The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB to Face Rival Southern Miss on Saturday in Hattiesburg
11/4/2019 3:25:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM - Looking to defend its Conference USA title, the UAB football team plays four straight C-USA West Divisional games to conclude the season, beginning with Southern Miss this Saturday, Nov. 9, in Hattiesburg. Kick is set for 2:30 p.m. on NFL Network.
The Blazers control their own destiny for making it back to the C-USA title game. UAB has Southern Miss, UTEP, Louisiana Tech and North Texas remaining on the schedule. If the Blazers win out, they will make a return trip to the title game.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening statement:
"Rewinding back to last week, we really felt like we had a good week of practice. I thought we had really good game plans going into the Tennessee game. We obviously knew we'd be going into a hostile environment against a team that was really improving. We saw those things. I think the turnovers hurt us offensively. That's one of the keys to those games or really any game. We have to protect the football. The defense played pretty well. I thought they had a really good game. They had some short fields to defend and really did a pretty good job. I thought our special teams were pretty strong all night. I'm really proud of the guys coming out at halftime behind and trying to win the second half. We kept fighting and battled all the way till the end. Obviously Tyler Johnston III going down was a blow, but it was good to get Dylan Hopkins in there. He got a little bit excited on that first drive, but I was really proud of him coming in to get points at the end of the game.
"Moving on to this next one, it's obviously a huge game for Southern Miss and for us. It's the next game. It's a conference game. As I've said before, they're all championship games moving forward. We're going to their place, which is a tough environment. I don't know if we'll see anything tougher than what we just saw, so that has to be good experience for us from the noise and crowd. They have a really explosive offensive team. Coach Hopson does a really good job. He's a defensive coach. I think he calls the defense, so they're always going to be really strong. I think they're right behind us in about every category. They're also really good at special teams. As we've said before, we have our work cut out for us. We've known this game was coming. They were open last week, so I'm sure they got to spend a lot of time on us. On our open date, we didn't work on Tennessee. We worked on ourselves and our other opponents coming up. Obviously, this is a big one."
On the team controlling its destiny:
"I think that's what our goal was early on. Somebody asked where we would hope to be at this point. I think knowing all the people we had to replace early on and how we've faired to get bowl eligible, we obviously want to go into the last game having every opportunity. This is what we've worked for. Having our own destiny in our hands with a chance to go back. Each game is going to be important, so we're not going to look ahead. This one is going to be huge."
On the rivalry with Southern Miss:
"I think if you go back in history, Southern Miss was getting all kinds of Alabama guys in their past. That really created this rivalry game. Maybe they don't have as many Alabama guys as they used to, but I think our proximity and being together in the conference for a long time are big. It's just somebody that you're going to see every year, which breeds rivalry."
On Southern Miss' offensive weapons:
"They're kind of like what we saw last week and maybe what you think about us. They have three receivers that are all dynamic. You have 16, 2 and 5, then they have other guys that also play with just unreal speed. You see that in their special teams units. They've had multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns out of different guys. It's like playing a track team. You have a quarterback that's unbelievably accurate. They have tons of formations. If you can think of a formation, motion or a shift, they're going to be in it. You have that air raid offense with a physical approach. They're going to put a tight end in the game and run the ball right at you too. Defending that quarterback, who's super accurate and very athletic, and those guys is going to be a tough challenge."
On both teams having a similar mindset:
"I think people don't really understand, but I say it all the time. College football is a big deal to everyone – every coach and every player. They're fighting for their lives. They're trying to get to the conference championship game. You can talk about it being a rivalry game, the next game or a home game. How much bigger can you make it? I'm sure they've pointed to this game all year. If how they showed up last year is any indication, it's going to be a fight as it is every conference game, but especially with those guys. They're really well coached and going to play really hard."
On keeping the team level headed:
"We said coming in that this is really going to be like a playoff game with a championship game at the end of it. It's playoff football to us. We try to keep that mentality all the time. I said in the press conference last week that it's going to be the 24 second rule. When that one's over, we're going to be moving to the next one, period, win or lose. We went in to win the game and gave great effort, but my big concern was when it was over to get our eyes on this one and not have any lingering effects from that last game, good or bad. I hope that's what we do. That's the plan. We do it week after week. As I always say, what can you not do for four weeks?"
