The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Brown Speaks With Media About Upcoming Tulane Game
11/3/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 3, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- Coming off of a 24-9 victory over Army, UAB head football coach Watson Brown and selected players talked with members of the media about their upcoming game against Tulane this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Legion Field. The game will be UAB's last home game of the season as four seniors, Wilbert Hamilton, Larry Coachman, Warren Butler and Artavious Williams finish out their Legion Field careers.
UAB fell to Tulane last season, 35-14, on Oct. 19 in New Orleans. The Blazers hold a 2-1 advantage in the series and won the only previous game at Legion Field, beating the Green Wave, 34-27, on Oct. 20, 2001. Tulane will attempt to snap a five-game losing streak. The Green Wave was defeated by Navy, 35-17, on Nov. 1.
"I'm concerned because Tulane matches up with us well," Brown said. "They spread you out and we've had some trouble recently with the ball-control pass. We've played the run much better, but they have great speed on offense. I know they have a first-round draft pick at quarterback (J.P. Losman) and a lot of injuries on the defensive side and have struggled there. Our offense needs to keep the ball. We've had a lot of injuries that have hurt us, so I hope it doesn't balance out, giving their offense too many plays. I think we're going to have to play better than we did last week. We're not going to beat Tulane if we don't play a better game."
Tulane's offense is averaging 391.8 yards per game, including 128.8 yards on the ground. Running back Mewelde Moore, the preseason offensive player-of-the-year in Conference USA, has recorded five-straight 100-yard rushing games. Quarterback Losman is also playing well for the Green Wave. The senior is 200-of-333 attempts for 2,351 yards and 24 touchdowns.
"They are very good on offense," said Brown. "Our defense is going to have their hands full. Our offense is going to have to help keep our defense off the field. If we can't do that, look out, because they can score a lot of points. They are the most dangerous team on the schedule, I think, with their receivers, running back and quarterback."
The Blazers defeated Army last Saturday, 24-9, snapping a two-game losing streak. UAB improved to 4-5 on the season and 3-2 in conference action. The Blazers had lost two close games to ranked opponents in the two weeks prior, losing to TCU, 27-24, before falling to Georgia, 16-13.
"I think both teams made some big plays," Brown said. "We had some huge plays in the kicking game and some big passing plays. Army got fumbles from us that kept them in the game. They knocked the ball loose and those were some nice plays for them. We've got to take care of the ball better, but they hit the ball perfectly. It made for an interesting second half. After watching the game, I thought our players played well. I don't think it was our best game, but we played well and did what we had to do to win the game."
Redshirt freshman Chris Williams has now started two games this season, playing for the injured Darrell Hackney. Williams has totaled 278 yards on 17-of 37 attempts, including a touchdown pass and one rushing TD. Against Army, Williams connected with freshman wide receiver Nick Coon for a 91-yard touchdown pass.
"I think he's played well," Brown said. "I thought he played very well against Georgia. He didn't play as well against Army, but he did make some big plays. I think he'll play better against Tulane. Every time he goes out there, he'll be a little better. He's from New Orleans, so I think he'll be excited to play Tulane. It's sort of an 'old home' week for him. Hopefully, he'll keep improving and get better this week. We're going to have to be a little looser with him this week because 13 points is not going to win this game. We're going to have to score points. Chris has to play better and our offense has to help him."
Player Quotes
Quarterback Chris Williams
On being the starting quarterback for a couple of games "It's been a whole lot of fun. I've been enjoying being with the starters."
On playing a team (Tulane) from his hometown of New Orleans
"It's going to be extra special for me, because I've played with or against a lot of the guys on their team. It's going to be a lot of fun. They have a guy on their team named Carl Davis that I played with in high school. He's a receiver for Tulane and we're good friends."
On how the team has handled needing to win these last three games to become bowl eligible
"I think that we've handled it really well, because we know that we have to win and we want to do everything possible in order to win."
On if it has been an easy role for him to become a leader on this team
"It's been a pretty easy role for me, but I'm not as much of a leader as I want to be. Hopefully, I can achieve that this week."
On how Darrell Hackney has helped him out these last two weeks
"He is a big inspiration for me. He picks me up when I'm down and he keeps me on my game when I'm playing well. He gives me a lot of pointers during the game as far as coverages, reads and that type of stuff. He helps me out the most during the game as far as keeping me calm."
On if Tulane is a dangerous team to play
"I think that right now they are a very dangerous team because they don't have anything to lose. They are going to come out on Saturday and fly around the ball and do whatever they can to disrupt our gameplan, so we have to be careful about what we do."
Defensive End Jermaine McElveen
On what it takes to get so many sacks on the quarterback
"Well, you just have to be fast, have good technique and be quick off the ball. Those are the main things that you need in order to get a good jump on the quarterback."
On playing against Tulane who has a young offensive line
"I haven't had a chance to take a look at them on film yet, but I always get excited when I play against a team that likes to throw the ball a lot. It's a good test for the defensive line and hopefully we'll be up for the test this weekend."
On the team's approach to having to win these last three games in order to go to a bowl game
"It's sort of like a playoff game for us. We know that if we win, we have a chance to keep playing on. So, we're going into this game like it's a game that we have to win."
On if Tulane is a dangerous team to be playing right now
"Tulane is one of the best offensive teams in our conference. Their quarterback is really good. They have good receivers and we just need to make sure that we take care of ourselves on defense. We're also going to need our offense to do a good job of controlling the ball for us."
On if the defense is starting to feel comfortable in Coach (Wayne) Bolt's system
"The first couple of games were a little shaky for us, but now we feel real comfortable under coach Bolt."
Linebacker Zac Woodfin
On playing a tough Tulane team even though they've struggled in the win column
"Tulane is very good on offense. Their quarterback (J.P. Losman) will probably be a first-round draft pick and they've got a really good running back (Mewelde Moore) who can play in the NFL if he wants to, so they have good weapons. They also have good receivers, so we're going to have to know what we're doing on defense in order to stop their offense. Hopefully, our offense will be able to do a lot of things for us, because they have a high-potent offense and we're looking forward to the challenge."
On what confidence was gained by the team in the two tough losses against TCU and Georgia
"I think that the confidence that we gained against TCU was knowing that we can play with anybody and that no matter what a team is ranked that we can play against them. In the Georgia game, we gained a lot of confidence because we played well without our star quarterback in Darrell (Hackney) and Chris (Williams) stepped up big for us. That helped us a lot because now we know that we can play well without Darrell and that gave us a lot of confidence."
On playing a Tulane team that is in desperate need for a win
"They are a very dangerous team. I think that they've lost maybe their last four or five games, but that's just going to make them even hungrier for a win. They have the ability to beat anybody in the league and they beat us last year pretty bad. We just need to buckle down and try and get a win on Saturday."
