UAB Passing Game Faces Urgent Test Against Navy
By Steve Irvine
September 22 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
The running game made the UAB offense click over the first two weeks of the season. Even with that happening, though, there was an important question looming near the surface.
How would the UAB offense operate if the opposition minimizes the running game?
This past Saturday, in the third game of the season at Louisiana, the question needed to be answered. The Ragin’ Cajuns took away the running game for the most part. The only two runs of more than 10 yards – an 11-yard gain by backup quarterback Nate Rogers and a 28-yard burst around left end by Roderick Robinson II – came late in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Ryder Burton had a 29-yard run negated by a holding penalty. UAB, which was excellent on short conversion downs in the win over Louisiana-Monroe was stuffed on 4th-and-1 inside the Louisiana 5-yard line and foiled on 4th-and-2 to end the Blazers final possession. Put it all together and UAB gained a net 74 yards on 31 carries, which gave the UAB offense an opportunity to answer the question.
It wasn’t the answer they wanted. Quarterback Ryder Burton threw for 144 yards and his lone touchdown pass was overturned by replay officials. He was sacked three times and threw his third interception of the season.
On Monday, during his weekly press conference, UAB head coach Alex Mortensen, who coordinates the offense and calls the plays, was asked for his three-game assessment of the passing game.
“I'll say this, I have confidence that we can execute it going forward through the rest of the season,” Mortensen said to start his answer. “But I would say it's below the standard with which we expect. You know, it needs to be better in every component of it.”
Then he broke down the exact points it needs to get better.
“We've got to protect the passer better first and foremost,” said Mortensen, whose team allowed seven sacks in three games. “I know I've said this a lot, but there are multiple components to pass protection that involve, first and foremost, the offensive line. But some protections involve backs, some protections involve tight ends. And then the timing of the passing game, too, is I think another important component of protection. Timing, a lot of times is the product of disciplined route running. Whoever's running the route, whatever position they come from, (is) running the routes on time with the correct space and the correct technique. And then the quarterback, you know, decision-making being right and their feet, their eyes get to the right spot at the right time, playing on time and being a quick processor, being able to process information quickly. I could go through all of those. I think it's not (just) one of those things. Like all of those things are not where we need it to be yet.”
Overall, Burton is 41-of-72, which is a 56.9 completion percentage, for 478 yards with a touchdown passes of 43 yards to EJ Reid and 10 yards to Robinson. As a team, UAB is 119th in the country in passing yards per game and 130th in team pass efficiency. The only American Conference teams that rank lower than UAB in passing offense are Temple, Army, Navy and Rice. All four of those teams operate with a run-heavy approach.
Mortensen points to a “component of trust” that could be an early season issue for UAB’s passing game.
“I didn't want to say this in our preseason camp, but one thing that did concern me is some of the receivers we have playing didn't really get available until the first week,” Mortensen said. “Privately I have to admit, I did have some concerns about when the guy's at the top of the route is our quarterback going to play with the anticipation we need him to or is he gonna wait to see the angle and the body language because the banked reps aren't there? Now, the flip side of it, as I mentioned earlier, football being a developmental game, it's a developing sport. These are young men that are developing. The positive is I really believe we can have a outstanding passing game. I think we have all the makings of it. I think we got the players to do it. I think we've got the quarterback. I think we've got what we need to do it. So we're working very hard to improve all of those things.”
There is time to do that but there is also an urgency this week as UAB opens up American Conference play on Friday night against Navy. After two games, Navy leads the conference and is second in the country in rushing defense with 40.5 yards allowed per game in two games. Opposing offenses rushed for 81 yards on 64 carries, which is 1.3 yards per carry. They haven’t fared so well against the passing game with opponents throwing for 593 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Navy does have six sacks in two games but throwing the ball does seem like a good option against the Midshipmen.
Robinson said it takes a group effort to get things going through the air.
“I feel like when you get the passing game going, it opens up everything else,” Robinson said. “We have to be able to run the ball a little bit better just so it can help our quarterback open up the passing game. Like Coach Mort said it starts with the o-line, running backs, and tight ends. We have to be able to protect the quarterback so we can get him into a rhythm, to be able to throw the ball confidently. I have the utmost confidence in Ryder to be able to make plays. It starts with everybody else, too. You can't just look at the quarterback and the receivers and say that that's the reason why our passing game is where it is right now. I feel like we just all have to do our part. It all works hand in hand together, so we all have to be better.”