By Steve Irvine
November 8, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, AL
How?
How does UAB finish minus-four in the turnover category and still emerge with a 23-12 American Conference victory over Charlotte in the annual Children’s Harbor came on a pleasant but chilly Saturday afternoon at Protective Stadium?
How?
“It's rare, right?” UAB head coach Alex Mortensen said when asked the question. “It's pretty rare to be able to do that.”
As it turns out, at least in this case, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation.
“The way to do that is the defense played incredibly well,” Mortensen said. “That allowed us to stay in the game despite the turnovers and then the offense got going late.”
UAB wasn’t able to score its first points until the final play of the first half when Jonah Delange connected on the first of what would be three successful field goals. But that was good enough to tie the score going into the halftime locker room because of a UAB defense that answered nearly every challenge. The only tlme that Charlotte scored on the possession after a UAB turnover came early in the third quarter when they began a drive following an interception at the UAB 15-yard line and gained six yards before a field goal gave the 49ers a 6-3 lead.
“The more snaps we get the more nasty we get,” said cornerback Delvon Gulley. “We want (more snaps) really and truly. We put no fault on the offense. We tell them we got their back (and) go out there and do our thing. We’re a team. We got each other.”
The defensive domination gave the UAB offense enough time to figure things out before putting together back-to-back scoring drives in the fourth quarter. Both of the touchdown drives ended with short touchdown runs by Ja’Vin Simpkins. From there the Blazers were able to hold on to their fifth victory of the season with all of them coming at Protective Stadium.
WHAT IT MEANS: Finding ways to win is what good teams manage to accomplish. UAB found a way to win on Saturday and now the Blazers are one game away from reaching bowl eligibility for the first time since 2022.
WHEN THE GAME TURNED: In a game filled with critical defensive plays and defensive stops it was a fourth down pass breakup by Delvon Gulley that seemed to finally flip a switch for the Blazers. Gulley’s play came four plays after Rod Robinson’s lost fumble midway through the third quarter gave Charlotte possession at the 49ers 44-yard line. UAB tied the game at 6-6 on the following possession, which began a 20-6 Blazer run to end the game.
WHY UAB WON: The defense was sensational all game and the offense finally woke up from a nap in the fourth quarter. UAB’s offense gained 161 yards and scored 17 points in the fourth quarter.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STATS: It took a while to get going but the UAB offense finished with 319 yards overall with a net rushing total of 178. Rod Robinson finished with 101 rushing yards on 14 carries and had four catches for 30 yards. Robinson, Bam McReynolds and Ja’Vin Simpkins combined for 190 yards on 34 carries with Simpkins scoring a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns. Charlotte had 234 yards in offense with 53 of that coming on the 49ers final drive of the game with UAB holding a 17-point lead. Charlotte was 4-of-17 on third down and 2-of-4 on fourth down. UAB quarterback was 5-of-8 for 74 yards passing in the fourth quarter. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass but did lead a pair of scoring drives in the final quarter.
WHO GETS THE GAME BALLS: It’s hard not to start with Marlin Dean, who had three sacks and a forced fumble. But that was just the start of a dominant performance throughout the defense. Delvon Gulley had three pass breakups, four tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry and Jo’Tavion Pierce led the team in tackles with eight. Tylin Jackson had half of a sack, three quarterback hurries, six tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss, Muaaz Byard had seven tackles and a tackle for loss while playing with a cast on his right hand and Sterling Sanders had four tackles, shared with Jackson on a sack and added 1.5 tackles for loss. Giving the game ball to the entire defense is an excellent option.
WHAT DID COACH MORTENSEN SAY IN HIS POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
Opening statement: “OK, look, glad we won the game. I think the defense was pretty well dominant in a lot of parts of the game. We held them to 234 yards of total offense and held them to 12 points. That’s on top of having to deal with some turnovers that the offense had. So I thought it was really positive. They came out and played with really good intensity and played extremely well. A number of guys I thought were great. You know, Marlin Dean's here, (Delvon) Gulley’s in here. Those guys played really, really well and played hard.
I thought on offense, it was kind of a little bit of a tale of two halves. You know, it took us to the second half to get going. I thought we ran the ball really well, controlled the line of scrimmage (in the second half). I thought the offensive line kind of turned it on in the second half and I thought our backs played a lot better. I shouldn't say better, but played really well in the second half. They ran hard and when we needed hard yards, they got them. And then I thought that they were able to break some tackles and make guys miss to get some bigger chunks. I thought, you know, in terms of passing game, in the second half we got a little more efficient to a degree. You know, I thought Ryder did a good job finding some checkdowns and keeping us alive in some situations. So that was really positive.
The negative, how did we get there? You know, we turned the ball over way too many times. We had a fumble, and then we had multiple interceptions. That's not good. And another thing too is it felt like, I think we had four drops in the first half. We talked after the last game (that) we want to be more diverse. We want to be more aggressive. And that doesn't always mean we've got to throw the ball down the field. We've got a quick passing game and all those things available to us. Drops happen some, but we had too many. Then not getting the quarterback play where we need it really what put us behind early in the game. One of the interceptions we had an opportunity to throw a touchdown there and for various reasons, some protection related, some quarterback footwork related, we didn't get it. There was another one before the half. So those are things that put us behind and put us in a hole. Our focus right now is on getting better and we'll continue to (work) on that. Everything we want to achieve is in front of us. I think our players are very motivated. They understand that. I'm already anxious to go back to work and practice on Monday and Tuesday just to keep working towards progress.”
On honoring Children’s Harbor: “As a lot of people that follow us know, you know, we partner with Children's Harbor, which is a great organization. This goes all the way back to when Coach Clark was here. Our players partner with a family that has a serious illness. It's a really neat game. It's a neat thing for us to be involved with and so really ap-appreciative of that. I'm grateful that I get to be a part of this and it's been fun getting to know these families too.”
