The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Clark Previews UTSA; Children’s Harbor Homecoming Game
9/28/2020 4:56:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – With the UAB football program set to host its fourth annual Children's Harbor game on Homecoming, head coach Bill Clark addressed the media Monday morning at the Football Operations Center.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
· The Blazers will once again play for the name on the back of the jersey which will be represented with last names of patients from Children's Harbor. Click here to see the list of player/patient matches.
· UAB (2-1) opens Conference USA action this weekend with undefeated and first-place UTSA (3-0), who is off to its best start since 2017. The Blazers are 3-0 against the Roadrunners since returning to action in 2017 and are 16-2 against C-USA West division opponents during that time frame.
· Senior Spencer Brown became UAB's career leader in rushing touchdowns with three scores at South Alabama. He now sits along at the top with 36 career rushing touchdowns. With 37 total touchdowns, Brown needs just three more rushing or receiving touchdowns to become the career leader in that category as well (Pat Green, 39 from 1991-94).
Head Coach Bill Clark
Opening Statement:
"We will backtrack and talk about the South Alabama game first. Any time you go on the road and get a win, it's a big deal. I thought all sides played pretty well. As always, there are things to clean up. We protected the ball on offense. On defense, I thought we were better. We fixed some things we needed to fix. Special teams were solid, but that surprise onside kick did get us. Other than that, I thought we were pretty good. Penalties are something we can clean up. That is something we can work on. Overall, it was just a really good night for us. When it was over, it was great to have just a few days off for our guys to get healed up as we come into the big game against UTSA. For them, to be 3-0 is a big deal. Give Coach Traylor and that group a lot of credit. They are playing really well, really hard and believing. They have won some close games and found ways to win. Offensively, they are getting a lot of snaps, 70-something snaps a game. Their quarterback, who has been playing very efficiently, did get banged up. Their backup, who was at New Mexico State, so we spent a lot of time watching him, came in and threw for about 230 yards in the second half. They have a really good running back in McCormick, who was our freshman of the year last year. Defensively, Coach Nix is doing a very good job with the defense. They are very aggressive and have a lot of different looks. They are a good defense. And I coached with their special teams coordinator. They are very well coached. It is a big game for us. This is Children's Harbor week. One of my favorite weeks of the year is Homecoming and Children's Harbor game where we wear the alternate uniforms with the names of patients on the backs. Our kids know these folks. We have been doing this for a while. It is one of the great things that we do in our program. It is a big week for us, and obviously, our first conference game as well."
On defending the home winning streak at Legion Field . . .
"They are going to be one of the better teams. We have played some good teams. You go back to North Texas when we played them here. Go back to LA Tech. We have played some good teams there. But you have an undefeated team that comes in here with a lot of belief. They are going to be one of the better teams."
On Bryson Lucero's performance at South Alabama . . .
"For us, it was that he came in and played with a lot of poise and confidence. He threw the ball well. Just like any quarterback, he has things that might not show up to the average fan. Maybe he missed a read or something like that. It was just a super-solid night. That is kind of what we expected from him. That's what we hoped for: to go down there on a big stage and play really well. He was in there yesterday asking how he could get better and where he can improve. That's the thing we love about him. That is what we have in that whole quarterback room. We are really pleased with him."
On Spencer Brown's weight loss . . .
"We kind of got into the mode that he wasn't going to play at 240. It is not who you are. It takes a village. It took all of us together. I always say that it is always good to play with a chip on your shoulder. You have to have something to prove. He had something to prove this year. He wants to continue to play past us. It was every one of those things. And, he was never terrible from a training standpoint. He just knew he had to take the next step. It is fun, as a coach, to see something that everyone had talked about and committed to. He is the one that had to go make it happen. It is always fun to see a young man do that. I am proud of him."
On COVID tests and injuries . . .
"We were zero this past test. Of course, it is always a constant. We have almost our whole team back. We will see where Cash is. Number-wise we had a bunch of guys out that open date with hamstrings and shoulders. We should be as close as we have been to 100 percent. When you test as many times as we do, you will see. We are at zero right now."
Linebacker Noah Wilder
On preparing for UTSA's offense without knowing who the starting QB is . . .
"We will just prepare for them like we would prepare for the starter. Like coach said, we have a lot of respect for him. He came in we thought he did a good job. We will just work towards that and be as prepared as we can be for them."
On holding South Alabama to 10 points . . .
"It felt really good. I thought South Alabama was a really good ball team. We worked hard the week before that. I thought our offense played really well. They balled out. We just prepared for them really well. It felt really good to get back to doing what we do as a defense. Everyone played really well as a whole."
On penalties . . .
"That isn't us. We need to address that as a team, not just the coaches. We have to do better and hold each other accountable for that. That will get you beat. Going forward this week, we will really address that."
Quarteback Bryson Lucero
On the first throw against South Alabama . . .
"It is very helpful for me as a quarterback to know that the coach has your back and that the coach has a lot of confidence in you. Being able to open up with a play like that, you know that the coach has confidence. That just helps throughout the whole game."
On third down efficiency . . .
"It goes into the preparation during the week. We put a big emphasis on third downs. We even break it into the different categories: third and long, third and short and third and mediums. Coach Vincent and the whole offensive staff put a big emphasis on that. I think that when you do work as hard on third downs as we do, it definitely pays off on gameday."
On throwing the ball 28 times…
"I have very high trust in Coach Vincent, Coach Clark and that entire offensive staff. For me, it doesn't matter if we throw 800 times or f we throw twice. I know they are going to have a great game plan. We have guys like Spencer, Skull (Jermaine Brown Jr.), Lucious and Debo (DeWayne McBride). When you have guys like that and our offensive line, you don't necessarily need to throw it every single down. I am happy to do that as well."
On watching film . . .
"I first start by evaluating tendencies of myself and other offensive guys. Maybe run/pass or based off what we are doing. Then I look at mechanics and other small details that I may be able to get better at as far as throwing. My footwork and staying in the pocket. All of those things. We did make some plays down the field, but there were some plays that we missed. Most of those were my fault. Hitting balls on landmarks and things like that. Me being in the pocket and seeing how I can step my game up each week through practice, that is what I am most focused on."
