The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Football Team Continues Mississippi State Preparations
10/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2011
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The UAB football team continued its preparations for Saturday’s game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, as the team practiced for roughly two hours on Wednesday morning in shorts and shells.
After a slow start on yesterday, head coach Neil Callaway was pleased with the defense’s progress during the morning session, but thinks there is still work to do.
“[The defense] did a lot better today. It was good to see,” Callaway said. “We have a tough task ahead of us with Mississippi State being very physical. We are going to have to do a better job stopping the run.”
The defense not only has to stop the run, but needs to be on guard for any ploys from the MSU offense.
“They have some tricks that you have to be ready for,” Callaway said. “They do a nice job mixing up gadgets, play-action passes and trying to take advantage of things.”
The UAB defense has done a particularly good job forcing turnovers as of late. In the last two games, the Blazers have forced 10 turnovers, including four interceptions and six fumble recoveries.
“We work on it all the time,” Callaway said. “I think we’ve done a good job with the interceptions. [Safety] Jamie Bender has done a great job stripping the ball and [linebacker] Greg Irvin has done a good job running to the ball to pick it up.
“When you create turnovers, you get better field position and momentum.”
Saturday’s game will kick off at 11 a.m. CT at Legion Field
The contest will air on SportSouth with Ron Thulin and JC Pearson on the call, while the radio broadcast from Blazer IMG Sports Network, with David Crane and John Whitcomb, will air locally at WUHT-FM 107.7 in Birmingham. The pregame show begins 90 minutes before kickoff.
