Grantham’s Defense Shows Its Teeth, Feasts on Turnovers IN UAB SCRIMMAGE

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - April 3, 2026

The good news, UAB football head coach Alex Mortensen said on Friday, is that the Blazers defense did job of creating takeaways during the first full-scale scrimmage of spring practice. Some of those were interceptions and others were fumbles.

In this case, though, the good news is coupled with bad news.

“That was really positive to see,” said Mortensen, who also doubles as the program’s offensive coordinator. “And then on the flip side, though, you go ‘Hey, offensively we’ve got to do a better job of protecting the football.’ Some of those errors are things that can be prevented.”

Muuaz Byard, who was with the first team at inside linebacker alongside Ike Esonwue, said the turnovers came by design in defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s system.

“I feel like that's definitely something that Coach Grantham emphasizes,” Byard said. “That's the type of defense we want to be. We're going to take the ball away because you take the ball away, your percentage of winning goes up. So that's something that we emphasize. But another thing is we have very good players who have great ball skills. Every time the ball goes up, it's contested. Every catch, every pass that goes up is contested. So we have a chance to get the ball every time and then we're punching at the ball. That's something we work on every day, turnover circuit, things like that.”

Turnovers were just part of a day that may have set the tone for the remainder of spring practice while having moments of success on both sides of the ball.

“Offense, we've got some things to clean up for sure,” said quarterback Ryder Burton. “Defense as well, but I know those things will come with time. But it was fast. It was physical, which is a good sign of what we want to start with.”

The scrimmage, which lasted about one hour and 45 minutes, was largely closed to the media and final stats were not provided. The first 20 minutes of the scrimmage were open to the media. During that time, there was not a turnover but the defense played well. The first offense drove down the field early and scored a touchdown when Rod Robinson turned a swing pass from Burton into a touchdown that covered around 15 yards. Wide receiver Lamar White also had a few catches during that time frame.

Overall, other than the scoring toss to Robinson, Burton threw touchdown passes to wide receiver KJ Daniels and tight ends Brayden Johnson and Antonio Ferguson. There were also touchdown catches by running back Ja’Vin Simpkins and tight end Gabriel Cline. Isaiah Crozier and Elijah Pratt each recorded interceptions.

One of the highlights of the day was getting a first look at 6-foot-1, 235-pound running back Rod Robinson carrying the football against live tackling.

“It's a blast because on top of that, it makes my life so much easier,” Burton said when asked if he enjoys watching Robinson run through tacklers after taking a handoff. “Seriously, like the passing game just completely opens up when we'd run the ball like that, especially on that first drive to start the day. I think Rod, like his first three carries, each went for 10 to 12 yards. So then it was like my first drop back pass, the defense completely lost the man because they were so focused on Rod. So, 1000 percent it definitely makes it easier. He's one heck of a talent.”

Byard smiled when asked about tackling such a physical running back.

“I love playing against Rod, Bam (McReynolds) and Ja’Vin Simpkins,” Byard said. “All those guys are very good, versatile backs. But going against Rod, he’s a bigger back, so you have to tackle him lower. He’s gong to bring it every time, so you better come with your pads or you see how it happened to some people out here. We’re not going to tackle no other backs in the American Conference built like that or even moving like that. He’s just going to get us better and preparing me for the next level because that’s the type of backs you’re going to play in the NFL.”

Mortensen was pleased with the play of his running backs, which also included Marquise Collins getting carries.

“Today it felt like we really liked the way the backs performed,” Mortensen said. “I think that they're starting to show an understanding of how we run our runs. I think our coaches – Hindley Brigham, Danny Mitchell - do a great job of coaching those guys on the details and fundamentals of how to press a hole, how to read it. I even thought we saw progress there today. I thought they did a good job breaking tackles or at worst falling forward. So I thought that was really positive. Then I also thought their situational awareness improved too when we're in a short yard situation, understanding we just need a yard, we need two yards (and) getting their pads down and making sure we get it. Top to bottom was pretty pleased with the backs, but they've all still got areas they can improve, which is exciting.”

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