By Steve Irvine
October 31, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, AL
Dissecting the reasons for UAB’s 30-10 loss to South Florida on Saturday at Raymond James Stadium begins with a long look in the mirror for the Blazer offense.
On a day when the UAB defense played good enough to win, a pair of USF scoop-and-score touchdowns following fumbles by Ryder Burton gifted the Bulls with 14 points. Mix in a pair of missed field goals by Jonah Delange and that’s a 20-point swing.
“Look, they're a good defense,” UAB head coach Alex Mortensen said during his postgame radio appearance on the Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “They've been holding people to 15 points a game and here's what bothers me probably the most of all - if we're not gonna go out and shred 'em (at least) don't lose the game. We give 'em 14 points on offense. It's completely unacceptable to give them 14 points. So in a game when your defense is playing really good, if you don't give 'em 14 points, you make two field goals (and) it's probably a tight game in the end. That's what everything starts with is don't beat yourself. Before you can win a game, don't beat yourself. I'm incredibly disappointed. I'm not sugarcoating it with our team and with the guys we have to hold accountable. Look, I'm holding myself accountable, too, (because) part of that is getting everyone to raise their standard a little bit.”
UAB began the game with a crisp scoring drive that included a 41-yard pass from Ryder Burton to CJ Smith and finished with a 5-yard scoring run by Roderick Robinson II. The following UAB possession, which featured a 33-yard connection from Burton to KJ Daniels, stalled in the red zone and concluded with a 30-yard field goal by Jonah Delange. At the end of the first quarter, the Blazers had 119 yards and control of the game.
The rest of the game was filled with frustration for the UAB offense.
USF finished the game with six sacks and 11 tackles for loss. C.J. Hicks had four of those sacks and forced both fumbles by Burton that turned into points for the Bulls. The first one came just after USF tied the game at 10 on a 6-yard run by Jason Collins Jr. with 47 seconds left in the first half. On the next play from scrimmage, Hicks got by UAB offensive tackle Kyrik Mason and knocked the ball free from Burton. USF defensive tackle Asani Redwood picked up the fumble at the 6-yard line and ran untouched into the end zone to give USF a 17-10 lead that they carried into halftime.
“Yeah, look, the number one thing, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, we did not control the line of scrimmage and it was bad,” Mortensen said on his radio appearance. “Okay? It was bad. It was bad in the running game. You know, there were times we got good enough leverage, like changing the line of scrimmage, and then we can't protect the quarterback. Obviously, we were at times trying to use different protection strategies and all that, but at some point guys have to show improvement and play better at the line of scrimmage. Our defense played awesome today, you know?”
UAB didn’t threaten again until late in the fourth quarter. By then, USF had built a 27-10 lead on a Nico Gramatica field goal and a 13-yard fumble return by Grayson Howard.
WHAT IT MEANS: The loss erases the positive vibes surrounding the program after the overtime win over East Carolina.
WHEN THE GAME TURNED: Two USF touchdowns in 10 seconds wiped out what had been a UAB lead for the majority of the first half. But the turning point actually came on the UAB drive before the game-tying score by USF. That turning point came on a 2nd-and-7 from the UAB 28-yard line when Kaleb Brown was wide open on an intermediate route in the middle of the field. If Ryder Burton delivers the ball to him then Brown probably gets close to midfield and an offense that was playing well at that point would continue to have confidence. Instead, Burton’s pass was knocked down at the line of scrimmage and he was sacked on the next play. From that point on, the Blazers were outscored 27-0.
WHY UAB LOST: It’s simple math. USF scored 14 defensive points and the Blazers missed two field goals. Break out the calculator and that’s 20 points that UAB handed to the Bulls. What was the final margin?
WHAT ARE THE KEY STATS: UAB gained 119 yards in the first 15 minutes. UAB gained 58 yards in the final 45 minutes and 55 of those yards came after the outcome was decided in the fourth quarter. USF had 237 yards in total offense with 191 of that coming on the ground.
