The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Photo by: Ken Shepherd
UAB to Honor Seniors on Saturday Against South Florida
11/17/2025 7:38:00 PM | Football
BIRMINGHAM – The UAB football team (3-7, 1-5 American) plays its final home game of the 2025 season this coming Saturday, Nov. 22, against South Florida (7-3, 4-2 American). Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX MORTENSEN:
Opening statement:
"This was obviously a very disappointing game against North Texas last week. One, give them credit. Coach Morris has done a great job there, they have done a great job recruiting, they do a good job coaching their players, and a good job instituting their scheme. We knew we were playing one of the top offenses in the country. I think they are currently fifth in the country in total offense, so we knew that was going to be a challenge. Certainly, we want to play better defensively; we have to get off the field and create more stops, but I think the part I was the most frustrated and disappointed with is knowing that they were going to make some plays and score a little bit because you know how good they are. We have to do a better job on offense playing complimentary football not from a production standpoint, we were very productive in a lot of areas, but one of our first principles that we want to play with is not giving the game away and not beating yourself and that is what we did, and we did it early in the game. We had two turnovers early amidst some pretty productive sequences. That was really disappointing and frustrating and not the kind of football we want to be associated with, that we want our name on, and it is not what we want to be about.
Let's talk about analyzing that further, this is a (North Texas) defense that going into the game, they are giving up 364 yards per game, we had 478 (yards), and that was not garbage time, a lot of that was early, a lot of that was prior to the half. We were over 50% on third down, you do that every week, you are nearly at the top of the country. We were 4-for-6 on fourth down which is pretty good. We had 10 explosive plays in the game. An area of improvement we had was we wanted to reduce the penalties. I think we had three in the game. Those are the areas that were good and where we made progress and did a lot of good things, but again, to be moving the ball in the first series of the game and have a turnover is a bad deal. We manipulated the cadence on the first turnover and (the quarterback) thought he had a free play because (the defensive line) moved and he thought they came across, but still not the right decision to make. Then we fumble on the first play of the second drive. When you are playing somebody who is that good and that good on offense, you cannot do that. A lot of guys played really well in the game. You cannot have that kind of production and not have guys play well. Jevon Jackson had almost 10 yards per carry. Even if you take out his big run before the half, it is still 8.8 or 8.9 (yards per carry). You look at (Brandon Hawkins Jr.) who had a big game. A lot of guys did a lot of good things. The offensive line played really well in a lot of areas, but this is the next thing we have to teach our players is you cannot have these self-inflicted wounds, but again, give North Texas a lot of credit. They have a good program right now. We felt like if we do not give the game away and play how we are capable, that is going to be a very competitive game and a very competitive game late. We have to improve those things and that is what we will be looking to do.
Turning to this week, before we talk about South Florida, I just want to talk about a couple of broader things. One, regardless of the circumstances, we want to finish the season strong, so that is really important. I think that is going to reveal the kind of character and toughness and what we are made of. We talk a lot about great effort regardless of the circumstances, so whether a bowl game is in play or any of those things, that needs to be irrelevant. The next thing is we have suffered quite a few injuries. Those are things we are going to monitor in-house. I think most of our guys will hopefully be able to get back by game day, but those are things we are going to have to monitor over the course of the week. We have a lot of guys who have invested a lot who have put a lot of hard work in, and we have a couple of opportunities here, but we have to focus on this one first to go play again. It is an awesome opportunity to go play a great team and play them at home, and again, what kind of character do we have and what are we made of. This is Senior Day for us, we have a lot of guys that we are going to honor, I think over 20 that will be honored prior to the game so that is exciting for them and really grateful for a lot of the guys who have been here and how they have stuck together through some adversity this season and they have really been a joy to coach. It will be hard to single them all out, but you look at a guy in T'Sai McDaniel who went from a walk-on to earning a scholarship. JonDarius Morgan is a guy who transferred here, transferred back home that has been just nothing but consistent and a really good player for us and a leader. Isaiah Jacobs is a guy that transferred to us and really got off to a great start. I can still remember two years ago when he was ripping off a bunch of big runs against Tulane on the road and we had those guys on the ropes and he tore his ACL, then comes back the next year and has another injury, and he has been nothing but steady, consistent, a really good leader on this team. I could go through the whole group. I am really grateful to have the seniors that we have here and we want to honor them this week, but at the same time as we honor them, it cannot be a distraction. We have to stay focused on the task at hand. In terms of South Florida, (they are) a great team, a great American Conference team, and they have a lot of big wins this year. I think a lot of people remember them beating the University of Florida. One, Coach (Alex) Golesh has done a really good job there. He has done a really good job in recruiting and building the roster, but it does not stop there. I think they have done a really good job developing their players, instituting their scheme, and coaching them, so really in every area, and they do have good schemes on both sides of the ball. Right now, I think they are fourth in the country in total offense, so that will be another challenge again to take on an offense of that caliber this week. They are good on defense, too. Todd Orlando has a great reputation as a defensive coordinator. He has been there from the beginning with Coach Golesh, very familiar with him and he does a great job. Their quarterback, Byrum Brown, has over 2,500 yards passing and he is also their leading rusher, too, at 841 yards rushing. They have a number of good backs and receivers, so it is definitely going to be a challenge, but we are excited about it, and excited to be back in Protective Stadium this week."
