The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
UAB Heads to No. 6 LSU for Night Game in Death Valley
11/14/2022 3:30:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team concludes its non-conference schedule this Saturday, Nov. 19, with a night game at Tiger Stadium against No. 6 LSU. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
Opening Statement:
"Really proud of this football team, just their character, their leadership, their perseverance to continue week in week out, to get up and just practice and play to a standard. We had 21 seniors play their last home game in Birmingham. Just the leadership of this class, like I said, the perseverance and the character, if you go back to this football team and I think it speaks volumes and it really stood out in this game. You come out; we have a big turnover early. Defense creates a big turnover. We're able to grab the lead 7-0 early. We go up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. They score 21 straight points, we're down 21-14, but we don't blink. There's no panic, there's no pointing fingers or any of that. We're able to come back out, kick a field goal before the half to make it 21-17. Then, that's when you really saw this football team take a stand, in the second half. We're able to score 24 straight points, defensively came up with big stops. We scored every possession in the second half. We were able to finish them at the end. Defensively, we were able to hold the top ranked offense in the conference 239 yards below their average and 16 points below their average. You had a team that was coming in rushing for over 200 yards and throwing for over 285 yards. We held them to a team low 264 yards overall. Offensively, some things that really stood out to me was just the effort and the passion of this offense and their savviness. We're 13-17 on third downs, which is 76%, which is really good. We're able to score every possession in the second half and able to finish them off there late in the fourth quarter. We didn't punt. That was obviously a good sign. I hated it for Kyle Greenwell, he wasn't able to punt on his senior night. Overall, looking at it as a team, it was a great team victory. [We were] able to finish 5-1 this season at Protective Stadium. You look at this senior class, there are guys that have been here since the return, and to finish 29-4 in their career [at home] is a big statement. Just the effort and the mentality this team has played with at home in Birmingham just speaks volumes."
On persevering through tough losses this season:
"Let's be honest. This has been tough. This football team, it's been tough this year, with the five losses of 27 points total. Every one of them came down to the wire. Every loss came down to the end and we had opportunities to either in the game or tie the game, and that's tough. It challenges your character, it challenges your mentality, and that's something that this football team has never strayed from. I cannot speak enough about that. It's easy to get negative, it's easy to point fingers, it's easy to fall apart and this football team has never strayed. We've never doubted, we've never questioned, we've never gotten negative, we've never not stood on the foundation and the culture that built this program. That's not easy today, in today's society. I think it speaks volumes. I think it speaks volume of this staff and volume of the leadership and the character, and I continue to say, the perseverance of this football team. That's one of the things I'm most proud of this group for."
On Brady Wilson's performance Saturday:
"With losing Will Rykard in the 2nd quarter against UTSA and Brady Wilson coming in that game and leading us, really help lead us into overtime and into double overtime. [This week], Brady is able to get all the reps at center. He's a winner, he's a warrior, he's tough, he was ready for that moment. I thought he came in and he played excellent. Obviously, there's things he needs to clean up, but for his first start at center in that kind of game, what it meant to this football team and this senior class, he rose up for this team. I thought he played at a high level for his first start. He did a great job in pass protection; he did a great job in our IDs in our run game, and he really did a good job just getting movement and being physical at the line of scrimmage."
On using UAB's victory over LSU in 2000 as motivation for this week:
"It's something that we've talked about as a staff. We've got former players that are connected to this program that were on that team, that are excited. We have talked about it; we haven't made any definite plans with that yet. We realize that we're going into Tiger Stadium in a night game, they're ranked sixth in the country, they're going to play for the SEC championship. This is a game that our players and this football team, we're not going to back down. This football team is excited to go into Death Valley on a Saturday night and to play a nationally ranked sixth team that's going to play for the SEC championship. This football team will be excited about this challenge and this opportunity."
CORNERBACK STARLING THOMAS V
On containing LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels:
"For the [defensive backs], I know we maintain on scramble drill, plastering our guys because if we come off trying to stop the run, he can hit us over the top. Everybody just has to stay disciplined and play inside the scheme and play as a team."
On coming off a win:
"When you come off a win, you have momentum. Everybody in the locker-room is up-tempo, everybody is ready to play and ready to practice today. We're just coming into this game, knowing it's going to be a big atmosphere. Everybody wants the challenge, and the environment should pump us up and let us have fun as we try to get this win."
On playing in a hostile environment:
"I enjoy the crowd. The crowd usually pumps me up and usually gets my teammates going too. Just being in that environment knowing that we can play at the same level as the guys on the other team really pumps us up and makes us want to play better."
RUNNING BACK DEWAYNE MCBRIDE
On being recognized as one of the best running backs in the country:
"It feels good, but we've got to keep coming to work and get better. Shoutout to my offensive lineman, those boys come ready to work every day. [We have to] keep pushing and try to get better. Attack every game the same."
On playing against SEC defenders:
"I take the same approach no matter who it is."
On his favorite part of playing running back:
"Running through somebody's face."
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- The Blazers are coming off one of their strongest performances of the season in which they put up 505 yards of total offense against North Texas and held the league's top ranked offense to just 264 total yards in a 41-21 victory. UAB boasts the nation's sixth-ranked rushing offense with an average of 247.1 yards per game and had 271 against North Texas. UAB has gone over 500 yards of total offense four times this season and average 455.8 yards per game overall.
- UAB's two-headed monster in DeWayne McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. pace the rushing attack. McBride continues to lead the nation in rushing yards per game (156.3) and is second nationally in rushing touchdowns (17), while Brown Jr. is coming off a career-high 150 yards against North Texas. These two have combined for 2,096 of UAB's 2,471 rushing yards and 21 of the team's 26 rushing touchdowns. McBride has rushed for over 100 yards in 10 straight games and is 180 yards away from the single season school rushing record.
