UAB opened up the brand-new Protective Stadium last season against Liberty. Fittingly, the Blazers will be the first opponent to see the upgrades made to Williams Stadium. The Flames’ home opener comes against UAB, as fans not only get to see new seating options in both west and east grandstands, but new seating options in the south end zone.
UAB BLAZERS
COACH: Bryant Vincent, 0-0, first season at UAB
2021 RECORD: 9-4, 6-2 Conference USA
POSTSEASON: Defeated BYU 31-28 in Independence Bowl
A LOOK BACK
BYU suffered two lopsided losses in the 2021 season. The first came against eventual national champion Georgia (who didn’t get shellacked by that defense?) and second came at the hands of Liberty in Protective Stadium’s debut.
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Those were the aberrations to a stellar campaign that saw UAB finish second to UTSA in the Conference USA West Division standings, and then go on and topple then-No. 13 BYU in the Independence Bowl.
Dylan Hopkins enjoyed a breakout season at quarterback, while DeWayne McBride ran wild out of the backfield and Tre Shropshire owned an eye-popping 26-yard per catch average.
The defense allowed only 30 points three more times over the rest of the season, led by two prominent outside linebackers in Antonio Moultrie and Alex Wright.
LOOKING AHEAD
The big development during the offseason came when Bill Clark, the man who helped restart the football program at UAB, announced in late June he was retiring. He had spinal fusion surgery for a lingering injury that only got worse over the summer.
UAB elevated offensive coordinator Bryant Vincent to interim head coach for the 2022 campaign, and he hopes to take on the job permanently.
“I’m excited. It’s a great opportunity,” Vincent said at C-USA media day. “It’s a program that I’m very passionate about.”
Vincent is leading the Blazers in a transition season. UAB is one of six Conference USA programs that will move to the American Athletic Conference in 2023 (UTSA, Rice, Charlotte, Florida Atlantic and North Texas are the others), and the Blazers were picked to finish second in the preseason poll behind last season’s darling, UTSA.
UAB returns a plethora of starters on both sides of the ball. The offense features Hopkins, McBride, Shropshire and four offensive linemen who got significant reps.
Vincent’s philosophy on offense won’t change with a run-first mentality, heavy play-action pass looks and naked bootlegs.
Hopkins will have more than just Shropshire at his disposal on the outside.
“We feel like this is the strongest and the deepest receiver position that we’ve had,” Vincent said, adding he will still be the offensive play caller.
UAB returns nine starters on defense (Moultrie transferred to Miami and Wright is with the Cleveland Browns), and Vincent said the secondary is the “best back end that we’ve ever had.” Cornerback Starling Thomas V and safeties Will Boler, Keondre Swoopes and Grayson Cash lead that charge.
WHO’S BACK?
SKILL PLAYERS
» QB Dylan Hopkins (155-235 passing, 2.274 yards, 18 TD, 7 INT)
» RB DeWayne McBride (204 carries, 1,371 yards, 6.7 average, 13 TD)
» RB Jermaine Brown Jr. (123 carries, 631 yards, 5.1 average, 7 TD)
» WR Trea Shropshire (27 catches, 703 yards, 26.0 average, 7 TD)
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
» LT Kadeem Telfort
» C Will Rykard
» RG Matthew Trehern
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
» LB Noah Wilder (93 tackles, 5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, 1 INT, 1 PBU)
» SS Will Boler (63 tackles, 1 PBU, 1 FR)
» Star Keondre Swoopes (51 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 2 INT, 6 PBU, 1 QBH)
» CB Starling Thomas V (41 tackles, 2 INT, 8 PBU, 1 FR, 1 FF)
» LB Deshaun Oliver Jr. (35 tackles, 5 TFL, 2 sacks, 3 PBU)
» LB Tyler Taylor (34 tackles, 3 TFL, 1 QBH)
» Jack Kyle Harrell (25 tackles, 6.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, 1 INT, 3 PBU, 3 QBH, 1 FR, 1 FF)
» SS Grayson Cash (23 tackles, 3 INT, 4 PBU, 2 blocked kicks)
SPECIAL TEAMS
» PK Matt Quinn (11-16 FG, 51 long, 1 blocked; 49-50 PAT)
» P Kyle Greenwell (60 punts, 42.1 average, 73 long, 6 TB, 23 FC, 16 I20, 12 50+, 0 blocked)
» KR Jermaine Brown Jr. (10 returns, 200 yards, 20.0 average, 27 long)
» PR Starling Thomas V (10 returns, 78 yards, 7.8 average, 36 long)
WHO’S GONE?
SKILL PLAYERS
» WR Rajae’ Johnson-Sanders (23 catches, 394 yards, 17.1 average 1 TD)
» TE Gerrit Prince (36 catches, 699 yards, 19.4 average, 10 TD)
» TE Hayden Pittman (22 catches, 192 yards, 8.7 average, 1 TD)
OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
» LG Andrew Smith Jr.
» RT Colby Ragland
DEFENSIVE LEADERS
» Sam Antonio Moultrie (62 tackles, 7 TFL, 2 sacks, 4 QBH, 1 FR)
» Jack Alex Wright (46 tackles, 7.5 TFL, 7 sacks, 3 PBU, 12 QBH, 2 FF)
» FS Dy’Jonn Turner (41 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 4 PBU)
» DT Mi’Cario Stanley (34 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 1 QBH)
» DT Justin Thomas (12 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 4.5 sacks, 1 PBU, 3 QBH, 1 FR, 1 FF)
SPECIAL TEAMS
None
WHO TRANSFERRED IN
» QB Jacob Zeno (2021 stats at Baylor: 1-3 passing, 41 yards)
» LB Jackson Bratton (did not play in two seasons at Alabama)
WHOM TO FOLLOW
» Evan Dudley, The Birmingham News/AL.com: @DudleyDoWriteAL
» UAB Football: @UAB_FB
SCHEDULE
Sept. 1: Alabama A&M, 8 p.m.
Sept. 10: at Liberty, 6 p.m.
Sept. 17: Georgia Southern, 3:30 p.m.
Sept. 24: off
Oct. 1: at Rice, 7:30 p.m.
Oct. 8: Middle Tennessee, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 15: Charlotte, 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 21: at Western Kentucky, 8 p.m.
Oct. 29: at Florida Atlantic, 7 p.m.
Nov. 5: UTSA, 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 12: North Texas, 3:30 p.m.
Nov. 19: at LSU
Nov. 26: at Louisiana Tech, 3:30 p.m.
THE SERIES (home team in CAPS)
Liberty leads 1-0
Oct. 2, 2021: Liberty 36, UAB 12