On keeping his team motivated at this point in the season:
"I think, one, it is this: if you have an opportunity to play and compete, if you are playing this game, you should want to give it your best if you are a football player and a competitor. To me, that is almost an obvious thing, but I know not everyone is wired that way. Not everyone is wired from intrinsic motivation, if you will, but I think there are a couple ways to look at it, and this is something we talked about going back to when we had all the change prior to the Memphis week is this: one, a lot of guys are still about the team. They are bought into the team, they believe in each other, they love each other, and they want to go play for UAB and for the guy to the left and right of them. I think there is that part, too. At the end of the day, we are going out there playing, and that running back is counting on the left guard and the left tackle, and everyone is counting on each other. I think if you care for each other and the guys in the locker room, you are going to give your very best in the practice week and on game day.
Then, there is another layer. We talk about this in football that your video is your resume. If I want a job, most of the time, people are going to ask for a resume, but what is my resume in football? It is really two things: your video and your reputation in the locker room, amongst your coaching staff, and amongst your teammates, and this is an opportunity for a lot of guys, some of which want to still have an opportunity to play professionally, play in the NFL. A lot of them are going to want to still stay at UAB. Whatever happens here, they are going to want to be part of this program. I still believe this program has an incredibly high ceiling. I think we have resources and people around us that care and we have great geography. I think there is every reason for a lot of these guys to want to stay part of this program and if you want to do that, you are going to finish this season strong. Then there is another category of guys that are going to have their eyes in the portal. Of those three categories, does it serve any of them to not give their best for two weeks? The answer is no; it does not. The best thing to do is for these guys to go build their resume more by putting great things on video. The other thing, too, is my former boss used to talk about this a lot, is he would give this speech, and I am probably going to butcher it, talking about 'and' or 'but.' He would say when you are getting evaluated as a player, they will tell you this guy has great balance, body control, he has short space quickness, makes contested catches, this, that, the other, and then there is going to be a point in that write up that is going to say and has great character, treats people well, teammates love him, is kind to the equipment staff, so on and so forth, or that word is going to say but poor academically, treats people poorly, selfish, so, that is the other part, too, is everyone has a decision to make right now on not just the film they put out there, but how are you going to conduct yourself in the building? How do you conduct yourself academically? The best thing for everyone to do is to put their best effort and put their best foot forward right now. To me, I think there are a lot of ways to frame that to the players, and I think they will understand that."
On Brandon Hawkins Jr.'s development as a player in his time at UAB:
"Hawkins is a guy that we signed as soon as we got here and is a guy who played some quarterback in high school, he played some wide receiver in junior college, and we have really seen him grow and develop a lot. I think early on, he was a guy that was get the ball in your hands quick, he can do some things with it, but what has been fun to watch is him developing into a complete receiver that has nuance to his route running and just his overall skill set. I think Coach (Kevin) Garver has done a great job with him, too, coaching him and teaching him. He has been very unselfish, he is a hard worker, he is a great team guy. I really love him and despite the outcome of the last game, which was frustrating, and I was certainly as angry about it as anybody, I was glad to see him have some individual success, I really was."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
Tickets to Saturday's game can be purchased by clicking here.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW:
- UAB will honor 26 seniors prior to kickoff who will be playing their final game inside Protective Stadium. Since it opened in 2021, the Blazers have played to a record of 18-10 at Protective Stadium.
- UAB wide receivers Iverson Hooks and Brandon Hawkins Jr. have had extremely productive seasons for the Blazers. Hooks is leading the team with 57 catches for 735 yards and six touchdowns. His 57 catches currently have him tied for seventh for single season receptions at UAB, and he ranks third in the American in receptions per game (5.7). Hawkins has a receiving touchdown in each of his last three games and is coming off a performance in which he had six catches for a career-high 127 yards against North Texas. Hawkins has 38 catches for 500 yards and four scores this year.