- UAB is playing defense at an elite level and will have to contend with dual threat quarterback Jayden Daniels and the LSU offense who is averaging 424.9 yards per game. The Blazers currently have the nation's 11th ranked pass efficiency defense (113.11) and also rank 18th nationally in passing yards allowed (182.6) and 29th in total defense (338.4).
Opening Statement:
"Really proud of this football team, just their character, their leadership, their perseverance to continue week in week out, to get up and just practice and play to a standard. We had 21 seniors play their last home game in Birmingham. Just the leadership of this class, like I said, the perseverance and the character, if you go back to this football team and I think it speaks volumes and it really stood out in this game. You come out; we have a big turnover early. Defense creates a big turnover. We're able to grab the lead 7-0 early. We go up 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. They score 21 straight points, we're down 21-14, but we don't blink. There's no panic, there's no pointing fingers or any of that. We're able to come back out, kick a field goal before the half to make it 21-17. Then, that's when you really saw this football team take a stand, in the second half. We're able to score 24 straight points, defensively came up with big stops. We scored every possession in the second half. We were able to finish them at the end. Defensively, we were able to hold the top ranked offense in the conference 239 yards below their average and 16 points below their average. You had a team that was coming in rushing for over 200 yards and throwing for over 285 yards. We held them to a team low 264 yards overall. Offensively, some things that really stood out to me was just the effort and the passion of this offense and their savviness. We're 13-17 on third downs, which is 76%, which is really good. We're able to score every possession in the second half and able to finish them off there late in the fourth quarter. We didn't punt. That was obviously a good sign. I hated it for Kyle Greenwell, he wasn't able to punt on his senior night. Overall, looking at it as a team, it was a great team victory. [We were] able to finish 5-1 this season at Protective Stadium. You look at this senior class, there are guys that have been here since the return, and to finish 29-4 in their career [at home] is a big statement. Just the effort and the mentality this team has played with at home in Birmingham just speaks volumes."
On persevering through tough losses this season:
"Let's be honest. This has been tough. This football team, it's been tough this year, with the five losses of 27 points total. Every one of them came down to the wire. Every loss came down to the end and we had opportunities to either in the game or tie the game, and that's tough. It challenges your character, it challenges your mentality, and that's something that this football team has never strayed from. I cannot speak enough about that. It's easy to get negative, it's easy to point fingers, it's easy to fall apart and this football team has never strayed. We've never doubted, we've never questioned, we've never gotten negative, we've never not stood on the foundation and the culture that built this program. That's not easy today, in today's society. I think it speaks volumes. I think it speaks volume of this staff and volume of the leadership and the character, and I continue to say, the perseverance of this football team. That's one of the things I'm most proud of this group for."
On Brady Wilson's performance Saturday:
"With losing Will Rykard in the 2nd quarter against UTSA and Brady Wilson coming in that game and leading us, really help lead us into overtime and into double overtime. [This week], Brady is able to get all the reps at center. He's a winner, he's a warrior, he's tough, he was ready for that moment. I thought he came in and he played excellent. Obviously, there's things he needs to clean up, but for his first start at center in that kind of game, what it meant to this football team and this senior class, he rose up for this team. I thought he played at a high level for his first start. He did a great job in pass protection; he did a great job in our IDs in our run game, and he really did a good job just getting movement and being physical at the line of scrimmage."
On using UAB's victory over LSU in 2000 as motivation for this week:
"It's something that we've talked about as a staff. We've got former players that are connected to this program that were on that team, that are excited. We have talked about it; we haven't made any definite plans with that yet. We realize that we're going into Tiger Stadium in a night game, they're ranked sixth in the country, they're going to play for the SEC championship. This is a game that our players and this football team, we're not going to back down. This football team is excited to go into Death Valley on a Saturday night and to play a nationally ranked sixth team that's going to play for the SEC championship. This football team will be excited about this challenge and this opportunity."
CORNERBACK STARLING THOMAS V
On containing LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels:
"For the [defensive backs], I know we maintain on scramble drill, plastering our guys because if we come off trying to stop the run, he can hit us over the top. Everybody just has to stay disciplined and play inside the scheme and play as a team."
On coming off a win:
"When you come off a win, you have momentum. Everybody in the locker-room is up-tempo, everybody is ready to play and ready to practice today. We're just coming into this game, knowing it's going to be a big atmosphere. Everybody wants the challenge, and the environment should pump us up and let us have fun as we try to get this win."
On playing in a hostile environment:
"I enjoy the crowd. The crowd usually pumps me up and usually gets my teammates going too. Just being in that environment knowing that we can play at the same level as the guys on the other team really pumps us up and makes us want to play better."
RUNNING BACK DEWAYNE MCBRIDE
On being recognized as one of the best running backs in the country:
"It feels good, but we've got to keep coming to work and get better. Shoutout to my offensive lineman, those boys come ready to work every day. [We have to] keep pushing and try to get better. Attack every game the same."
On playing against SEC defenders:
"I take the same approach no matter who it is."
On his favorite part of playing running back:
"Running through somebody's face."
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
P
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ FootballUAB MBB vs Alabama St | Post Game Press Conference
Wednesday, November 12
Battle for the bones SECURED 🦴 #uabathletics #winasone #collegefootball #ncaafootball
Tuesday, November 11
Monday Morning with Mort | Week 12
Tuesday, November 11
What a DART for the TD vs Tennessee 🎯 #uabathletics #winasone #collegefootball #ncaafootball
Monday, November 10
