how he is different than Darrell Hackney
"Everybody is going to be different than Darrell, because only Darrell can be Darrell. I think that Darrell throws the ball harder, but Chris can surprise you sometimes, so they're really not too different."
On the mood of the team after coming so close to beating two top-15 ranked teams
"We're not content, because we definitely have a lot more work to do. Even though both teams were ranked, it's still an 'L' on paper, so we just have to push forward and get ready to play Army this week."
Linebacker Zac Woodfin
On the mood of the team after two close losses against top-15 ranked teams
"We're pretty upset that we didn't pull out the two big upsets against TCU and Georgia, but I think that our mood is upset in a way because we didn't win. I think that we're kind of happy in a way also, because we know that we played well and can play against anybody in the country right now. We took a lot of positives out of these losses, but a loss is still a loss and they still hurt."
On this upcoming game against Army
"We're just trying to take it one game at a time. We know that Army is going to come in and play as hard as any other team that we've played all year, because that's who they are. They are going to give us their best shot and they're going to play us well. We're going to have to play really well this Saturday."
On the makeup of Army's offense compared to TCU and Georgia
"Army is totally different than the last two teams that we've played. They come out in a variety of different formations and they like to spread teams out and throw it quick. They throw a lot of short passes and crossing routes, so they are going to try and throw the ball a lot against us."
