Mortensen Recaps North Texas, Previews USF

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 17, 2025

The chase for bowl eligibility ended last Saturday for the UAB football team. That was one of the topics that UAB interim head coach Alex Mortensen discussed during his weekly press conference on Monday morning.

“Look, I think one, if you’re playing this game, you should want to give it your best if you're a football player and a competitor,” Mortensen said. “That’s just to me, it's almost like an obvious thing, but I know it's not. Not everyone's wired that way and not everyone's wired from an intrinsic motivation, if you will.”

Mortensen went on to explain what the final two games should mean to the UAB football players in an answer that lasted nearly three minutes. To sum it up, he believes the UAB players still have a lot of reason for motivation.

Opening statement: “Again, this is obviously, I know I got to talk about it after the game, a very disappointing game against North Texas last week. One, give them credit. Coach Morris has done a great job there. They've done a great job of recruiting, do a good job coaching their players, good job instituting their scheme. We knew we were playing one of the top offenses in the country. I think they're currently fifth in the country in total offense. So we knew that was going to be a challenge. And so certainly we want to play better defensively. We've got to get off the field and create more stops. But I think the part I was most frustrated and disappointed with is knowing that they're going to make some plays, they're going to score a little bit because you know how good they are. We got to do a better job on offense, playing complementary football. Not from a production standpoint, we were very productive in a lot of areas. But one of our first principles that we want to play with is not giving the game away and not beating yourself. That's something we did and we did it early in the game. We had two turnovers early amidst some pretty productive sequences. So that was really disappointing and frustrating. And just again, not the kind of football that we want to be associated with, that we want our name on. It's not what we want to be about.

So OK, let's talk about just analyzing that further. This was a defense that going into the game, they're giving up 364 yards a game at North Texas. We had 478 and that wasn't all garbage time, a lot of that was early, a lot of that was prior to the half. We were over 50 percent on third down. You can do that every week, you're going to be near the top of the country. We were 4 for 6 on fourth down, which is pretty good. We had 10 explosive plays in the game. And then the other thing, area of improvement we had, was we wanted to reduce the penalties. I think we had three in the game. So our penalties were down. Those are the areas that were good and where we made progress and did a lot of good things. But again, you know, to be moving the ball in the first series of the game and have a turnover, it's a bad deal. Now at quarterback we manipulated the cadence on the first turnover and he thought he had a free play because they moved and he felt like they came across. But still not the right decision to make. And then we fumble on, the first play of the second drive. When you're playing somebody that’s that good and that good on offense you can’t do that. Again, a lot of guys played really well in the game. You can't have that kind of production and not have guys play well. You know, Jevon Jackson had almost 10 yards per carry. Even if you take out his big one before the half, it’s still 8.8, 8.9. Then you look at (Brandon Hawkins Jr.) had a big game. So a lot of guys did a lot of good things. Offensive line played really well in a lot of areas. But this is the next thing we've got to teach our players, you can't have these self-inflicted wounds. But again, give North Texas a lot of credit. They have a good program right now. But we felt like if we don't give the game away and play how we're capable, that's can be a very competitive game and very competitive game late. Again, we have to, we have to improve those things. That's what we'll be looking to do turning to this week.

Before we talk about South Florida, just want to talk about a couple of broader things. One, regardless of the circumstances, we want to finish the season strong. So that's really important. Again, that’s going to reveal the kind of character toughness and what we're made of. We talk a lot about great effort regardless of the circumstances. So whether or not a bowl game is in play or any of those things, like that needs to be irrelevant. And then the next thing, we've suffered quite a few injuries. Those are things we're going to monitor in house. I think most of our guys will hopefully be able to get back by game day, but those are things we're going to have to monitor through the course of the week. But we have a lot of guys that have invested a lot, that have put a lot of hard work in. Now we've got a couple opportunities here. We've got to focus on this one first to go play again, which is an awesome opportunity to go play a great team and play them at home. What kind of character do we have and, and what are we made of?

This is Senior Day for us. We've got a lot of guys that we're going to honor, you know, I think over 20, um, that will get honored prior to the game. That's exciting for them and really grateful for a lot of the guys that have been here and how they've stuck together through, some adversity this season. They've really been a joy to coach. It would be hard to single them all out. But you look at a guy like T’sai McDaniel, he went from a walk-on to earn a scholarship. You know, JD Morgan is a guy that transferred here, transferred back home, that has been just nothing but consistent and a really good player for us. Isaiah Jacobs is a guy that transferred to us and really got off to a great start. I can still remember two years ago when he's ripping off a bunch of big runs against Tulane on the road. We had those guys on the ropes and he tore his ACL. Then he comes back the next year and has another injury and he's been nothing but steady, consistent (and) a really good leader on this team. I could go through the whole group, but really just grateful to have the seniors that we have here and want to honor them this week. But, at the same time, as we honor them, it can't be a distraction because we got to  focus on the game and the task at hand.

