By Steve Irvine
November 14, 2026 - BIRMINGHAM, AL
It’s a big deal that the UAB football team reached bowl eligibility on a chilly Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. But UAB head coach Alex Mortensen wasn’t quite ready to celebrate after the Blazers whipped Temple, 36-10, in an American Conference game with all three phases having a significant hand in the victory.
“It’s obviously a great accomplishment to get bowl eligible for the first time in four years and really the first time in the true wide open Portal Era in my mind,” Mortensen said on his postgame appearance on the Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “At the same time, my mindset is this will be a great accomplishment for our fan base to hopefully celebrate. But, internally, we’re going to celebrate it more after the year is over and focus on what’s in front of us, which is going back to Protective and playing a very good conference opponent.”
Reaching bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2022 team beat Miami of Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl under interim head coach Bryant Vincent is a big deal. Perhaps an even bigger deal, at least for now, is that the Blazers (6-4 overall, 4-2 American Conference) remained mathematically in position to chase a spot in the conference championship. Reaching that accomplishment will take some help from other teams but it is still possible. And the Blazers stayed in contention with their most dominant performance of the season.
The domination included the best game of the season for a UAB offense that was over the 500-yard mark un”til losing two yards on a final play kneel down. The Blazers gained 499 yards overall with 366 of that coming on the ground. Roderick Robinson II gained 202 yards on 22 carries with touchdown runs of 6, 33 and 54 yards. It was the first time that a UAB running back cracked the 200-yard mark since DeWayne McBride had 272 yards in the final game of the 2022 season at Louisiana Tech. Ironically, that performance also came in a bowl eligibility clinching victory.
“Rod did get hot,” Mortensen said. “He ran really well. Look, Bam McReynolds ran well early in the game, Ja’Vin (Simpkins), all these guys were really effective. It was neat to see Jayson Moll and JR Mosley come in at the end of the game too. Getting five guys touches over the course of the game was awesome. But Rod obviously had a huge stat line – 22 carries for 202 yards, averaged 9.2, had some big ones. That was really awesome.”
As usual, the defense did its part, limiting the Owls to 85 yards through the air and limiting Temple’s success. The lone Temple touchdown came after a tipped Ryder Burton pass was intercepted at the UAB 25-yard line. It took Temple (2-8 overall, 1-5 American Conference) six plays to score from there with quarterback Ajani Sheppard finding Jojo Bermudez for the 12-yard touchdown. Other than that, the UAB defense was dominant with Marlin Dean leading the way. Dean, who entered the game with a national co-leading 10.5 sacks, finished with eight tackles, seven solo tackles, a sack for a safety, two tackles for loss, two quarterback hurries and a fumble recovery.
“I think the defense played a complete game,” Mortensen said. “To your point, they played really good against the pass. It’s a credit to both the pass rush and the coverage, both parts doing really well. Coach Grantham and the whole defensive staff having a really good plan and guys played really hard. It’s always good to get points on the defense, particularly a safety, those are awesome.”
The safety came in a second half when the Blazers turned a 13-10 halftime lead into a runaway victory.
WHAT IT MEANS: Understandably the UAB players and coaches want more but reaching bowl eligibility is a big deal. It also adds to the confidence for UAB as the Blazers head into a difficult two-game stretch against UTSA and North Texas to end the regular season.
WHEN THE GAME TURNED: All three phases contributed to the game-turning sequence. It began with UAB punter Oliver Straw pinning Temple at the 3-yard line with a 46-yard punt early in the third quarter. The defense responded by stopping two runs before Marlin Dean hurried Temple quarterback Ajani Sheppard into an incompletion. UAB took over at the 46-yard line after the Temple punt. Five plays later, Rod Robinson burst 33 yards to a touchdown to give UAB a 20-10 lead. The Blazers dominated the rest of the game.
WHY UAB WON: UAB’s offense gained 499 yards, including 366 on the ground, and scored a season-high 36 points. The defense was its usual dominant self but give the offense a ton of credit for this one.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STATS: UAB’s top three running backs – Rod Robinson, Bam McReynolds and Ja’Vin Simpkins – gained 316 yards on 42 carries with Robinson scoring three touchdowns on the ground. UAB was 6-of-13 on third down while Temple managed just two conversions on 12 third downs. Ryder Burton was 11-of-19 for 133 yards, including a 61-yard connection with Scott Isacks to set up Rod Robinson’s first rushing touchdown.
