LATEST ARTICLES
NAVY (1-1 OVERALL, 0-1 AMERICAN) AT UAB (1-2 OVERALL, 0-0 AMERICAN)
PROTECTIVE STADIUM
FRIDAY, 6 P.M. CST, ESPN
When Navy has the ball: While it sounds simple, getting off the field is one of the biggest objectives for the UAB defense on Friday. The Blazers can’t afford to get into a game where Navy moves the chains with consitency, controls the clock and repeatedly reaches the red zone. The Midshipmen are toward the middle of the FBS pack in third down conversion percentage with a 43 percent success rate over the first two games. If they have success moving the chains then they’ll eventually reach the red zone, which is not good news for opponents. Navy is one of 31 FBS teams perfect in the red zone thus far and joins Toledo as the only teams that have scored a touchdown in each of its red zone trips. Navy’s is a relatively small sample size – five red zone trips in two games – but the Midshipmen offense is traditionally tremendous near the goal line and that will not change. UAB’s defense has not made a red zone stop this season and opponents scored touchdowns on eight of 10 trips into the red zone in three games. UAB has spent less time this week worrying about Braxton Woodson’s ankle injury than getting ready for what Navy does offensively. Navy will do what it does, no matter if it’s Woodson or Jackson Gutierrez taking the snaps. Navy is second in the country (trailing Army) in rushing yards per game at 376. Stopping the run has not been a strength for the UAB defense. The Blazers allow 192 yards per game on the ground, which is 124th in the country. So how do the Blazers limit running success on Saturday? “I think it's just going to come down to knowing our job, doing our job at a high level, and really just focusing on the details,” said UAB defensive end Tylin Jackson. The other challenge piece against a Drew Cronic-coached Navy offense is the big play threat in the passing game. Eye discipline and recognition is critical for the UAB secondary on Saturday. Navy threw the ball 23 times in the loss to FAU, largely because of the big halftime deficit. Gutierrez has touchdown passes of 64 yards to Jordan Collins and Charles Robinson. Don’t expect that many passes on Saturday – unless UAB can build a big lead – but do expect some timely deep passes.
When UAB has the ball: Can UAB break out of a passing game slumber? Stats suggest this could be a good game for that to happen. FAU shredded Navy with the pass two weeks ago. The Owls threw for 386 yards and five touchdowns with each score and most of the yardage coming in the first half and opening second half drive. But FAU is an offense built on the pass while UAB is working with a run-first mentality thus far. Will UAB head coach Alex Mortensen emphasize the passing game a little more on Saturday? Ryder Burton has shown flashes of good things in the passing game – none brighter than the perfectly thrown 43-yard touchdown strike to EJ Reid to provide the winning points against Louisiana Monroe – but has not been consistent. Overall, he is 41-of-72 for 478 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. One of the problems has been the pass protection. Burton has been sacked seven times but that number could be much higher without Burton doing a good job in avoiding sacks by scrambling to either throw the ball away or get some yardage with his legs. Navy has done a solid job in the pass rush with six sacks in two games. With all that said still look for UAB to work on establishing the run game. “I don't anticipate us veering too far from who we are,” Mortensen said. Running the football against Navy is difficult, for sure, but maybe not as difficult as it currently looks on paper. Navy is currently ranked second in the country after allowing 40.5 rushing yards per game. But Navy did that against an overmatched FCS team (Towson) and a FAU team that had a 50-yard loss on a punt team blunder and 22 lost yards on three sacks. Those 72 yards are included in FAU’s rushing total of 44 yards. FAU gained 116 yards on 39 running plays. UAB had its worst rushing game of the season last week at Louisiana but will work to get back on track this week.