In terms of South Florida, again, a great team, great American conference team. They've got a lot of big wins this year. I think a lot of people think of them beating Florida. Coach Golesh has done a really good job there. He's done a really good job in recruiting, building the roster, but it doesn't stop there. I think they've done a really good job developing their players, instituting their scheme, coaching them, really in every area. They do have really good schemes on both sides of the ball. I think they're fourth in the country in total offense. So that'll be another challenge again to take on an offense of that caliber this week. Then they're good on defense too. Todd Orlando has got a great reputation as a defensive coordinator. He's been there from the beginning with coach Golesh and I’m very familiar with him. He does a great job. Their quarterback Byrum Brown, he's got over 2,500 yards passing. He's also their leading rusher at 841 yards rushing. So a really good player there. They've got a number of good backs and receivers. Definitely gonna be a big challenge, but we're excited about it and excited to be back in Protective Stadium this weekend.”

On correcting missed tackles: “I think one, we have to do a better job tackling. That's been a little bit of a little bit of a yo-yo. I think one of the points of emphasis has been to improve the tackling. Some of it has been how you practice. We've got to thud the runners at practice. We got to practice right with the right technique, wrap up and play long stride to short stride. We just need to do a better job fundamentally of tackling. That's certainly a part of it. Those things again are still habits that we have to create in practice. That's been a point of emphasis. Then I think the other thing too is sometimes when your mind is clouded, you have mental clutter (and)  sometimes you don’t play as fast and as aggressive as you need to. I thought North Texas did a good job of doing some things, whether it's playing with tempo and pace, to maybe get our guys to not play as confidently and as fast as they need to. Coach Russ and our defensive staff, they're aware of that. They're gonna try to institute some things further to continue to help us here. But I would say if you reflect back, say to the Rice game or Memphis, I think tackling was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination but I think we've seen some progress. I think some of it, you gotta attribute not just to the fundamental part, but also the mental clutter, are we playing with the kind of aggressiveness we need to? There’s some doubt to at times.”

On not having the bowl eligibility goal to chase: “Look, I think one, if you’re playing this game, I mean, you should want to give it your best, if you're a football player and a competitor. That just to me, it's almost like an obvious thing, but I know it's not. Not everyone's wired that way and not everyone's wired from an intrinsic motivation, if you will. But I think there's a couple of ways to look at it. This is something we talked about going back to all the change prior to the Memphis week. One, a lot of guys are still about the team. They bought into the team, they believe in each other, they love each other and they want to go play for UAB and for the guy to the left and right of them. I think there's that part too. At the end of the day, we're going out there playing, that running back is counting on the left guard and the left tackle and everyone's counting on each other. I think if you care for each other and the guys in the locker room, you're going to go give your very, very best in the practice week and on game day.

Then, there's another layer. We talk about this in football. The video is your resume. If I've want a job, most of the time people are going to ask for a resume, right? Well, what's my resume in football? It's really two things. It's the video and it's your reputation in the locker room and amongst your coaching staff, amongst your teammates. This is an opportunity for a lot of guys, some of which want to still have an opportunity to play professionally, play in the NFL. A lot of them are going to want to still stay at UAB. Whatever happens here, they're going to want to be a part of this program. I still believe this program has an incredibly high ceiling. I think we got resources, people around here that care. We got great geography. So I think there's every reason for a lot of these guys to want to stay a part of this program. If you want to do that, you're going to want to finish the season strong. Then there's another category of guys that are going to have their eyes in the portal. Well, of those three categories, does it serve any of them to not give their best for two weeks? The answer is no, it doesn't. So the best thing to do is for these guys to go build their resume more by putting great things on video.

Then the other thing too, my former boss used to talk about this a lot. He’d give this speech, I’m probably going to butcher it, about ‘and or but’. He’d say when you're getting evaluated as a player, they’ll tell you ‘Hey, this guy's got great balance, body control, short space quickness, makes contested catches, this that the other.’ And then there's going to be a point in that writeup. It's going to say, and has great character, treats people well, teammates love them, kind to the equipment staff, so on and so forth. Or that word is going to say, but poor academically, treats people poorly, selfish. So that's the other part too, everyone's got a decision to make right now on not just the film they put out there, but how (they’re) going to conduct yourself in the building, how (they’re) going to conduct yourself academically. So, the best thing for everyone to do is to put their best effort, put their best foot forward right now. To me, you know, I think there are a lot of ways to frame that to the players. And I think they will understand that.”

On Corri Milliner’s absence on Saturday: “We're handling that internally, but we really like Corri and believe he can have a very bright future. Just a couple things we're handling internally right now. That's all I'll say there.”

