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Alex Mortensen Meets With MEdia Ahead of Trip to Louisiana

The satisfaction is still lingering over last weekend’s victory over Louisiana-Monroe but the UAB football team has turned the page toward what is next. UAB head coach Alex Mortensen held his weekly press conference on Monday, where he talked about the win over the Warhawks and looked ahead to Saturday’s visit to play Louisiana.

Opening statement: “First of all, just to recap our game last week, I know we spoke a little bit after the game already, but was really pleased with our team's grit, their toughness. I thought our overall unity, competitive spirit was really good. And then we're gonna see them this afternoon and we're gonna really challenge them to have better detail in a lot of areas. But really, really pleased with the intangibles.

I thought ULM and Coach (Bryant) Vincent did a really good job. We expected them to be ready to play and expected them to have a good plan. I thought they did. We also had to prepare for both quarterbacks last week. We suspected they were gonna do what they did, but we had to get ready for both. So I thought we adapted well in the game. I think we held them to three points in the second half. I thought we did a really good job at halftime on both sides of the ball. We had to overcome some self-inflicted wounds, if you will. Some of the obvious ones, an interception, two minutes before the half was really bad. And then the punt return, you know, where we gave them the ball. Those were two significant errors in the game. There were many others, too, we could talk about, whether it's offsides in the red area, a couple other things. But our resiliency, our fight, our toughness, to be down in a game like that, was just awesome. Really good to see. Ultimately, we were able to prevail. I think we held them to 257 yards of offense, and then I think we ended up with 381. I think the thing that stands out is we rushed for 266 yards on, I think, 52 run attempts. So our offensive line, our receivers, did a good job. Tight ends, you know, a lot of people are involved in the running game. And of course, our backs I thought were great. So that was, that was really positive. That kind of shrunk the game. I think on paper we had nine possessions, but that last one, I think the counts, where we knelt on the ball. We really had eight possessions on the game. So just kind of one of those games.

I think one of the things we want to emphasize is trying to win the fourth quarter. I think we won the fourth quarter, 13-0. So that, that was positive. But again, they did a great job and ton of respect for them and Coach Vincent, the plan, the job they did, how they had their guys inspired and played hard. They've got some good players, too. They really do. They have some really good players in spots, so they've done a good job putting their team together.

Jonah (Delange) obviously was outstanding, you know, kicking field goals, so that was really good to see. Then, once again, I will say we want to finish with the ball in the end zone more and rely on him less. We've got to do a better job in the red zone. We've got to do a better job in the high red zone. Now, again, two games in a row, we've shrunk the game. So, if you're looking at the scoring percentage, it's probably OK. But again, you'd rather trade some of those field goals for touchdowns. We're obviously we're gonna work to, to improve that. Those, those things happen for a variety of reasons.

Anyway, it's a new week, you know. Let's turn the page and we're moving on. We're playing, obviously, University of Louisiana. Uh, Mike Desormeaux. Coach Desmeaux's done a great job. He's been there for some time. You know, I remember when he was a part of Coach (Billy) Napier's staff there as an assistant. He's got a long history there, obviously. He does. And they've got good players. I think they've always done a good job recruiting and putting a roster together. It's an area that's rich with talent, too, just geographically. Lunch Winfield's playing really good quarterback for them. They've got a really good defensive team. You know, they scored 30 points on Southern Cal last week. So, you know, definitely expect it to be a challenge. (Offensive coordinator) Tim Leger has been there on offense for some time. He's been a part of those staffs for a long, long time to help and run the offense. Jim Salgado is their defense coordinator. He's got a good history in the NFL. You know, was at the Buffalo Bills for a while, where they had some great defenses. So, really good staff. They got good players. Again, certainly expect it to be a challenge going on the road and going to their place.”

On facing a dual threat in quarterback Lunch Winfield: “I think when you have a guy that can do both, when you have a quarterback that's athletic, you've gotta kind of be prepared, one, to defend all the quarterback runs and have a plan for that and then still be effective enough defending the passing game. I think the next layer to it is when the passes are called, he's got scramble ability. That adds another dimension. So, it  is hard. It's just like anything else. You know, I think part of the reason you seek balance on offense is if the defense tilts one direction really heavy, it gives you other things. I think when you've got a quarterback that's got the ability to do both things, it just, it can, it can stretch you thin and make it hard. I think it makes it that much more important for our guys to play with the effort, fundamentals, technique, and to be able to defeat blocks, shed blocks, or if we're singled up in coverage go win those matchups and win those battles. Ultimately, I think it is really hard, but sometimes fundamental execution can help you if you lose a numerical advantage because of the quarterback run game or something like that.”

