By Steve Irvine
November 5, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, AL
The perseverance through all of the twists and turns during an improbable and rewarding journey ended on the field at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis.
At least that’s what UAB center Adam Lepkowski thought in the second quarter after being a Memphis defender fell on him from behind. Lepkowski pulled to the right after making the snap and was controlling another Memphis defender when he went down. He jogged off the field with a pronounced limp and headed immediately to the sideline tent with UAB doctors and trainers.
“I mean, when it happened, I was, like ‘Oh man, bye-bye career,’” Lepkowski said. “I was getting up off the ground, like, ‘Oh, there it goes.’”
As it turned out, the limp, which was caused by a high ankle sprain, was not the only problem. He was also in pain with a hurt hand while he limped off the field.
“Normally (you) think only one thing is wrong at a time,” Lepkowski said. “The trainers were taping up my ankle and trying to get me ready to get back out there and play. I’m like my thumb might be (hurt also). They were like ‘Oh crap.’ They did their little test and that’s when I kind of knew. (his day was done).”
Once again, adversity showed up in Lepkowski’s football career. The former walk-on from Hoover High, who fought his way on the field and became one of the top centers in the American Conference knows a thing or two about battling adversity. He spent two seasons on the scout team, played in six games with five starts after injuries hit the offensive line in 2023 and missed the 2024 season with an injury.
This time there was and still is an uncertainty about when he will be ready to play again.
“A lot of cuss words, a lot of doubt, fear,” Lepkowski said when asked about his initial reaction to the latest bout with adversity. “And then you kind of like, can't let yourself get into that spot. This is all part of God's plan’, you know. This is just another obstacle I got to get past. It’s basically about keeping a positive attitude, no matter what's going on with you.”
This time was different, though. This time came complete with the ticking clock of his six-year trip through college football coming to a close. This time he doesn’t have a next year to grasp onto as he tries to work his way back.
“Yeah, I'm seeing it,” Lepkowski said. “The past two weeks, I’ve seen them go by like the pages in a book. I'm, like, ‘Oh my gosh, man, we only have four games left now.’ But when I take a step back and just think really I only missed two games so far. At the same time, I don’t want to push myself faster than (I need to) and mess myself up even more.”
Lepkowski was not in uniform during UAB’s win over East Carolina. He returned to practice last week and was dressed out in the loss at South Florida. The television announcers said during the broadcast that UAB coaches told them in meetings that it was possible that Lepkowski would play against the Bulls but it would be at guard instead of center. He did not get in the game.
He is practicing again this week and estimates himself to be above 70 percent healthy at this point. Time will tell if he can get back on the field on Saturday in the Children’s Harbor game against Charlotte. If he can’t, the frustration over not being able to help, which might have spiked during last week’s offensive struggles in Tampa, will be there but it travels deeper.
“There is some of that, but at the same time, I just want to see my friends succeed,” Lepkowski said. “I just want them to be good. It's not really frustrated where I'm thinking about me. It's really, just man, I want us to be great. Getting to know these guys, we’re really close, a lot of us are. Just kind of seeing that we're not achieving what we kind of wanted to as a collective it kind of makes me a little upset that I'm not out there to help them achieve (it).”
It’s certainly been a rollercoaster through the season for Lepkowski and the offensive line. Injuries have certainly played a role. Payton Kirkland, the opening game starter at left tackle, has played just 64 snaps in two games since suffering a lower body injury at Illinois. Calib Perez, the starter at right guard the first seven games, did not play any offensive snaps last week. Cooper Young slid over from guard to center when Lepkowski got hurt. Kyrik Mason has only played in four games, including last week when he was in for three snaps.
“Need to embrace the adversity, you know,” Lepkowski said. “Try to block out the outside noise, because if you let that rat poison get to you, you're gonna crumble even more. You We don't need to have some Kumbaya Circle, we just need to play better. We need to come together and play better as a whole collective. Not five individuals, but as one. Like King Baratheon said ‘One Army is more powerful than five little ones.’ We can learn from that.”