The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Clark Previews Saturday’s Regular Season Finale at Rice
12/9/2020 1:40:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB Football concludes the regular season this Saturday, Dec. 12, at Rice with an opportunity to clinch its third straight C-USA West Division title if the Blazers can come out victorious.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- When the Blazers take the field this Saturday, it will have been 42 days since they last played a game, dating back to Halloween night at Louisiana Tech.
- The Blazers have a chance to make more Conference USA history on Saturday. A win would make UAB the first team in league history to claim a C-USA divisional title for a third consecutive season. UAB is back-to-back divisional champs and became the first road team to win the C-USA title in 2018 with a 27-25 victory at Middle Tennessee.
- UAB will be missing a handful of starters at Rice. However, each of the last two rounds of COVID testing have all come back negative for the Blazers.
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening Statement:
"It has been a crazy season and last few weeks. I think the last time I spoke, we were getting ready for Middle Tennessee. We were super excited, but that game got canceled and now it has been trying to get this Rice game in. There have been a lot of things that have happened since the game got canceled. Toward the end of the week, we had some positive COVID cases. With contact tracing, it ended up knocking out about 25 of our guys. I asked the conference if we could move our game to later in the week to try to get a few guys back. We understand that the conference championship is on Friday and they just said that they could not move it. It is what it is. We will be going in to Rice without some players. That is the world we all live in now. Our team is ready to go and play. We had a really good day yesterday. It is what it is, as we all say now. All we have asked for is a chance to play for this third straight west division championship. This is what we have got. We will be going to Rice and play on Saturday. Rice, speaking of coach Bloomgren and what they have done: since last year, they have been getting better every week, every year. They are very well coached. When you think of throwback offensively, you see a huddle. You see a fullback in there. If we go back to the Marshall game, what a great job they did in all three phases – special teams, offense and defense. Their defense is probably as good as we have seen. They play hard. They are good tacklers. They play a lot of man coverage and look a lot like us. They had probably one of the biggest wins in their program's history last week. I know they are trying to get this next win against us to have a winning season. I know that is probably a big deal for them. We are expecting a super tough game and are excited about the opportunity."
On having familiarity with Rice and their coaching staff . . .
"We traded a lot of phone calls. We tried to see if we could get our game with them moved up earlier, which would have canceled their game with Marshall. That never could get worked out and there was a commitment there to play Marshall. I am sure they are glad that they played Marshall now. I have not really talked to him since their game. We have had a couple phone calls, but it was really just about if there would be any opposition if we moved our game up. It became a moot point when the conference said they just could not move it. We have talked many times. I have known him for around 20 years now. I thought I had hired him years ago when I was at Prattville High School, but he ended up going to a college when he left Alabama as a GA. I really think a lot of the job that they do and how hard their guys play.
On having four straight games canceled due to COVID-19 . . .
"This last one was one of the toughest things I have had to do with a team. I think people know, but it is hard to understand the volume of work that is put into a game. From the players and coaches standpoint, when you get emotionally invested and involved and nervous, that is what it takes to really do the things you need to do to win. You get all this emotional involvement about the volume of hours. You get there at 6 a.m. You leave at midnight. The work and all those things, we had this for every game except UTEP. I had just said on Monday, 'Hey, I know that we have canceled these games, but we have to believe. You have to believe this game is going to be played.' That is what you are asking these kids to do: believe. It is really just heart-wrenching. I told them yesterday that I know they have had this taken away from you for four straight weeks. I said, 'Once again, I am asking you to believe that we are going to play this game.' It is just the emotions for your coaches and for your psyche. Our players have been so good. They have worked so hard. They have believed so much. It is tough. I think you can hear it in the way I am talking about it. I am not an excuse maker. I do not go around talking about opt-outs and the things that we have all dealt with this year. Our numbers are down. There is no doubt about this. The greatest stories come from the greatest adversity. That is what happened when our program was taken away from us and came back. I told our players this is going to be a story they tell their grandkids no matter what happens. It has been tough. I am proud of our guys and their resiliency and willingness to play in this game."
On playing at less than full strength . . .
"It would not be normal or human to have some of those thoughts, worries or concerns. Our guys have got a lot of pride. You go from a team trying to win and get bowl-eligible to now they expect it. We talk about championships. There is a little bit of concern. I think the deal for us is, that is where it is. We have to decide if it is worth it to us to play. I had a senior meeting Monday night. I said that the game is on and we are playing. We are going to be shorthanded in some spots. Are we willing to do this with everything we have? They said, 'Yes, coach. We're in. We wat to play. We want to compete.' I think that is natural. Our whole mantra is no excuses. Never give up. Never give in. Never quit. It is easy to say sometimes. Now here we are. What are you willing to do? Are you willing to put yourself out there emotionally and put our whole program out there? That is what we want to do and that is who we are."
On how many starters will not play at Rice . . .
"Probably twelve guys that start or play a lot. I have said this before, in a normal year, that is a big deal. You lose those depth guys with the opt-outs and some of those. That is what makes it tough. Your numbers are so down. I looked out and we were in the 40s Monday with scholarship players. That is what you have. Thank God we have such a great walk-on group. For us, those guys are like scholarship players. They are here every day. They are working hard. They are on the scout team. We have a really good group of walk-ons who have saved us, no doubt."
On controlling the conference championship fate . . .
"This is the talk we have had. This is a championship game. Middle Tennessee would have been a championship game. Southern Miss would have been a championship game. Even North Texas. We have to have another game to have the opportunity. This is a championship game for us. There is no back stop. The next week is the championship game. We have to get this game in. We have to play it. Like I said, Rice has things to play for as well. We are not taking anything for granted but we do just want the opportunity."
On Austin Watkins Jr. opting out for the season . . .
"I will not mince words. I was very disappointed that we couldn't finish up with just a few weeks left. With that said, what a great job he did for us. Just to see him grow as a player and as a person who came and worked hard for us, who trained, who competed. I am hopeful for his opportunities as he moves forward. I know he is going to get those. I wish him nothing but the best."
On which position groups have been most affected by positive tests and contact tracing . . .
"For us, it is our running back room and our secondary again. Those are our two biggest hits right now. As everybody says, it is next man up. We will have a goal to win this game for these guys. We should have all those guys back (next week). We will have a big group back. We will have a bigger group Monday. We will have all those guys back if we can find a way to win this game and get to the championship game. I will say, the last two tests, we have been good on. Hopefully we can keep that going."
