Protective Stadium has seen its ups and downs over the last three months.
The highlight of UAB’s season occurred when the Blazers upset then-No. 22 Memphis in front of their home crowd to bring the Battle for the Bones Trophy back to Birmingham.
That was the good.
Protective Stadium has also seen some bad — two surprisingly close non-conference wins against an FCS team in Alabama State and a slumping Akron. And there’s been some ugly — a lackluster performance in a loss to Army and a blowout defeat to North Texas last week.
UAB (3-7, 1-5) will look to end its home slate on a positive note this weekend when it welcomes South Florida (7-3, 4-2) for a 2 p.m. CT kickoff on Saturday.
“Certainly, we want to finish the season the right way,” Interim head coach Alex Mortensen said. “One, because we have a standard we want to adhere to. Two, for our players and for these seniors that are going out. But absolutely for the university, the program, the fan base, it’s really important to us to play the right way. So, yeah, it’s a big deal. With this being the last home game, it’s a great opportunity to do that.”
The Bulls are coming off a 41-38 loss to Navy that knocked them out of the College Football Playoff picture last week. South Florida still has a chance of reaching the American Conference Championship Game and enters Saturday’s matchup as 21.5-point favorites, according to ESPN BET.
UAB and South Florida have split the previous four meetings against each other. The Bulls beat the Blazers, 35-25, in Tampa, Florida last year.
Key matchup
UAB’s secondary vs. South Florida’s passing attack
“You get very lonely.”
That’s how cornerback Tamarion Crumpley described the feeling of being put out on an island against South Florida head coach Alex Golesh’s ultra-spread offense, which places receivers out wide near the sideline in order to open up the field for his attack.
“It’s literally you and the wide receiver,” Crumpley said. “It’s good-on-good, one-on-one. May the best man win.”
Crumpley speaks from experience. While Saturday will mark his first game against South Florida, he has already faced off against a similar attack in Tennessee earlier this season. Golesh previously worked under Volunteers head coach Josh Heupel at Central Florida (2020) and Tennessee (2021-22) where the two crafted their spread attack.
“It’s different allignment-wise and also tempo,” Crumpley said. “At the same time, there’s not too many route combinations you can get alignment-wise from their offense, but they’ve got good guys obviously. You’ve got to have the guys for the right formations to run those type of offenses. I’d say that and the tempo is what makes it different than other offenses.”
Crumpley fared well against Tennessee earlier this season. According to Pro Football Focus, he was targeted three times against the Volunteers, allowing just one reception for 7 yards.
UAB will need him to put in a similar performance against a South Florida passing offense that ranks 28th nationally, averaging 268.1 yards per game through the air.
Players to watch
South Florida quarterback Byrum Brown
Byrum Brown is one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in college football. Through 10 games, the 6-foot-3, 232-pound playmaker is completing 65.4% of his passes for 2,530 yards and 21 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He also leads South Florida with 841 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.
“We’ve got to tackle him,” Crumpley said. “He is good. We’ve watched the film. He knows how to get around the defense. He’s a good scrambler, so we’ve got to down him.”
UAB QB Jalen Kitna
All indications are that UAB will stick with Jalen Kitna at quarterback this week. However, with the Blazers going back and forth between him and Ryder Burton in recent weeks, you can never be too sure.
Kitna is coming off his first full game since suffering multiple shoulder injuries at Florida-Atlantic on Oct. 11. Against North Texas last week, he completed 26 of 45 passes for 281 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
Kitna had a big game in last year’s loss at South Florida, throwing for 384 yards and a pair of touchdowns with an interception. UAB will need a similar effort if it wants to pull off an upset on Saturday.
UAB WR Brandon Hawkins Jr.
If Kitna does put together a big game this weekend, Brandon Hawkins Jr. will likely play a part in it. The redshirt senior receiver is coming off a career-best performance against North Texas where he pulled in six receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown. Hawkins has a receiving touchdown in each of his last three games and also scored on a 32-yard run against UConn over that span.