On the play of the UAB offensive line: “I think the offensive line is doing a really good job in the running game. There are certain things where we need to protect better and we can protect better. We're working internally to get some of those things cleaned up. Again, protection's kind of an all-encompassing endeavor. There are a lot of people involved with it. You know, there's the quarterback involved with it pre-snap and post-snap. The line's involved, you know, depending on the protection. The tight end's involved, the back's involved. The receivers are involved. You know part of it, hey, if a receiver or whoever's in the route, they've got to be where they're supposed to be when they're supposed to be there on time. That allows the quarterback to play on time. If the quarterback and the receivers are playing on time, that can take stress off of the offensive line. So there are a lot of things involved with it. There’s some things we need to improve and I expect we will. I think we got a good plan to do that.”

On Louisiana: “Again, I, I think they're a really good team. I think they've got really good players on both sides of the ball. Southern Cal’s al's got a good team. To go out there on the road and have to play them at whatever it was, 10 o'clock Central Time, and put up 30 points, I think it says a lot about, you know, the team we're playing.”

On UAB’s success on the quarterback sneak: “There's definitely an art to it and there's technique involved. There’s certain things we want to coach them to do without getting too specific on how we want to execute it from a technique standpoint. It's not just we're all just having a scrum. There's a little more to it. For the quarterback to be in there doing it, I think it's something you kind of get used to. Obviously, they're physical plays. But they're not often high-collision plays. It's physical, but the contact happens in a pretty short area.”

On Ryder Burton’s scrambling ability: “I think it is (underappreciated). I think Ryder is a good athlete, probably better than people realize, and I do think he's a good scrambler. If he's exhausted his options or, you know, doesn't see anyone open, I think his ability to (scramble is important). One, there's an athleticism component. Then there's a decision-making component to it. I think he's good at both. And his instinct to usually go forward and not go backwards helps him as well. I think in the first two games, there's been a number of times he's escaped where there was air. Now, there are times to go around the pocket too, you know, depending on how it closes. But I think he's got a good feel for the space.

I think one of the interesting things, you know, every now and then we talk about Jacob Zeno's year in (2023), which was my first year here as a coordinator. You know, he's 10th all-time on the (single season) completion percentage list. I think he completed, like, just under 74 percent of his passes, which is pretty remarkable. Part of it, he was accurate (and) receivers did a good job getting open. We protected him. There's a lot that has to take place to do that. But the other part of that too is he was an intelligent scrambler. You know, when the options were exhausted, he took off. I remember hearing Bobby Petrino talk about that a long time ago with Stefan LeFors, who used to be near the top of the list, nationally in terms of completion percentage. Stefan was an intelligent scrambler. If his options were exhausted, instead of trying to stick a low-percentage throw in there, he could go five yards. I think that was something Zeno did a really good job of. Obviously, we have areas to improve and work on in our passing game. But I think one of the strengths of Ryder's game and is a real positive, is his ability to go do that.”

On having more snaps than the opposition by a wide margin: “I think every game is different in terms of whether you want to shrink a game or not. And when I say shrink it, try to minimize the amount of drives in the game. There's different ways to do that. I think the most undervalued statistic in football that people don't talk about enough is points per drive. You know, I think it's easy to get caught up in what's total yardage, what's the total points in the game. But, you know, a lot of it's still gonna depend on how many drives are in the game. If you have eight drives in the game, you know, your capacity to score points is less than it is if there's twelve drives in the game. Ultimately, when we get the ball our primary objective is to end the drive with points and ideally a touchdown, but at worst a field goal. Whatever that takes. If that takes an extended drive, that's fine. If there's an explosive play that gets us in the end zone or changes the field position and it's a shorter drive that's great too. The main thing we want to do when we get the ball is find a way to score. There's different ways to do that. You can work to stay ahead of the sticks and kind of play that way and play for the third and manageable. You know, I've also been a part of some great offenses where we were really good at third down avoidance and you convert more on first and second down. So, a lot of ways to do it.

I talked about this after the game and I've talked to our players about it. I still think, you know, a great comparison is a fight. You get into a fight, you know, a drive is like a fight and there's different ways you want to fight. And you can come out and you can knock somebody out in the first round. You can score on the first play. Or man, you can control that fight and wear them down and break them down and eventually you knock them out late. We just wanna make sure you knock them out. I think that the biggest thing is we just do whatever it takes to score on that drive, you know.”

