What Georgia Fans Need to Know About the UAB Blazers

UAB will is in Athens, Georgia to take on the No. 1 ranked Bulldogs, sporting a 1-2 record in Head Coach Trent Dilfer's first year on the job. Dilfer made the jump from the high school coaching ranks following the retirement of Bill Clark who helped resurrect the UAB football program in 2017 after it was controversially shut down following the 2014 season. Dilfer, the former Super Bowl champion quarterback turned analyst turned coach, will be coaching in his first game against a Power 5 opponent.

The Blazers opened the season with a win over FCS North Carolina A&T before dropping each of their last two contests against Sun Belt teams Georgia Southern and Louisiana by scores of 49-35 and 41-21 respectively.

Under the guidance of first-year Offensive Coordinator Alex Mortensen - son of long-time ESPN NFL Analyst Chris Mortenson - moving the football and scoring points has not been the issue for UAB, as it currently ranks inside the top-5 in the American conference in total yards, yards per play, and scoring offense. Dilfer hired Mortensen from Alabama where he spent the past 8 seasons as a graduate assistant (2014-16) and an offensive analyst (2017-22) and was heavily involved in training the elite group of quarterbacks that matriculated through Tuscaloosa during his time with the program.

To this point, the Blazers have leaned more on the pass, throwing the ball on 56% of their offensive snaps and currently ranking first in the American Conference in passing offense with an average of 318 passing yards per game. The potent UAB passing attack has been spearheaded by Baylor transfer Jacob Zeno who has been highly effective in his first season as the team's opening day starter, currently ranking fifth in the nation in passing yards per game and third in completion percentage. With five receivers with over 100 yards receiving and none with more than 148 receiving yards, the Blazers might not feature one dominant receiver, but they have a number of pass catchers that can make plays.

Leading the team in carries, Zeno is also a threat in the run game. Considering that 40% of the rush yards that Georgia has surrendered thus far in the 2023 season have been quarterback runs (designed and scrambles), that is a matchup to watch in the game with UAB. Still, while the UAB passing game has been dynamic, its run game has left something to be desired, only ranking 96th nationally in yards per rush. It is difficult to imagine that the Blazers will get the ground game on track against a rush defense the caliber of Georgia's

Defensively, UAB has struggled over the past two weeks, giving up more than 40 points in each of its last two games against Sun Belt opponents. Georgia Southern posted 462 total yards against the Blazers in week 2, while Louisiana put up 513 and 8 yards per play a week ago. The UAB defense has particularly struggled in the first half, surrendering 28 and 24 points in the first half in each of its last two games. Those struggles give Georgia an opportunity to reverse the troubling trend of sluggish first half starts on offense on Saturday. While the UAB defense has struggled overall, with 16 tackles for loss and 9 sacks through three games, it has been disruptive. Georgia will have a significant size advantage in the matchup between its offensive line and the UAB defensive line, but the Bulldogs have had issues with smaller, quicker defensive lines creating negative plays through the first three games.

UAB will be significantly outmanned on Saturday, but they will lean on a dynamic passing game and put the game on the shoulders of one of the most prolific passers in the country.