Dy'jonn Turner, S, Jr.
On getting appreciation from a coach:
"Coach Clark always interacts with us, no matter what it is. Good, bad or ugly, he's always that guy that we can talk to at any time."
On moving to the star position:
"Coach Clark always preaches that when one guy goes down, another has to step up. We always have to have each other's backs. If someone goes down, we have to step in and play that role."
On keeping his approach to one game at a time:
"If we overlook somebody, we could end up losing or something else might happen. We keep it to one game at a time, one day at a time and one practice at a time. We take our time on one opponent and make sure to focus on that opponent that week. We don't overlook anybody because anybody can get beat at any time."
On preparing for the game by facing UAB's receivers each day:
"The three receivers we have – we've gone against them all spring and all fall camp. These guys (Southern Miss) are really good too. It's going to be a challenge for us, but we can handle it."
On the defense's confidence after the Tennessee game:
"This defense is unbelievable. We've overcome a lot of things over the years. People said we wouldn't be that good this year because we lost so many seniors, but this defense works together. It's like a train. Everything has to work together to work, so that's who we are."
On getting an interception against Tennessee:
"It was crazy. It just felt good. I knew I had to come up with a big play for the defense to get us off the field."
On facing Tennessee preparing the defense for the remaining opponents:
"We know what level we can play at and be. If we play at that level all the time, we can beat anybody."
On playing a Mississippi team being from Alabama:
"It's just something about the Mississippi guys. We kid all the time in the locker room with guys from Mississippi and Alabama. It's a big rivalry for UAB and Southern Miss that goes back long ago, so it's going to be fun."
On what makes the Southern Miss rivalry more intense that some others:
"It's Southern Miss. It's been a rivalry for so long. There's bickering back and forth. You know how it is during a big game."
The Blazers control their own destiny for making it back to the C-USA title game. UAB has Southern Miss, UTEP, Louisiana Tech and North Texas remaining on the schedule. If the Blazers win out, they will make a return trip to the title game.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- UAB vs. Southern Miss has turned into quite the rivalry with each team having in-state players on the opposite roster. The Blazers have had the upper hand of late, winning seven of the last eight meetings. Southern Miss has a 10-7 edge in the overall series.
- The UAB defense proved it can play with anyone in the country as the Blazers entered the Tennessee game ranked No. 5 nationally in total defense, and that is still where they rank this week. Although UAB gave up 30 points to the Vols, 20 were off turnovers. The defense only yielded 302 yards of total offense and had multiple 3-and-outs in its own territory to make UT settle for field goals.
- Kristopher Moll hit his season average with nine tackles at Tennessee. He is second in Conference USA with an averaging 9.0 tackles per game. In four C-USA games, he is leading the league with an average of 10.8 tackles per game (WKU - 9, Rice - 15, UTSA - 7, Old Dominion - 12). He also has 9.0 TFL and 4.5 sacks this season.
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening statement:
"Rewinding back to last week, we really felt like we had a good week of practice. I thought we had really good game plans going into the Tennessee game. We obviously knew we'd be going into a hostile environment against a team that was really improving. We saw those things. I think the turnovers hurt us offensively. That's one of the keys to those games or really any game. We have to protect the football. The defense played pretty well. I thought they had a really good game. They had some short fields to defend and really did a pretty good job. I thought our special teams were pretty strong all night. I'm really proud of the guys coming out at halftime behind and trying to win the second half. We kept fighting and battled all the way till the end. Obviously Tyler Johnston III going down was a blow, but it was good to get Dylan Hopkins in there. He got a little bit excited on that first drive, but I was really proud of him coming in to get points at the end of the game.
"Moving on to this next one, it's obviously a huge game for Southern Miss and for us. It's the next game. It's a conference game. As I've said before, they're all championship games moving forward. We're going to their place, which is a tough environment. I don't know if we'll see anything tougher than what we just saw, so that has to be good experience for us from the noise and crowd. They have a really explosive offensive team. Coach Hopson does a really good job. He's a defensive coach. I think he calls the defense, so they're always going to be really strong. I think they're right behind us in about every category. They're also really good at special teams. As we've said before, we have our work cut out for us. We've known this game was coming. They were open last week, so I'm sure they got to spend a lot of time on us. On our open date, we didn't work on Tennessee. We worked on ourselves and our other opponents coming up. Obviously, this is a big one."