On playing complementary football: “ Now, here's what ticks me off is on offense, it's kind of the same thing. Unfortunately, I've had to say this one other time this year. If you're not gonna play great at certain points, don't beat yourself. Like, I mean, I hate the word punt, you know? But, like, if we have to punt it, that's better than turning the ball over. We got to play field position for a little while until we get going. I don't wanna live that way, but it's better than the alternative. So the only way we're able to get ourselves out of that is stellar play on defense. But, to accomplish what we want we can't expect to be able to do this consistently. It's generally not sustainable. But I, but I’ll say this that's a lot of negative things. Here's the positive, okay? The way the defense played in those situations and the fact that the offense kept their poise and if anything responded to it and had a pretty dominant performance in the second half.”
On taking offensive momentum forward after the fourth quarter performance: “I think it, it does. We've got to try to carry that into the next week of practice, next game and all those things. There were some positive things there in terms of, like I talked about, we ran the ball really well, controlled the line of scrimmage. And then I thought quarterback decision-making got more efficient, better. Those are good things. I think the biggest thing is we don't, as much as possible, want to have to learn the hard way. But, yeah, if we can carry those principles forward, that can really help our team a lot.”
On the play at line of scrimmage: “I think it was improved. Maybe there were some points early in the game where there were a couple things that came up. But I do think it was improved. I thought we ran the ball better overall and I think that we protected better overall. I know we had a sack kind of early but I'm not even gonna quite put that one on the offensive line. I think there was progress in terms of controlling the line of scrimmage and that's something that we're gonna continue to work on.”
On what happened when stringing together drives in the second half: “(It was) primarily executing. We did adjust in a few areas where we felt like there were certain things we could do in the running game and probably got away from some things that we felt like we were not doing well and were struggling with based on what we were getting from Charlotte. But, I'm gonna be frank we probably got a little mitigated risk more too. You know, like I said, when you've got multiple opportunities to execute the pass game in the first half, with people open and those plays aren't executed for various reasons it's (frustrating). But I'm gonna tell you this, we can't overreact long term to accomplish what we wanna accomplish as a team. We can't go that way, but we went that way for a half.”
On Marlin Dean: “Look, Marlin really affects games in a big way. I've joked about it before but having to practice against him in spring ball and training camp was really tough. He's a great pass rusher. But I think the other thing, too, is he's also taken on the challenge of playing the runs well too and he's just become a really effective, dominant player in a lot of situations. Look, obviously on his own he's very effective, but then I think it helps everyone else too because he's a guy that you've got to game plan around. I think he's done a great job here. The thing I appreciate, too, he probably may not even know I know this but he talked to the team today. He's incredibly hungry right now and I think he's got an attitude and a hunger and an edge in a positive way that's contagious and that's affecting other people positively. Coach Grantham has done a great job with him, too, using his gifts and helping him develop. It's been really good. I thought he played really well tonight and I'm excited for him in the coming games, too.”
On how cornerback Delvon Gulley affecting opposing game plans: “Gulley is a really good player. He's played great at a lot of points. I just love having him here and he's competitive. He's a good athlete. I think he's become a smart player. He's got a lot of positive traits and so I think it is hard to play against a guy like that. I think he's got good instincts, too. He's got the ability to play both man and zone coverage and different kinds of zones. The play against East Carolina, the interception, you know, he's actually playing in flat, playing cloud. He's a tough guy to deal with, he really is. When you've got pass rushers like we do and then you've got a guy like Gulley in the back end, it's a really a good match. I'm really glad we got him and I've been really proud of him to see the kind of year he's having. As well as we played defensively, we’ve got a lot of unfinished business going forward, too.”
On being one game away from bowl eligibility: “I think it would be a really good accomplishment. It's been some time since UAB has been to a bowl. I think it would be a great thing to get done, you know? We certainly want to do that. Then we're also focused on what does it take to do that. We know that we've got to get better. You know, we've got to play cleaner football and make progress to be able to do that. Go win enough games to get us to that point. But I think it would be a great accomplishment for the program and I think something we could build on. But, right now it's one week at a time. Go get ready for the next opponent.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Second Quarter
7:25 - CHA | Aidan Bui made a 26-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted 17 plays and covered 75 yards. Charlotte converted two third downs and a fourth down on the drive. (3-0, Charlotte)
0:00 – UAB | Jonah Delange made a 42-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted 11 plays and covered 46 yards (3-3)
Third quarter
11:37 - CHA | Aidan Bui made a 32-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted four plays and covered six yards. (6-3, Charlotte).
5:00 – UAB | Jonah Delange made a 46-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted six plays and covered 25 yards. (6-6).
Fourth quarter
12:40 - UAB | Jonah Delange made a 36-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted nine plays and covered 48 yards. (9-6, UAB).
8:09 – UAB | Ja’Vin Simpkins rushed 1 yards for a touchdown. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted seven plays and covered 61 yards. The drive featured 40 passing yards by Ryder Burton. (16-6, UAB).
2:08 – UAB | Ja’Vin Simpkins scored on a 5-yard run. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted eight plays and covered 65 yards. (23-6, UAB).
1:01 – CHA | Jaden Barnes caught a 14-yard pass from Conner Harrell. Aidan Bui added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted 8 plays and covered 53 yards. (23-12, UAB).
WHERE IS UAB’S NEXT ASSIGNMENT: UAB will not only search for its first road victory of the season but also try to reach bowl eligibility. The Blazers travel to Philadelphia for an American Conference game against Temple at Lincoln Financial Field.