- After facing the nation's fifth-ranked offense last week, it gets no easier for the Blazers as USF enters this week's contest ranked fourth nationally in total offense (492.3). Dynamic quarterback Byrum Brown leads the way as the team's leading rusher (841 yards, 11 TD) and passer (2,530 yards, 21 TD). USF ranks 11th nationally in rushing offense (224.2) and 27th nationally in passing offense (268.1). On the flip side, the Bulls are allowing 400.3 yards defensively, which is 96th in the country.
INTERIM HEAD COACH ALEX MORTENSEN:
Opening statement:
"This was obviously a very disappointing game against North Texas last week. One, give them credit. Coach Morris has done a great job there, they have done a great job recruiting, they do a good job coaching their players, and a good job instituting their scheme. We knew we were playing one of the top offenses in the country. I think they are currently fifth in the country in total offense, so we knew that was going to be a challenge. Certainly, we want to play better defensively; we have to get off the field and create more stops, but I think the part I was the most frustrated and disappointed with is knowing that they were going to make some plays and score a little bit because you know how good they are. We have to do a better job on offense playing complimentary football not from a production standpoint, we were very productive in a lot of areas, but one of our first principles that we want to play with is not giving the game away and not beating yourself and that is what we did, and we did it early in the game. We had two turnovers early amidst some pretty productive sequences. That was really disappointing and frustrating and not the kind of football we want to be associated with, that we want our name on, and it is not what we want to be about.
Let's talk about analyzing that further, this is a (North Texas) defense that going into the game, they are giving up 364 yards per game, we had 478 (yards), and that was not garbage time, a lot of that was early, a lot of that was prior to the half. We were over 50% on third down, you do that every week, you are nearly at the top of the country. We were 4-for-6 on fourth down which is pretty good. We had 10 explosive plays in the game. An area of improvement we had was we wanted to reduce the penalties. I think we had three in the game. Those are the areas that were good and where we made progress and did a lot of good things, but again, to be moving the ball in the first series of the game and have a turnover is a bad deal. We manipulated the cadence on the first turnover and (the quarterback) thought he had a free play because (the defensive line) moved and he thought they came across, but still not the right decision to make. Then we fumble on the first play of the second drive. When you are playing somebody who is that good and that good on offense, you cannot do that. A lot of guys played really well in the game. You cannot have that kind of production and not have guys play well. Jevon Jackson had almost 10 yards per carry. Even if you take out his big run before the half, it is still 8.8 or 8.9 (yards per carry). You look at (Brandon Hawkins Jr.) who had a big game. A lot of guys did a lot of good things. The offensive line played really well in a lot of areas, but this is the next thing we have to teach our players is you cannot have these self-inflicted wounds, but again, give North Texas a lot of credit. They have a good program right now. We felt like if we do not give the game away and play how we are capable, that is going to be a very competitive game and a very competitive game late. We have to improve those things and that is what we will be looking to do.
Turning to this week, before we talk about South Florida, I just want to talk about a couple of broader things. One, regardless of the circumstances, we want to finish the season strong, so that is really important. I think that is going to reveal the kind of character and toughness and what we are made of. We talk a lot about great effort regardless of the circumstances, so whether a bowl game is in play or any of those things, that needs to be irrelevant. The next thing is we have suffered quite a few injuries. Those are things we are going to monitor in-house. I think most of our guys will hopefully be able to get back by game day, but those are things we are going to have to monitor over the course of the week. We have a lot of guys who have invested a lot who have put a lot of hard work in, and we have a couple of opportunities here, but we have to focus on this one first to go play again. It is an awesome opportunity to go play a great team and play them at home, and again, what kind of character do we have and what are we made of. This is Senior Day for us, we have a lot of guys that we are going to honor, I think over 20 that will be honored prior to the game so that is exciting for them and really grateful for a lot of the guys who have been here and how they have stuck together through some adversity this season and they have really been a joy to coach. It will be hard to single them all out, but you look at a guy in T'Sai McDaniel who went from a walk-on to earning a scholarship. JonDarius Morgan is a guy who transferred here, transferred back home that has been just nothing but consistent and a really good player for us and a leader. Isaiah Jacobs is a guy that transferred to us and really got off to a great start. I can still remember two years ago when he was ripping off a bunch of big runs against Tulane on the road and we had those guys on the ropes and he tore his ACL, then comes back the next year and has another injury, and he has been nothing but steady, consistent, a really good leader on this team. I could go through the whole group. I am really grateful to have the seniors that we have here and we want to honor them this week, but at the same time as we honor them, it cannot be a distraction. We have to stay focused on the task at hand. In terms of South Florida, (they are) a great team, a great American Conference team, and they have a lot of big wins this year. I think a lot of people remember them beating the University of Florida. One, Coach (Alex) Golesh has done a really good job there. He has done a really good job in recruiting and building the roster, but it does not stop there. I think they have done a really good job developing their players, instituting their scheme, and coaching them, so really in every area, and they do have good schemes on both sides of the ball. Right now, I think they are fourth in the country in total offense, so that will be another challenge again to take on an offense of that caliber this week. They are good on defense, too. Todd Orlando has a great reputation as a defensive coordinator. He has been there from the beginning with Coach Golesh, very familiar with him and he does a great job. Their quarterback, Byrum Brown, has over 2,500 yards passing and he is also their leading rusher, too, at 841 yards rushing. They have a number of good backs and receivers, so it is definitely going to be a challenge, but we are excited about it, and excited to be back in Protective Stadium this week."
