What To Look For In UAB’s Pivotal AAC game Against Army
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - October 4, 2025
ARMY (1-3) VS. UAB (2-2)
PROTECTIVE STADIUM
SATURDAY, 11:00 A.M. CST, ESPNU
When Army has the ball: Let’s get this out of the way. Army isn’t 1-3 if Bryson Daily had another year of eligibility. Daily had a Heisman-type season in 2024, accumulating 2,666 yards and accounting for 36 touchdowns for a team that won the AAC championship. He finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He is missed, for sure, but Army isn’t exactly stuck in the mud, at least running the football, without Daily directing the option offense. The Black Knights are fourth in the FBS in rushing offense, averaging 286.3 yards per game. That’s not a ton different than a year ago when Army led the nation with 300.5 rushing yards per game. However, a year ago, Army was 41st in the country in scoring offense (31.1 points per game) and this year they check in at 93rd in the country with 23.8 ppg. Red zone offense has also changed significantly. Army is 121st in the country in red zone offense, converting 10 of 14 opportunities with seven touchdowns and three field goals. A year ago, Army was 15th in FBS, converting 50 of 55 opportunities with 42 touchdowns and eight field goals. The task for the UAB defense is to keep Army from improving significantly on those numbers. The Blazers defense had a similar opportunity in the three-point win over Akron earlier this season and failed. The first focus today, just like it was a year ago, is defending the Army quarterback. The Black Knights are rotating Dewayne Coleman (5-10, 200-pound senior) and Cale Hellums (5-10, 205-pound junior) at quarterback. Hellums played in all four games with two starts. Coleman played in three games with two starts. But Coleman also has 56 more overall snaps than Hellums. They are Army’s leaders in rushing attempts (Coleman has 68, Hellums has 67, including 41 in one game). Coleman leads the team in rushing yards (275 yards) and Hellums is third (230 yards). Fullback Noah Short is Army’s most efficient runner with 260 yards on 37 carries – a crisp seven yards per carry – but has not scored a touchdown. One thing all three do well is gain yards after first contact. The three have a combined 765 rushing yards and 463 of those yards came after first contact. Which brings us what UAB needs to do defensively to limit Army’s success. When facing any option attack, it begins with playing assignment defense. That begins up front, which is one reason that Trent Dilfer, defensive coordinator Steve Russ and the defensive staff brought in 6-foot-3, 325-pound defensive tackle anchor Nigel Tate from the transfer portal. But Tate suffered an Achilles tendon injury before the season and Eamon Smalls (6-foot-2, 290 pounds) slid into that spot. Smalls has been UAB’s steadiest defensive lineman with 22 tackles, one tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry. It’s also critical for UAB to get off the field when they get Army into third down situations. UAB has struggled doing that this season.
When UAB has the ball: Statistically speaking, at least when it comes to passing numbers, UAB’s Jalen Kitna and East Carolina’s Katin Houser are the current American Conference leaders in passing yards per game. Houser sliced up the Army defense in the early going in last week’s 28-6 win over the Black Knights. Houser was 6-of-9 for 156 yards with two touchdowns in the first quarter as the Pirates built a 28-6 lead. In the final three quarters, though, was 9-of-13 for 95 yards with one interception and no touchdowns. The only ECU points in the final three quarters came on a fake field goal run in the fourth quarter. “As the game wore on, Army started making a lot of plays,” UAB head coach Trent Dilfer said earlier this week. “Defensively, they got the big two turnovers, one high red zone turnover and a low red zone turnover on East Carolina. Their coverage got stickier, their run game (defense) got better. They got closer to the line of scrimmage. Army was more aggressive in their calls. It's not like East Carolina had their way. After about midway through the second quarter, that game was pretty balanced.” Army is 61st in the country in passing yards allowed per game (206) and 104th in rush defense (168.8 ypg). UAB needs to get the running game going after failing to break the 100-yard mark in rushing yards in each of the past three games. Army’s inside linebackers Andon Thomas (42 tackles, one tackle for loss) and Kalib Fortner (26 tackles, five tackles for loss, one sack) are excellent against the run. This brings us back to Kitna, who is fourth in the country in passing yards per game (314), third in completions per game (27) and 14th in completion percentage (72 percent). UAB used the short passing game to replace running production against Tennessee because the Blazers were having trouble moving the ball on the ground. Dilfer said earlier this week that perhaps he gave up on using the run too quickly against Tennessee. So look for UAB to work on getting the running game going but Kitna and a deep group of receivers will be ready to fuel the offense.
Special teams: Is this a game that Solomon Beebe gets his second kickoff return for a touchdown? Time will tell on that. But Army did allow a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kansas State’s Bryce Noemberg in the Black Knights 24-21 win over the Wildcats in the second game of the season. Army is 122nd in the country in kick return defense, allowing an average of 26.63 yards per return on eight returns. Beebe only had the opportunity for one return against Tennessee. He was officially credited with a 14-yard return after UAB was whistled for a holding penalty. Without the penalty, he would have given UAB possession past the 30-yard line and been credited with a return around 30 yards. On the season, Beebe is 15th in the country in kickoff return average at 26.4 yards per return. He is one of only 18 players with a kickoff return for a touchdown this season.
Hello my name is: Jalen Cheek. UAB will be without suspended safety Sirad Bryant, who moved up to line up on the line of scrimmage the first time that the Blazers faced an option this season. Cheek will be part of the equation in replacing Bryant on Saturday. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound redshirt senior transfer from Boston College has 13 tackles in four games this season with eight of those coming against Navy’s style of option football.
Trend to follow: Army had back-to-back games where it fell into a 21-0 hole in the first quarter. UAB’s defense allows an average of nearly 15 points per game in the first quarter and nearly 28 points in the first half. Opponents have scored on 10 of 11 first quarter possessions. Akron, which hadn’t scored a point in eight quarters coming into the game, scored on their first offensive snap. Alabama State scored on its second play. Can Army avoid yet another slow start? Can UAB find a way to get some early defensive stops?
How Army wins: Control the clock with third down success, win the turnover battle and finish long drives with touchdowns. Defensively, make it a busy day for Patrick Foley and Jonah Delange.
How UAB wins: It’s hard to see UAB winning if the defense can’t get off the field on third down. Offensively, the recipe includes a turnover free day and finishing drives with touchdowns.
Coach’s corner: Army head coach Jeff Monken left no doubt about the mindset of his team earlier this week. “Desperate,” Monken said during his weekly press conference. “Certainly we have guys on our team that have enjoyed success last year. When a team experiences and competitors experience disappointment like we have, they want to experience success. They want to win. And I want to win. And so it is, you know, I say desperate. That doesn't mean it's a bad term. That means you're fighting with everything you've got to try to accomplish the mission that you have. I think that's really the mindset of where we're at right now.”
One more thing: UAB had a different leader in tackles in each of the first four games. Sirad Bryant (eight tackles vs. Alabama State) and fellow safety Pierre Royster (11 tackles vs. Navy) were the leaders in the first two games. Linebacker Tylan McNichols led the way with eight tackles against Akron and Eamon Smalls had a team-high seven tackles at Tennessee.