Special teams: In a game where hidden yardage is important the Blazers need to get their punt game settled. Badger Hargett came into the season as the starter and averaged 48.5 yards per punt on his two punts in the opener against Illinois. Oliver Straw, who is third in all-time punting yards at West Virginia, was added to the UAB roster after the season began. UAB didn’t punt in the win over Louisiana-Monroe and Straw took over as the starter at Louisiana. It was an inconsistent game for Straw, who averaged 37 yards on five attempts with his 21-yard punt setting the Ragin’ Cajuns up for a 40-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter. Hargett punted once in the game for 49 yards. Obviously, UAB needs more consistency in its punting game.
Hello my name is: Elijah Hall. The defensive end transfer from Liberty had limited snaps the first two weeks. However, with Blanche Gold out with injury at Louisiana, Hall got a season-high 26 snaps against the Ragin’ Cajuns. He responded with three tackles, including one tackle for loss, and showed he’s capable of contributing.
Trend to follow: Surprisingly, Navy has not forced a turnover in two games. Navy averaged 11.3 interceptions and 8.3 fumble recoveries per season in Brian Newberry’s first three seasons as the head coach. Taking away the football is something the Midshipmen are known for. In 2024, Navy had 17 interceptions and the 2023 defense had 14 fumble recoveries. Newberry said earlier this week that he expects the turnovers to come.
How Navy wins: Let’s stay with turnovers. Navy is at its best when winning the turnover battle. Shutting down the UAB running game is a focus and playing a clean offensive football game is important. Mixing in a big play or two in the passing game would also be nice for Navy.
How UAB wins: It begins with playing a relatively clean game in regards to penalties, turnovers and assignments. Unforced errors will get the Blazers beat. Ending red zone trips with touchdowns is vital, having balanced success on offense would be helpful and limiting missed tackles is critical.
Coach’s corner: Navy coach Brian Newberry is 27-13 since taking over as the program’s head coach in 2022. That marks a tie with the coach he replaced, Ken Niumatalolo, for the second best start as the Navy head coach.
One more thing: The numbers support that UAB is hurting itself with penalties thus far. In the FBS statistics UAB is tied for 113th in fewest penalties (26), tied for 118th in fewest penalties per game (8.67), tied for 117th in total penalty yards (225) and tied for 121st in penalty yards per game (75). Only one of Trent Dilfer’s UAB teams had more penalties and penalty yards after three games. The 2024 team had 28 penalties for 242 yards in the first three games.
The UAB defense has prepared this week without this without knowing which Navy quarterback they will see when the teams meet in an American Conference game on Friday night at Protective Stadium.
Will it be the explosive Braxton Woodson or the versatile Jackson Gutierrez? Or will it be both?
Woodson is the team’s starter at quarterback but the 6-foot-3, 215-pound fourth year player suffered an ankle sprain in the 38-30 loss to FAU on Sept. 12. The injury came on the opening drive of the third quarter. At that time, Woodson had 96 rushing yards on 12 carries with a touchdown but FAU held a 31-7 lead that grew to a 31-point deficit on the next series. Gutierrez, a 6-foot, 207-pound third year player from San Antonio, stepped in to account for 176 yards and three touchdowns to nearly lead the Midshipmen to an improbable comeback victory.
So which quarterback will take the first Navy snap on Friday night in Birmingham?
It depends on Woodson’s injured ankle. Navy head coach Brian Newberry said earlier this week that Woodson’s availability was “day-to-day” and added that he was “encouraged” in the healing process. He also said that Gutierrez was the starter at that point.
“Right now Jackson is the guy,” Newberry said of Gutierrez, whose father, Gary, was former UAB quarterback Jacob Zeno’s head coach at John Jay High in San Antonio.
Either way, not much changes for the Navy offense or UAB defense as they prepare for Saturday’s game. While there are certainly some differences in the top two Navy quarterbacks the offense doesn’t change when Gutierrez is on the field.
“That's gonna be the test of our defense, how disciplined we can be for 60, 70 plays,” said UAB linebacker Muaaz Byard, who is the team leader in tackles with 30. “Can you do your job even if you're not making plays or if you are making plays? Just do your job consistently over and over again because that's what they're banking on. They're banking on somebody to mess up. So as long as we do our job every play, make sure our eyes in the right spot, we should be good.”