On keeping his team motivated at this point in the season:
"I think, one, it is this: if you have an opportunity to play and compete, if you are playing this game, you should want to give it your best if you are a football player and a competitor. To me, that is almost an obvious thing, but I know not everyone is wired that way. Not everyone is wired from intrinsic motivation, if you will, but I think there are a couple ways to look at it, and this is something we talked about going back to when we had all the change prior to the Memphis week is this: one, a lot of guys are still about the team. They are bought into the team, they believe in each other, they love each other, and they want to go play for UAB and for the guy to the left and right of them. I think there is that part, too. At the end of the day, we are going out there playing, and that running back is counting on the left guard and the left tackle, and everyone is counting on each other. I think if you care for each other and the guys in the locker room, you are going to give your very best in the practice week and on game day.
Then, there is another layer. We talk about this in football that your video is your resume. If I want a job, most of the time, people are going to ask for a resume, but what is my resume in football? It is really two things: your video and your reputation in the locker room, amongst your coaching staff, and amongst your teammates, and this is an opportunity for a lot of guys, some of which want to still have an opportunity to play professionally, play in the NFL. A lot of them are going to want to still stay at UAB. Whatever happens here, they are going to want to be part of this program. I still believe this program has an incredibly high ceiling. I think we have resources and people around us that care and we have great geography. I think there is every reason for a lot of these guys to want to stay part of this program and if you want to do that, you are going to finish this season strong. Then there is another category of guys that are going to have their eyes in the portal. Of those three categories, does it serve any of them to not give their best for two weeks? The answer is no; it does not. The best thing to do is for these guys to go build their resume more by putting great things on video. The other thing, too, is my former boss used to talk about this a lot, is he would give this speech, and I am probably going to butcher it, talking about 'and' or 'but.' He would say when you are getting evaluated as a player, they will tell you this guy has great balance, body control, he has short space quickness, makes contested catches, this, that, the other, and then there is going to be a point in that write up that is going to say and has great character, treats people well, teammates love him, is kind to the equipment staff, so on and so forth, or that word is going to say but poor academically, treats people poorly, selfish, so, that is the other part, too, is everyone has a decision to make right now on not just the film they put out there, but how are you going to conduct yourself in the building? How do you conduct yourself academically? The best thing for everyone to do is to put their best effort and put their best foot forward right now. To me, I think there are a lot of ways to frame that to the players, and I think they will understand that."
On Brandon Hawkins Jr.'s development as a player in his time at UAB:
"Hawkins is a guy that we signed as soon as we got here and is a guy who played some quarterback in high school, he played some wide receiver in junior college, and we have really seen him grow and develop a lot. I think early on, he was a guy that was get the ball in your hands quick, he can do some things with it, but what has been fun to watch is him developing into a complete receiver that has nuance to his route running and just his overall skill set. I think Coach (Kevin) Garver has done a great job with him, too, coaching him and teaching him. He has been very unselfish, he is a hard worker, he is a great team guy. I really love him and despite the outcome of the last game, which was frustrating, and I was certainly as angry about it as anybody, I was glad to see him have some individual success, I really was."
Click here to watch the entire press conference.
Tickets to Saturday's game can be purchased by clicking here.
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ FootballMonday Morning with Mort | Week 13
Tuesday, November 18
UAB MBB vs Rhodes | Post Game Press Conference
Tuesday, November 18
Ryder Burton 🤝 BJ Hawkins #uabathletics #football #winasone #collegefootball #ncaafootball
Monday, November 17
UAB Mens Basketball | The Quick Cut: Game 4 - High Point
Monday, November 17