WHO GETS THE GAME BALLS: The UAB defense played well for the most part. Marlin Dean made an impact throughout the game, finishing with five tackles, 2.5 sacks and a quarterback hurry, safeties Jo’Tavion Pierce and Jeremiah Jordan each had 11 tackles and linebackers Ike Esonwune and Muaaz Byard combined for 16 tackles. But the D.J. Hicks (five tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, pass breakup) and the USF defense were better.
WHAT DID COACH MORTENSEN SAY IN HIS POSTGAME RADIO APPEARANCE:
On opening the game with a touchdown drive: “Ultimately, first and foremost, I think we executed well. We did the things that we did not do the rest of the game, which is control the line of scrimmage, get a hat on a hat in the running game and at least let the play get started. My whole thing is we’ve got really good backs. You know, we have good backs. If we can at least let the plays get started and give them some grass, good things usually happen. That’s what we saw in the first drive, and then we were able to, as the drive progresses, be aggressive and we were able to take a shot there to CJ (Smith) down the field. He made a big play. Tat was a positive drive and it was really good, but we didn't sustain it.”
On USF going to backup quarterback Luke Kromenhoek because of the injury to starter Michael Van Buren Jr.: “Look, I think our defense ultimately really dominated them. That's what really frustrates me is you give them 14 points in good field position. When I say give them 14 points, I mean the offense did. They really struggled to score on our defense today. We pretty much dominated them and I think the only time they really moved the ball, it felt like it was when they had quarterback runs. Some of them were by design and some of them were him scrambling. I think, through the course of the game, we adjusted pretty well to that.”
On the sideline temperament of his team: “Look, I'll say this, for the way the game went, it could've been a lot worse. I don't see everything down there, but you know, I do like the character of our team a lot. There's gonna be some frustration. There's gonna be some guys angry. I understand that and there's gonna be some guys trying to hold each other accountable, which I also understand that peer-to-peer accountability is probably good right now. But, at the same time, we can't turn on each other, and we can't lose our poise. I think it's part of the reason we've won some of the close games we have won this year because we didn't go down that road. That's the silver lining in a game that we played absolutely awful in a lot of areas.”
On still looking for a road win this season: “I'm not turning that into a narrative. Look, when I was the interim last year, we won the first road game in something like three years against Tulsa, who beat Oklahoma State earlier in the year and we were down 40 players. Like, that stuff becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when you start thinking about it and talking about it too much. Bryant Vincent was the interim the year before me, they won one. Look, here's the deal, we need to play better. You know, I think our processes are good. They're very similar to what we did at Alabama, where we won several national championships. So, you know, at the end of the day, we need to play better. Hey, if we took the first three and a half quarters against East Carolina, we didn't play very good either. That was at home, right? I'm not ready to start that narrative. I think that's too early for that.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
10:58 - UAB | Roderick Robinson II scored on a 5-yard run. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted seven plays and covered 67 yards. The score was set up by a 41-yard pass from Ryder Burton to CJ Smith. (7-0, UAB).
3:49 –UAB | Jonah Delange made a 30-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted nine plays and covered 43 yards. (10-0, UAB)
Second Quarter
5:03 - USF | Nico Gramatica made a 31-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted 11 plays and covered 64 yards. (10-3, UAB).
0:47 – USF | Jason Collins Jr. scored on a 6-yard run around right end. Nico Gramatica added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted six plays and covered 52 yards. (10-10)
0:37 – USF | Asani Redwood scored on a 6-yard run after scooping up a fumble. The fumble was caused when C.J. Hicks sacked UAB QB Ryder Burton. Nico Gramatica added the extra point. (17-10, USF).
Third quarter
4:53 - USF | Martin Gramatica made a 30-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted nine plays and covered 45 yards. (20-10, USF).
Fourth quarter
12:28 - USF | Grayson Howard scooped up a fumble and returned it 13 yards for a score. The fumble was forced when C.J. Hicks sacked Ryder Burton. (27-10, USF).
1:36 – USF | Nico Gramatica made a 33-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted seven plays and covered 26 yards. (30-10, USF)
WHERE IS UAB’S NEXT ASSIGNMENT: UAB returns to Protective Stadium for the Children’s Harbor game against Charlotte. The Blazers remain two games short of reaching bowl eligibility with four games left to play.