Steve Irvine’s Five Storylines for UAB vs ULM
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - September 6, 2024
UAB vs. LOUISIANA-MONROE
Site, kickoff time: Malone Stadium, 6 p.m.
Record: UAB 1-0, 0-0; ULM 1-0 overall, 0-0 SBC
Five storylines
1. How much will familiarity play a role? It will be tough to have any secrets heading into this game. Sure, there will be wrinkles added by each coaching staff and both teams kept it simple in the opening week. Both of these staffs know each other well. UAB head coach Trent Dilfer and his staff know what ULM head coach Bryant Vincent likes to do and the same can be said on the other side. So what happens at Malone Stadium on game day? Do both staffs remain with what is not only comfortable to them but familiar to the other team? Or they change what they do in attempts to fooling the other side? It’s an intriguing part of this matchup.
2. Can UAB keep ULM from controlling the clock with the running game? The Warhawks had the football for nearly 35 minutes in the season-opening win over Jackson State. Rest assured that Vincent and his offensive staff would like for that number to increase this week. The best way to do that is run the football with success and move the chains on third down. The Warhawks gained 225 yards on 39 running plays against Jackson State, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Ahmad Hardy, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound true freshman, had 19 carries for 103 yards, including a 39-yard burst on his first carry. There is also depth in the backfield with 6-foot-2, 205-pound junior James Jones (9-54, TD) and UAB transfer Taven Curry (4-24). The Blazers allowed just 92 yards on 36 running plays against Alcorn State with much of that coming from the quarterback. This week’s challenge will be much tougher. ULM wasn’t great on third down last week – converting 5 of 14 – but the Warhawks did convert on pair of fourth down plays. Alcorn State was 4 of 15 on third down against UAB.
3. Can the UAB offense play a relatively clean game? Trent Dilfer is not very good at hiding his frustration, especially when it comes to the offensive side of the ball. Dilfer was not pleased with the way his offense played in the season-opening win and was not afraid to share his opinion. How will the offense respond? All the pieces are in place for an offense that still produced 517 yards, including 302 rushing yards, on a night that they didn’t play particularly well. They also had three turnovers and left a lot of production on the field. Playing clean is important to win a road game.
4. Will special teams continue to be a strength for UAB? Special teams were directly responsible for two touchdowns with the Kam Shanks punt return for a score and the blocked punt by Sirad Bryant that set up the UAB offense up inside the 10-yard line. That was just the start of a great night for the UAB special teams. Forcing ULM into unfavorable field position will be helpful. Trent Dilfer praised his team’s coverage units during his Monday press conference. ULM has a good returner in Davon Wells. Keeping him bottled up will be important. A big play or two from Shanks on punt returns would be huge, as would success on kickoff returns.
5. How does UAB handle adversity on the road in a week 2 game? Trent Dilfer has never won a road game as the UAB head coach. He was 0-6 on the road in his first season with the Blazers. And, since the return of football, UAB is 1-6 in the second game of the season with all of those games coming on the road. The lone second game win was a 31-20 win at Akron in 2019. Sure, this is a different team and a different year, but what happens if things start going bad on Saturday? The Blazers have to prove that they can overcome those numbers and it starts with handling adversity well. It will be an emotional game for ULM and their staff, which is filled with coaches that have ties to UAB. Handling that emotion will be important.