Steve Irvine Previews UAB vs Tulsa
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 28, 2025
UAB (3-8, 1-6) VS. TULSA (4-7, 1-6)
H.A. CHAPMAN STADIUM
SATURDAY, 2 P.M. CST, ESPN-PLUS
When Tulsa has the ball: Running back Dominic Richardson is putting an exclamation point on his first season at Tulsa and final season in college football. The 6-foot, 210-pound Richardson, who previously played at New Mexico State, Baylor and Ohio State, was leading the American Conference in total rushing yards entering this week’s games with 1,065. Coming into this season, Richardson had 1,767 rushing yards in 45 career games. Richardson has been at his best the past two games, which both ended in a Tulsa win. He had 166 yards on 27 carries with a touchdown against Oregon State and 203 yards on 28 carries with a touchdown against Army. UAB is 10th in the conference in rush defense, giving up 190 yards per game. But that number is also skewed a bit considering the Blazers have faced five teams (Navy, Army, USF, Rice, Memphis) in the top 27 in the country in rushing offense coming into this week’s games. UAB played shorthanded on defense last week. It’s hard to gauge whether the numbers will be against Tulsa because practice was held behind close doors and the only media availability came on Monday in interim head coach Alex Mortensen’s weekly press conference. Mortensen said during the press conference that players would have the option to sit out like many did last Saturday after two players were injured in a stabbing inside the UAB Football Operations Building. Redshirt freshman quarterback Baylor Hayes came to Tulsa from East Tennessee with head coach Tre Lamb. Hayes is 175-for-294 for 1,999 yards with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is also able to make plays on the ground. Brody Foley, a 6-foot-6, 260-pound tight end, leads the team with seven touchdown receptions. Tulsa’s offense has turned the ball over 18 times this season.
When UAB has the ball: It will be hard for UAB to win the game if the Blazers don’t take care of the football. Quarterback Jalen Kitna has thrown 10 of the team’s 14 interceptions this season and the Blazers lost six fumbles. Tulsa isn’t overly opportunistic on defense with six interceptions and four fumble recoveries this season, which is tied for 108th in the country. Tulsa does have sophomore cornerback Elijah Green, who is tied with eight players for second in the country with five interceptions. However, Green has a five-game streak without an interception. Establishing the running game will probably be the first step for Mortensen and the offense on Saturday, especially if the receiver corps is depleted like it was a week ago. Obviously, Iverson Hooks and Brandon Hawkins should be busy. Hooks enters Saturday’s game needing 119 yards to reach 1,000 yards this season. But the Blazers were limited last week with Xavier Daisy and Kaleb Brown sidelined. Which brings us back to the running game, which should be a priority as long as the Blazers don’t fall behind early. Jevon Jackson has 783 yards rushing on 144 carries with three touchdowns this season. Solomon Beebe has six rushing touchdowns and Isaiah Jacobs has four rushing touchdowns. Tulsa linebacker Ray Coney, a 6-foot-2, 240-pound transfer from East Tennessee, has a conference-best 117 tackles to go with 7.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two pass breakups, four quarterback hurries and a fobebrced fumble. J’Dan Burnett, a 6-foot, 250-pound defensive lineman, has a team-best 6.5 sacks.
Special teams: UAB kicker Jonah Delange hasn’t received the opportunities he did a year ago but has been reliable for the most part. Delange is 9-for-12 from on field goals and perfect on all 25 extra points. Tulsa kicker Seth Morgan is 16-for-20 on field goals, made all 24 extra point attempts and has 27 touchbacks on 52 kickoffs.
Hello my name is: Fill in the blank here with the next UAB head coach. UAB has four quarters of football left before starting to build for next season. What will UAB athletic director Mark Ingram’s decision be in filling the head coaching position?
Trend to follow: This is the last opportunity for UAB to get a road win from a team built by Trent Dilfer. Tulsa is 2-3 at home this season but two of those losses came against American Conference elite Navy and Tulane. The last time Tulsa won more than two home games in a season was 2022. The last time UAB won a true road game was Nov. 26, 2022 when Bryant Vincent’s team knocked off Louisiana Tech in the regular season finale. If UAB doesn’t win on Saturday, it will be 280 days before the Blazers get another shot at a road victory.
How Tulsa wins: Balance on offense would be big and creating turnovers on defense is critical. Momentum after back-to-back victories is a factor.
How UAB wins: Avoid turnovers, get off the field on third down and get off to a good start.
Coach’s corner: With a coaching change on the way, this could be the final game at UAB for interim head coach/offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen and the coaching staff.
One more thing: It’s not been an easy trip through college football for UAB running back Isaiah Jacobs. Fittingly, the Tulsa native concludes the journey in the city where he learned about perseverance. For Jacobs, it’s also the final step of the first season that he’s remained injury free from start to finish.