Blazers Defeat Tulsa, 31-24 in Season Finale
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - November 30, 2025
A tumultuous time for the UAB football team ended with a streak-busting victory on Saturday night in Tulsa. On a chilly day, with nearly 40 players sidelined for various reasons, the Blazers found a way to pull out a 31-24 American Conference victory over Tulsa in the regular season finale at H.A. Chapman Stadium.
The winning points came with 3:40 left in the game when Jevon Jackson burst through a big hole provided by JonDarius Morgan and Barry Walker and used the lead block of Tulsa native Isaiah Jacobs to race untouched into the end for a 3-yard touchdown. It completed a 10-play, 90-yard drive that included Jalen Kitna’s third down conversion passes of 14 yards to Iverson Hooks and 57 yards to Kaleb Brown.
The win wasn’t preserved until the UAB defense, which made key plays throughout, was able to make one final stop. Tulsa moved steadily down the field before setting up a first-and-10 from the UAB 22-yard line with 1:58 left in the game. UAB defensive lineman Chris Burge had a tackle for a 2-yard loss on first down and hurried quarterback Baylor Hayes into an incomplete pass on second down. Sirad Bryant made the tackle on a 3-yard pass play on third down and Delvon Gulley ended the threat with a pass breakup in the end zone.
UAB needed a first down to run the final 58 seconds on the clock and the Blazers got that on the first play when Jevon Jackson burst for 14 yards. Soon after, the celebration began as the Blazers (4-8 overall, 2-6 American Conference) closed the season by snapping” the 17-game road losing streak.
“Yeah, this win will be one that ranks right up there near some of the best wins I've ever been a part of,” said UAB interim head coach Alex Mortensen said on his postgame interview on the Blazer Sports Network from Learfield. “When you think about what this group went through, I mean, one, let's talk about the significance of it. You know, there are no road wins for really 2 ½ years or whatever it amounts to. Then the prior year, there was only one. Then after what we've been through this last week, we were without about 30 players this week at practice. To think about what it took to go on the road and win this game is a big deal. It's funny, I saw this deal with Jimmy Johnson here last night where they were talking about when he went to the Cowboys and they went 1-15 that first year. But he said there's two things, attitude and effort that we know we can control. We'll fix everything else later. And that thing I really appreciate is these guys came in with great attitude and effort all week. It's really incredible to see what they did.”
WHAT IT MEANS: The streak of road losses ended at 17. More importantly, though interim head coach Alex Mortensen found a way to end a difficult season and a difficult time with a smile. That’s big.
WHEN THE GAME TURNED: The Blazers still had a ton of work to do for the win but the biggest play of the game could have been a muffed punt by Tulsa returner Grayson Tempest. At the time, Tulsa held a 24-17 lead and the momentum in the game. But that changed when Jaylyn Ferguson got their first in coverage and was able to wrestle the ball away from Tempest at the Tulsa 31-yard line. Four plays later, Jevon Jackson burst 20 yards to the score to tie the game with 10:42 left. Seven minutes after that Jackson scored on a 3-yard run for the eventual game-winning points.
WHY UAB WON: It probably takes layers to fully explain how the game was won. Certainly, the job that Alex Mortensen and his staff did by holding the team together played a big role. Jevon Jackson and Isaiah Jacobs led a running game that produced 229 yards and an offensive line put together with smoke and mirrors was outstanding. But, for the time in a while, the defense could very well be the biggest reason for the win on a day when they were shorthanded. Jeremiah Vessel had a team-best 12 tackles, linebacker Eddy Toussom (8 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, one quarterback hurry) and safety A.J. Brown (8 tackles) were around the football all day and Denver Warren (7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss) and Chris Burge (5 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss) helped control the line of scrimmage. T’sai McDaniel got his first career interception in his final game.
WHAT ARE THE KEY STATS: Jalen Kitna had an efficient afternoon by completing 14 passes in 17 attempts for 166 yards with touchdown passes to Iverson Hooks and Brandon Hawkins Jr. But Mortensen handed the offense to a running game produced the 229 yards on 55 carries. Jevon Jackson had 117 yards on 23 carries, Isaiah Jacobs had 84 yards on 14 carries and Solomon Beebe had 31 yards on eight carries. Give a ton of credit to the offensive line of left tackle Payton Kirkland, left guard Baron Franks II, center Adam Lepowski, right guard JonDarius Morgan and right tackle Barry Walker and offensive line coach Matt McCants. UAB was 9-for-19 on conversion downs while Tulsa was 5-for-17 in that category.
WHO GETS THE GAME BALLS: Defensive coordinator Steve Russ and the defensive staff deserve a ton of credit, as do the entire defense. But the game ball in this one needs to go to Alex Mortensen for holding this thing together to the end.
WHAT DID COACH MORTENSEN HAD TO SAY IN HIS POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE:
On the challenge of keeping spirits up: “Really and truly, it's a pretty special group of guys. We expected it to be a challenge, but these guys, you know, they really kept their spirits up and they stayed motivated and they kept their eye on the prize and came to work each week. Really this last week was probably the greatest challenge, but they really did a tremendous job of it. I'm really, really pleased with them.”
On complementary football: “Our defense played really well and then they did create some turnovers. Then offensively, we played pretty well. Now, I'll tell you this, a lot of people ask me about my dad (Chris Mortensen) a lot of the time. What would your dad say? And I had a great, very loving father, but I'd get in the car and I'd tell him I got a 96 out of 100 on my spelling test and he'd get a smirk on his face, and he'd go, what happened to the other four points? That's kind of how I feel about short yardage and goal line right now. I think we could have won this game by three scores if we managed those situations better. Some of its execution, some of it we probably could have called it better too. It could have been even more complementary in terms of helping some on the other side of the ball. But nevertheless, the guys, man, they played hard to the end and we did find a way.”
On reflection about the season: “You asked my what I learned about myself. Really, I think the biggest thing is when I got into coaching I was drawn to it, frankly, because I love competition, I love the game, I love being a part of a team. I love when winning and losing is at stake. And then upon getting into coaching, I realized all those things are there. But being a part of a team, relationships, helping people grow and being a teacher, those are the things that probably have kept me in it. Being a part of this year really has solidified that more than ever.”
Final comments: “I want to thank our administration. I want to thank our fans. I want to thank the scWHhool for everyone that supported us. And then finally, I want to thank these players. These guys have been a real joy to coach. I love them. And really, again, I just want to express my appreciation to everyone that has supported us through this season.”
WHERE IS UAB’S NEXT ASSIGNMENT: Finding a coach is the most important task ahead for UAB athletics director Mark Ingram. It hasn’t been a smooth search to this point.