Being in the right spot isn’t always enough to stop Woodson, who is the fourth leading rusher in the country and leads all quarterbacks with 148 rushing yards per game. It’s the third consecutive week that UAB’s defense is facing a running threat quarterback, whether it’s Woodson or Gutierrez. The experience of playing Louisiana-Monroe’s Austin Carlisle and Louisiana’s Lunch Winfield could be helpful this week.
“It's another week and another really good running quarterback,” UAB defensive end Tylin Jackson said. “Those guys can scoot. You know, they're fast, they make plays. But I think it just comes down to the details on the defense. Like, we have to do our job because these guys can hurt us if we're not on one accord.”
As usual, Navy has a threat at fullback in Vic Listori, who has 116 yards and a touchdown in two games, but they aren’t the focus.
“Everything goes through the quarterback,” Byard said, speaking about Woodson. “He's a great athlete. He can run. I know the running backs number 40 (Listori) and 42 (Mac Barrow II), those are bigger backs and things like that. But everything gonna go through the quarterback. He's the heart and soul of the offense. So if we stop him, we can stop them.”
Two Southern Conference teams needing a win badly will meet on Saturday afternoon at Samford’s Pete Hanna Stadium.
Samford is not only still searching for the first win with John Grass as the head coach but the Bulldogs are also riding a eight-game losing streak dating back to the final five games of the 2025 season. On the other side of the football, VMI has a 14-game losing streak, including the first four games of Ashley Ingram’s tenure as the program’s head coach.
It’s guaranteed that one losing streak will end on Saturday.
“I think we need a win bad,” Grass said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday morning. “We really do. This bunch has done everything we've asked them to do. They've bought in. They're still bought in. So, I think a win would do a lot of people well. You'll get back to even in the conference. This team's goal was to finish at the top of the conference and that goal is still attainable. But you got to win these games. Losing the first one kind of put some pressure on all the rest of them, so you got our backs against the wall as far as the conference. This is a must-win when it comes to conference play.”
One advantage for Samford is the Bulldogs are rejuvenated after the team’s first bye week of the season. The extra week of work came following close losses to UNA and Southern Illinois and a tough outing at Tennessee Tech in the SoCon opener.
“You know, the first three didn't go the way we wanted 'em to go but we got better every week,” Grass said. “We had a chance to win some games in the fourth quarter there with the first two and then with explosive plays (at) Tennessee Tech, it got away from us early but had a chance to get back in that game as well. You learn a lot about your football team in those first three games, so we got to build on that, and that's kind of what we did last week.”
The extra work also allowed the Samford defense an opportunity to get extra work on defending the triple option attack brought in by the new staff. Ingram was an offensive lineman on three national championship teams at UNA, which ran the option, and spent 16 seasons as an assistant coach at Navy.
“Well, I mean, I think it's tough,” Grass said of getting ready to play an option attack for the only time this season. “I think this conference used to have two or three teams at all times that, that run the triple, so you would see it from week to week. I asked our guys, ‘How many of y'all played against the triple in high school?’ Surprisingly, more of them played against it than what you thought.”
But it still takes a healthy dose of adjustment in preparation.
“The biggest difference to me, (after) you played three spread offenses the first three games, is pad level,” Grass said. “It's under the center offense. It gets on you a lot quicker than a gun offense does. The pad level of your offensive lineman is way lower than it is out of the gun. So, I mean, it's an adjustment. It's gonna take us a series to adjust to the pad level of the game because they're rolling off the ball, man. They're in a four-point stance and they're coming off the ball. It's a power run game, and they want to be able to crease with that fullback. So it is different. But like I said, the knowledge on our team was better than what I had suspected in that deal.
Subscribe FOR UPDATES
THE BANNER
The Banner is created for Birmingham’s fans by Birmingham fans with a hope to amplify the athletes, teams, and stories that make this one of America’s best sports cities. Always more than the score.