“We’ve really see him grow and develop a lot,” Mortensen said of Hawkins earlier this week. “I think early on he was a guy that when you get the ball in his hands quick, he could do some things with it. What’s been fun to watch is see him really develop 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’s been very unselfish. He’s a hard worker. He’s a great team guy. I really love him and, despite the outcome of the last game, which was frustrating. I was certainly as angry about it as anybody. I was glad to see him have some individual success.”
South Florida OLB Mac Harris
South Florida is known for its high-flying offense, but the Bulls also present a few challenges on defense. One of those is outside linebacker Mac Harris, who leads the team with six sacks while ranking second with 7.5 tackles for a loss. Harris recorded a career-high 15 tackles and recovered a fumble in South Florida’s loss to Navy last week.
UAB left guard Baron Franks II
Baron Franks made the start at left guard last week, taking over for Calib Perez. According to PFF, Franks led UAB with an 80.3 pass-blocking grade against North Texas, allowing just one pressure over 49 opportunities.
“I think he played really well,” Mortensen said. “Baron is a guy that had an opportunity to start at one point. He had an injury that put him behind for a while. I think that was tough for him. But we really love Baron and Baron’s done a really good job here. He’s practiced hard, he’s working hard and he’s been very dependable and reliable coming into the game. We’re really glad we have him.”
Storylines
Senior Day
Saturday will serve as Senior Day for UAB, as the Blazers will honor 29 players before kickoff. Those names include: Josh Baka, Sirad Bryant, Jalen Cheek, Tamarion Crumpley, Perry Fisher, Baron Franks II, Connor Harby, Brandon Hawkins Jr., Jevon Jackson, Isaiah Jacobs, Jalen Kitna, Donald Lee, Adam Lepkowski, Aron Marsch, Evan McCray, T’Sai McDaniel, JonDarius Morgan, Amorie Morrison, Calib Perez, Calvin Pitcher, Jamichael Rogers, Pierre Royster, Peter Simmons, Demarcus Smith, James Smyre, Nigel Tate, Eddy Toussom, Jax Van Zandt and Denver Warren.
A final farewell from Kitna?
While Kitna will be among the honorees on Saturday, the redshirt senior can still petition for one more year of eligibility if he chooses.
Prior to his injury, Kitna was among the nation’s leaders in multiple categories. Through eight games, he has completed 66.8% of his passes for 2,066 yards and 11 touchdowns with seven interceptions. With a strong performance over the next two games, he might be able to parlay those numbers into a shot at the NFL.
“We’ll see how that all plays out here after the season ends, going into this next year,” Kitna said when asked about his plans earlier this week. “Just trying to finish the season out right now and see where things lie after that. That’s when you really get a good beat of where you’re at.”
If this is Kitna’s last game in front of a home crowd at UAB, the two-year starter took some time to reflect on what the city of Birmingham means to him.
“The city of Birmingham has been great,” Kitna said. “I think the support they provided and all that has been awesome. I’ve really enjoyed getting to be a part of this city and serving for them, playing for them. Just getting to be a part of it, it’s just felt like a second home for me.”
Score prediction
North Texas 52, UAB 27
South Florida has given up 26 or more points five times this season, so there should be some opportunities for UAB’s offense to make plays. That being said, it’s hard to see the Blazers limiting the Bulls on the other side of the ball.
Game info
Who: UAB (3-7, 1-5) vs. South Florida (7-3, 4-2)
Where: Protective Stadium – Birmingham, Ala.
When: Saturday, 2 p.m. CT
Watch: ESPN+
On The Call: Pete Sousa (play-by-play), Forrest Conoly (analyst)
Listen: WJOX 94.5 FM
On The Call: David Crane (play-by-play), Bryant Turner (analyst), Landrum Roberts (sideline)
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