The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Football Begins Game-Week Preparations For Baylor
8/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 25, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. --- The UAB football team practiced in shorts and shells for nearly two hours on Monday as the Blazers began game-week preparations for their 2003 season opener against the Baylor Bears at 6 p.m. on Aug. 30.
"I think that the team is definitely starting to feel the excitement of the upcoming game," said head coach Watson Brown. "They're starting to get the feel, but thank goodness we didn't have to play today, because we were a little bit rusty and there are things that we need to do against Baylor that we don't have down yet."
While enduring temperatures far greater than 90 degrees, UAB primarily worked on implementing its offensive and defensive sets in regards to Baylor's personnel and formations. The Blazer coaching staff watched film of both Baylor and Kentucky prior to this week's practices in preparation for the Guy Morriss-coached Bear squad.
Morriss, in his first campaign at the helm of the Baylor football program, coached at Kentucky for the past two seasons where he amassed an overall record of 9-14.
"We have to get this Baylor gameplan down and that's why you practice during the week before you play on Saturday," Brown said. "Thank goodness we have three or four more (practices) to go before we play. There are still a lot of mental and technique things that we need to work on. We'd like to get them off of their feet but they have to know their stuff mentally."
The last portion of Monday's practice featured the first-team offense going against the Baylor scout team on the south practice field, while the Blazer defense did the same on the north side of the practice facility.
The UAB football team will continue its preparation for Saturday's season-opening contest against Baylor with a full-squad practice on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The Blazers kick off their 2003 season at 6 p.m. at Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas.