On receiver Lamar White getting his first career catch: “I’m just very, very, very proud of Lamar White. He made a big play in the game. You know, we ran a boot and they kinda covered the first couple options. He ran a great route. Had to adjust his route a little bit based on the coverage and made a really good catch there. I’ve had the blessing of watching him kind of really grow and just mature, just from being a young guy and a freshman just to now, like very tough, hardworking (receiver). His skill level too has really jumped up. I have to say, he had a very good spring unfortunately, he got beat up a little bit. He's had a couple injuries. He's getting himself back. I had pretty high hopes for the kinda year he could have. Still do. Really excited about the progress he's made and where he can go.”

On Louisiana defense: “One, I start with the players. I think they've got good players at all three levels. They've got, I think, a stout front on both inside and outside. They've got good size. You know, they're good at the second level. They have good linebackers that run well and then the DBs have both speed and some height and length. So they're good players at all three levels. You can't really go, ‘Hey, we're gonna go pick on you." Then I think schematically they do a good job. They've got a really good scheme and it's well-rounded and sound and it presents some challenges. So, They're just a really balanced group.”

On the problem with penalties: “The penalties, obviously you want to eliminate 'them. You're looking (and asking) ‘OK, are there themes?’ You know, are there commonalities. The good thing is, if you're looking for something positive, offensively, some of the pre-snap things improved, I think, from week one to week two. Now a couple young players on defense maybe had a couple pre-snap things last week. You hope they improve too.

There are a couple other things that we definitely need to clean up. How do you address it? I mean, I mentioned, you know, it's something we make a big emphasis on in camp. I start every team meeting in training camp, we show penalties from the day before, particularly pre-snap penalties. I apologize for being redundant, but I know I talked about this as well after our game, but we talk about our core values as a football team. You know, one, we talk about hard work, working hard. And then two, we talk about playing hard with effort and toughness. Three, we talk about playing smart. That's discipline and poise. And then finally, we talk about playing together, having unity. That third one I mentioned, playing smart and just having the discipline to do your job. I think one of the things that Coach Saban used to talk about is, ‘Hey, you want to play the game with emotion, but not emotional.’ Sometimes when guys get into competitive environments that there's things that rear their head that don't rear their head in practice. There are some psychological components to that. The part of it where it's, ‘Hey, we coach it, we train it, we reinforce when we do well, we, catch it when we don’t do it well in practice." Unfortunately, maybe some of these things have reared their heads in games, and you just hope that from game to game it gets better.”

On Louisiana’s offense: “They've always been pretty balanced. You go back to they've got a lot of guys that were on Napier's staffs there. I do think they've got good balance in their offense and then you've also got a dual-threat quarterback. One of the challenges is you have to play pretty honest and they've got, they've got a good mix of things they do.”

On moving forward after fighting through adversity on Saturday: “I think it does help. It should help tremendously, you know. Look, we try to have a hard off-season. You know, the off-season's hard. There are aspects of the winter that are really tough. Then in the summer, I mentioned the other day, in July our conditioning is hard. And yeah, there's physiological reasons for that, not just to get the guys in shape. We're trying to enhance our ability to perform physically. We talk about great effort. One of the prerequisites for effort is being in shape. But there's also a mental toughness component to that too. I believe that every time you answer the bell, when it starts getting hard, you get a little bit tougher. You get a little bit tougher mentally. Your self-talk gets better. You learn how to push through things.

But this is another stage. And the other thing is we practice hard. Practices are not easy here, you know. I say they're not easy, but part of it is our guys do love football. You come to practice and it's pretty competitive. It can get pretty violent and physical. Those are all parts of it. But then we got to carry it to the game. And so I think (we’re ready) getting to a game when you get in a tough position. Some of it is the opponent does a good job, some of it's self-inflicted. How do you respond to that? Do you feel the pressure of it? Do you get tight or do you stick to what we talk about and believe in, having a no scoreboard mentality? Each play has a history and a life of its own. Don't worry about the last play that just happened. Just play each play in the game and have the poise, competitiveness, toughness, and grit. And then the other part is, you know, staying together, not turning on each other, not turning on a teammate, a coach, or any of those things. But the positive energy that we had, all those things is really encouraging to see us go the right way when it got hard. That really was exciting. Now, that's one game, so we're gonna encounter more challenges, more adversity as the year goes on and greater difficulties. So we have to build on that. But that was a good sign. It was a really good sign.”

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