On the team controlling its destiny:
"I think that's what our goal was early on. Somebody asked where we would hope to be at this point. I think knowing all the people we had to replace early on and how we've faired to get bowl eligible, we obviously want to go into the last game having every opportunity. This is what we've worked for. Having our own destiny in our hands with a chance to go back. Each game is going to be important, so we're not going to look ahead. This one is going to be huge."
On the rivalry with Southern Miss:
"I think if you go back in history, Southern Miss was getting all kinds of Alabama guys in their past. That really created this rivalry game. Maybe they don't have as many Alabama guys as they used to, but I think our proximity and being together in the conference for a long time are big. It's just somebody that you're going to see every year, which breeds rivalry."
On Southern Miss' offensive weapons:
"They're kind of like what we saw last week and maybe what you think about us. They have three receivers that are all dynamic. You have 16, 2 and 5, then they have other guys that also play with just unreal speed. You see that in their special teams units. They've had multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns out of different guys. It's like playing a track team. You have a quarterback that's unbelievably accurate. They have tons of formations. If you can think of a formation, motion or a shift, they're going to be in it. You have that air raid offense with a physical approach. They're going to put a tight end in the game and run the ball right at you too. Defending that quarterback, who's super accurate and very athletic, and those guys is going to be a tough challenge."
On both teams having a similar mindset:
"I think people don't really understand, but I say it all the time. College football is a big deal to everyone – every coach and every player. They're fighting for their lives. They're trying to get to the conference championship game. You can talk about it being a rivalry game, the next game or a home game. How much bigger can you make it? I'm sure they've pointed to this game all year. If how they showed up last year is any indication, it's going to be a fight as it is every conference game, but especially with those guys. They're really well coached and going to play really hard."
On keeping the team level headed:
"We said coming in that this is really going to be like a playoff game with a championship game at the end of it. It's playoff football to us. We try to keep that mentality all the time. I said in the press conference last week that it's going to be the 24 second rule. When that one's over, we're going to be moving to the next one, period, win or lose. We went in to win the game and gave great effort, but my big concern was when it was over to get our eyes on this one and not have any lingering effects from that last game, good or bad. I hope that's what we do. That's the plan. We do it week after week. As I always say, what can you not do for four weeks?"
Dy'jonn Turner, S, Jr.
On getting appreciation from a coach:
"Coach Clark always interacts with us, no matter what it is. Good, bad or ugly, he's always that guy that we can talk to at any time."
On moving to the star position:
"Coach Clark always preaches that when one guy goes down, another has to step up. We always have to have each other's backs. If someone goes down, we have to step in and play that role."
On keeping his approach to one game at a time:
"If we overlook somebody, we could end up losing or something else might happen. We keep it to one game at a time, one day at a time and one practice at a time. We take our time on one opponent and make sure to focus on that opponent that week. We don't overlook anybody because anybody can get beat at any time."
On preparing for the game by facing UAB's receivers each day:
"The three receivers we have – we've gone against them all spring and all fall camp. These guys (Southern Miss) are really good too. It's going to be a challenge for us, but we can handle it."
On the defense's confidence after the Tennessee game:
"This defense is unbelievable. We've overcome a lot of things over the years. People said we wouldn't be that good this year because we lost so many seniors, but this defense works together. It's like a train. Everything has to work together to work, so that's who we are."
On getting an interception against Tennessee:
"It was crazy. It just felt good. I knew I had to come up with a big play for the defense to get us off the field."
On facing Tennessee preparing the defense for the remaining opponents:
"We know what level we can play at and be. If we play at that level all the time, we can beat anybody."
On playing a Mississippi team being from Alabama:
"It's just something about the Mississippi guys. We kid all the time in the locker room with guys from Mississippi and Alabama. It's a big rivalry for UAB and Southern Miss that goes back long ago, so it's going to be fun."
On what makes the Southern Miss rivalry more intense that some others:
"It's Southern Miss. It's been a rivalry for so long. There's bickering back and forth. You know how it is during a big game."
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
S
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