On the decision to start Jalen Kitna against North Texas: “It's a great question. I mean look both guys are really good players. I think both of them have a bright future playing football. Ryder is obviously younger and he's a really good player. He’s a good young player. I think he's gonna be a great player. He's intelligent, works really hard. I think we got to see him play great football against Memphis here at home. You know where he went like 20-of-27, led us to a big win and commanded the game really well. Then again, I mentioned this post game, I think the quarterback position often gets too much blame and too much credit a lot of the time. Believe me I'm as hard on these guys as anybody, I really am. But you look at Jalen Kitna, prior to his injury, talking about this year, this season, not a year ago, this guy was playing pretty well by and large. I'm not saying played perfectly but he played pretty darn good. The guy was like second in  the country in completions per game. He was leading the American in passing, which is pretty tough to do in a really good league. Here’s my point, Jalen's playing really good football at the time of his injuries and he had two significant upper-body injuries. We haven't been very specific about disclosing what those were. Probably came back too quick and that's that's really on me. I probably should have pumped the brakes on that. He was eager and ready to get going. But upon him getting healthy, wanted to start him and get him back out there playing. I thought he played really well in this game. I mean again, we were over 50 percent on third down (and) a lot of that was him. We had 10 explosive plays in the game. I think the one turnover late, he was trying to throw the ball out of bounds. It was bad. He's kicking himself. He knows you get outside of tackle box, you have to throw it in the first row.

But anyway, those are some of the things that have factored into him playing in the game. I know I'm gonna get criticized, I get it, Ryder came in on the first series and had an interception. As I mentioned (in the postgame), he thought he had a free play on that. I joked after the game, I mean it's not that it's a laughing matter, but 1997, Steve Spurrier is playing Florida State when they're ranked second in the country. He rotated his quarterback every play, every single play. And they won the game, they had 499 yards offense, they had no picks. So at the end of the day, we trust Ryder, we're confident in him. If we throw a trick play pass with the receiver, I'd rather put Ryder out there, let him make a decision. I still have a ton of confidence in him. I really like both guys, but this has been Jalen's job. I didn't want him to lose that job to injury and I have a ton of confidence in him.”

On Jalen Kitna not hitting the deep pass: “Well, we wanted to take some shots in the game when they're playing tight coverage. It's a two-way street too. We gotta win the routes, we gotta compete for the ball. We give you a chance to win on a 50-50 ball, we gotta go get it. I think our receivers are playing really well, but there are still some opportunities there to go win on some of those as well. Some of it is the route, putting yourself in position. Some of it's tracking the ball and competing for it when you're getting tight coverage and then, yes, some of it is quarterback play and accuracy. But again, this is a team that was eighth in the country in pass defense, going int the game. They were giving up 160 yards a game and Kitna went out there for like 288. So, I mean, he did a pretty good job passing against these guys. It was not like they just went and played soft coverage the whole game. I don’t (think his shoulder injury was an issue). I do think his power is pretty well back, I really do.”

On how Jalen Kitna handled the emotions of being injured: “I think Jalen handled it really well. I think he's really had really good maturity about him. (He) stayed engaged, even when he was when he was hurt and Ryder had a good bit of success. He paid attention in walkthrough, still helped Ryder in games, was helpful in meetings. Jalen has been nothing but up but a pro through all of it.”

On Brandon Hawkins Jr.: “Hawkins is a guy that we signed as soon as we got here. He's a guy that played quarterback in high school, played some junior college receiver. We’ve really see him grow and develop a lot. I think early on he was a guy that when you get the ball in his hands quick, he could do some things with it. What's been fun to watch is see him really develop into a complete receiver that has nuance to his route running and just his overall skill set. I think Coach Garver has done a great job with him too, coaching him and teaching him. He's been very unselfish. He's a hard worker. He's a great team guy. I really love him and, despite the outcome of the last game, which was frustrating I was certainly as angry about it as anybody, I was glad to see him have some individual success.”

On giving the UAB fans something positive in the home finale: “I want to say this, the people that have been supportive, like I really do appreciate our fan base. I know there are a lot of people who care about our program and care about UAB football. I also know there are a lot of people that are frustrated. I understand their frustration. If they have a standard, believe me, I got a standard, we have a standard that we expect to meet and we're working every day to get closer to everyone understanding what that is and what it needs to be. We're really appreciative of them. We're really grateful for that. Certainly, we want to finish the season the right way. One, because we have a standard we want to adhere to. Two, for our players and for these seniors that are going out. But absolutely for the university, the program, the fan base, it's really important to us to play the right way. So, yeah, it's a big deal. With this being the last home game it’s a great opportunity to do that.”

On offensive guard Baron Franks II getting his first start: “I think he played really well. Baron is a guy that you know as you pointed out had an opportunity to start at one point. He had an injury that put him behind for a while. I think that was tough for him. But we really love Baron and Baron's done a really good job here. He’s practiced hard, he's working hard and he's been very dependable and reliable coming into the game. We're really glad we have him. I hate what he went through early in the year you know with the injury but man he's really stepped up. You mentioned his first start but he's played in some other critical moments for us this year and really helped us.”