By Steve Irvine
November 13, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, AL
UAB (5-4 OVERALL, 3-2 AMERICAN) AT TEMPLE (2-7 OVERALL, 1-4 AMERICAN)
LINCOLN FINANCIAL STADIUM
SATURDAY, NOON CST, ESPN PLUS
When Temple has the ball: The big question is will the quarterback be Ajani Sheppard or Jaxon Smolik? Sheppard, a 6-foot-2, 230-pound dual threat, is 85-of-140 passing for 1,245 yards with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. He is the team’s second leading rusher with 400 yards and five rushing touchdowns. Sheppard missed last week with an ankle injury. Smolik, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound Penn State transfer, took over in last week’s loss to Navy and was 12-of-26 for 173 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Overall this season, Smolik has thrown for 302 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions and does not have a rushing touchdown. So, the defensive focus is a bit different depending on the quarterback. The expectation is for Sheppard to play this week but if his mobility is limited that could play into the hands of Marlin Dean and the UAB pass rush. The Blazers have 21 sacks this season with Dean accounting for a national best 10.5 sacks. Temple has allowed 20 sacks this season. No matter what, look for Temple to strive toward establishing the run. For the most part, the Owls have been solid on the ground with Keveun Mason, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, leading the way. Mason has 588 yards on 108 carries with three rushing touchdowns. Sam Brown V should also play a key role. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Rutgers transfer was expected to play a bigger role but has missed five games with injury. Overall, he has just 35 carries for 228 yards with three touchdowns but the opportunities could grow now that he’s healthy once again. Brown also has two touchdown catches this season. The Owls spread through production out in the passing game with five players having at least two touchdown catches. The leaders in touchdown receptions with three each are Jayce Freeman (21-316) and Jojo Bermudez (19-298). UAB continues to lead in the country in passing yards allowed per game (122.6).
When UAB has the ball: UAB is 3-1 when they’ve won the turnover battle this season. UAB is 2-3 when losing the turnover battle. The Blazers turned the ball six times in the past two games and 11 times in the past five games. Turnovers are a problem. Obviously, UAB survived four turnovers – three Ryder Burton interceptions and a lost fumble by Roderick Robinson II – in last week’s win over Charlotte. The truth is, though, it’s not often a team wins a game when minus-four in turnovers. So taking care of the football is of the utmost importance and that begins with Burton. No other American Conference quarterback has thrown for more than Burton’s eight interceptions this season. Now, every interception is not the fault of the quarterback. There are other factors that go into interceptions but Burton needs to make better decisions. Overall, UAB has 16 giveaways and just one turnover-free game. Temple’s defense has just four takeaways – four interceptions, four fumble recoveries – this season. Half of those came in the team’s only two wins of the season with three against Rhode Island and one at South Florida. With all that said, running the football is imperative for UAB on Saturday. UAB’s offense becomes stagnant when the run game is not clicking. Temple could give UAB a chance to run the ball. The Owls allowed 238.7 yards per game over the past four games and 224.6 per game over the past six games. UAB had 178 rushing yards in last week’s win over Charlotte. In the previous two games, UAB had a total of 116 rushing yards. When UAB runs the football well it opens up the passing game and slows down the pass rush.
Special teams: Temple punt returner Jojo Bermudez is a problem. The 5-foot-9, 170-pound speedster had a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown last week against Navy. That helped pushed him to the top of the national standings with 24.6 yards per returns on his 12 returns this season. UAB punter Oliver Straw is 10th in the country in yards per punt (46.6) with 14 punts of 50 yards or more. But the punt coverage has been spotty, at times because Straw either outkicks the coverage or the punt is flat. The Blazers are 123rd in the country in punt return defense, giving up 13.43 yards per return. Giving Bermudez too many opportunities could hurt the Blazers. UAB returner Ty Mims is currently seventh in the country in yards per punt return (14.2).
Hello my name is: Payton Kirkland. The big offensive tackle could get the starting nod at right tackle on Saturday after fighting through injuries this season. Kirkland’s only start this season came in the season opener at Illinois. That start came at left tackle. On Saturday, Kirkland could get the start at right tackle. Barrett Maddox started the first nine games at righ tackle.
How Temple wins: Limiting the UAB run game should be the first objective for a Temple defense led by standout linebacker Curly Ordonez (84 tackles). Doing that puts more pressure on the UAB passing game. Getting dual production from quarterback Ajani Sheppard, if he can play would be huge for the Temple offense. The Owls also need to win the turnover battle and convert at a good rate on third down.
How UAB wins: In some ways it seems that winning turnovers means winning the game for the Blazers. It’s a must that they don’t beat themselves. Winning the running game on both side of the ball is also critical. Scoring touchdowns in the red zone would be helpful but chances are good that this could be a low scoring game. Jonah Delange having a productive game will be important.
Coach’s corner: Temple head coach K.C. Keeler has won 278 games as a college football head coach. He has never won the Stagg Bowl, which determines the Division III national championship. Keeler led his team to five Stagg Bowls but lost each time. Keeler did win a FCS championship at Delaware in 2010 and another FCS title at Sam Houston State in 2020-21.
One more thing: Heading into this week’s games there were 53 teams already qualified for bowl eligibility. UAB is one of many that can join that group this week. The Blazers could reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2022 when they qualified with a win at Louisiana Tech in the final game of the season. The only full season that a Bill Clark coached team at UAB went past the ninth week before reaching the six wins needed for bowl eligibility was in 2014 when the Blazers reached that mark with a win over Southern Miss in the final game.