WHO GETS THE GAME BALLS: Obviously a good choice would be Robinson, who had a season-high in carries. He was sensational. But the game ball this time goes to the offensive line of left tackle Keyon Cox, left guard Donovan Lawrence, center Adam Lepkowski, right guard Calib Perez and right tackle Payton Kirkland. They played the bulk of the snaps up front and, while not perfect, paved the way for the explosive day on offense.
WHAT DID COACH MORTENSEN SAY IN HIS POSTGAME RADIO APPEARANCE:
On the win: “I think there were a lot of positives. Our focus was really good. Fortunately our travel did go well but I think we did focus on the game. We talked about going on the road with the right mentality but made it more about the game and the football. I do think it was complete in a lot of ways. I do think, also there are some things we’ve got to do better early in the first half to play complementary football the way we need to. There were some things at the end of the half that we could have helped ourselves out more. Obviously there was a turnover too. There is still plenty to get better at but it was a complete win to have right at 500 yards of offense, the defensive was dominant and I think Rod Robinson is the first to have 200 yards rushing since 2022.”
On the play of the offense and the offensive line: “I think our offensive line did a really good job in a lot of areas in terms of controlling the line of scrimmage, particularly in the run game. I think we got better in pass protection as we went on. It’s the thing we’ve been talking about, we can keep getting better. I think as you saw late last week through this week, I think we’re getting better in the running game, technique wise, working together. We’re going to keep pushing that. That was really good to see. That really gave the gasoline to be able to stay ahead of the chains today.”
On reaction to slower start: “I think our reaction was positive. You talk about having good poise and not losing our cool and all those things. At the same time, I do think early in the game, our defense is playing really well, we’re running the ball really well. We don’t need to turn that ball over early in the game like that and give them a short field. It really led to their only real offensive touchdown of the day. We’re measuring ourselves against our standard, measuring ourselves against chasing our best and also what it’s going to take to play winning football in tight games. There is plenty to learn from there but, yeah, I do think the response was good. I think realistically it’s rare that you play a perfectly clean game. That has been one of the common denominators of our team so far is we’ve played four quarters. Even Ryder throws the pick and comes back and hits Scott Isack on a huge play that sets up a touchdown. He’s fearless in a situation like that, so all of that is positive.
On the contribution of the passing game from Scott Isacks: “Scott had a big play against ECU for 81 yards (called back) and had a big one here today. Speaking of plays called back, we had third down and Ryder made a great throw to Ty Mims. It was well protected and they got us for illegal formation because we had an offensive lineman lined up a little bit deep. There were some positive things in the passing game too.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter
4:25 - TEM | Jojo Bermudez snared a 12-yard scoring pass from Ajani Sheppard. Carl Hardin made the extra point. The scoring drive lasted six plays and covered 25 yards. The drive was set up by Adrian Lang’s interception of a Ryder Burton pass. (7-0, TEM).
2:54 – UAB | Rod Robinson scored on a 6-yard run. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted three plays and covered 78 yards. The touchdown came one play after a 67-yard pass from Ryder Burton to Scott Isacks. (7-7).
Second Quarter
10:33 - UAB | Jonah Delange made a 50-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted 10 plays and covered 56 yards. (10-7, UAB)
6:11 – TEM | Carl Hardin made a 44-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted six plays and covered 45 yards (10-10)
1:44 – UAB | Jonah Delange made a 30-yard field goal. The scoring drive lasted 12 plays and covered 63 yards. (13-10, UAB).
Third quarter
7:09 - UAB | Rod Robinson scored on a 33-yard run. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted five plays and covered 46 yards. (20-10, UAB).
Fourth quarter
10:56 - UAB | Marlin Dean sacked Temple quarterback Ajani Sheppard in the end zone for a safety. (22-10, UAB).
8:20 – UAB | Rod Robinson scored on a 54-yard run. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted five plays and covered 75 yards. (29-10, UAB)
2:47 – UAB | Nate Rogers ran five yards for a touchdown. Jonah Delange added the extra point. The scoring drive lasted six plays and covered 56 yards. (36-10, UAB)
WHERE IS UAB’S NEXT ASSIGNMENT: UAB returns home for a key American Conference game against UTSA at Protective Stadium. It will be the final home game in the regular season for UAB.