UAB Blazers College Football Pregame Quote, 09/26/2022

Alright guys, just wrapping up Georgia Southern, I thought that coming off of a tough Liberty loss on the road, I was really proud of our players and coaches coming back that next week. We had a great week of prep, we had great focus, we had great sense of urgency throughout that week, and I think as the game approached and got closer and closer, it just amped up as the week went. To be able to go out and play from the first snap really to the last snap of the game with a lot of passion, a lot of toughness, a lot of physicality, I was really proud of our coaches and players and our fans. I mean you could hear our fans when the big plays happened, whether it was on offense, defense, or special teams. I think our fans played a factor in the game. We had our student section packed again for the second straight home game. I’m extremely proud of our support from our students. Now, turning the page to last week, I thought we had a great week in our open week. We really got things cleaned up. We had a good opportunity to self-evaluate ourselves and where we’re heading and be able to heal up. Now, we open conference play. We get to play Rice. We go to Rice this Saturday night to open conference play. A team that beat us last year 30-24 at home and a team that we’ve got a lot of respect for. We’re ready to open conference play.

On using motivation from last year’s game and handling emotion:

I think the biggest thing is we understand that this season is a journey. We’re just now beginning conference play. We’ve got now, with our open week behind us last week, we know we’ve got nine straight games. At UAB we’re a little bit different. Our goal here is to play for a conference championship, to win a conference championship. Now we start on the road at a team that’s probably the deepest Rice team that we’ve seen, probably the most athletic rice team we’ve seen up to this point. You see a lot of guys on that field on offense, defense, and special teams that really have been playing for three years, going on four. We know we’ve got our hands full. We’ve got to go on the road. We’re opening conference play in a night game at Rice. It’s an opportunity this team is looking forward to and we’re excited about.

On time of possession and getting off the field:

I think it’s very important. I think possessions are at a premium. Rice leads the league in time of possession. They were right at 37 minutes a game until last week versus Houston, now they’re right at 35 minutes a game. Every possession is critical. When you look at time of possession, UAB and Rice, we’ve been one and two for a lot of years. We’re a ball control offense, they’ve been a ball control offense. I think what you see from Rice this year is they’re throwing the ball more. That’s probably effected their time of possession a little bit. They’re really good on third downs. They’re right now, I think 48 percent on third downs. They’ve got three guys they really like to get the ball to: number 10 [Luke Mccaffery], number two, and then number six. Those seem to be their three main targets they’re getting the ball to. Their quarterback is doing a really good job. [Wiley Green] got hurt against USC in the first game and now TJ McMahon is doing a good job, he’s distributing the ball, you seem him growing and getting better every week. We understand that turnovers are going to be key, time of possession is going to be key. We’ve got to go out there and win series and win possessions and get back on the field and get them off the field. It’s going to be a big part.

On DL Michael Fairbanks:

I think Michael Fairbanks, the key to Michael, the best way to describe him, he’s consistent. He’s very consistent, he’s very reliable, he’s extremely intelligent, he gives great effort, he knows exactly what to do, and you can count on him to get his job done every day. I’ve been very proud of Michael and his performance these first three games. I’m excited about him continuing to grow and develop and really be an anchor for us on our defensive line.