UAB's Problems Worse than Royal Treatment

[Brad]

Blazers can still rebound, if they don't unravel

Friday, November 05, 2004

TORAINE NORRIS

News staff writer

He showed a look of utter disgust on his face.

UAB junior quarterback Darrell Hackney slumped in a chair in the hall outside the Legion Field interview room and just shook his head following Wednesday's 45-20 loss to the University of South Florida Bulls.

Moments later, he openly criticized head coach Watson Brown's postgame comments and expressed some anger about what he deemed as the coach's jab at his decision in the fourth quarter to change a play that led to a USF interception return for a touchdown.

Hackney later recanted the statements, but some other players were equally forthcoming in saying there is mounting frustration in the UAB locker room and some finger-pointing.

"We have to come together as a team," said sophomore running back Corey White, whose three-touchdown effort was nullified by the Blazers' second-straight loss. "They went up 24-20 and we started losing faith on the sidelines."

As Hackney so succinctly pointed out, the Blazers are losing their cool.

The defensive problems are well-documented. The unit continues to stumble along, having surrendered more than 1,000 yards combined in consecutive weeks to two offenses that occupied the cellar in C-USA before they met the Blazers on the field. Defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt has yet to find an answer and many fans are questioning whether he can.

It should be noted that not all the defensive issues started with the departure of defensive line coach Pat Donohoe. UAB surrendered 489 yards to Florida State, 539 yards to Memphis and 403 to Cincinnati with Donohoe on the sideline.

UAB has held only two opponents, Baylor and Mississippi State, under 300 yards of offense this season. This from a defense that returned 10 starters and plenty of experienced backups.

The offense, for the first time this season, played give-away with the football Wednesday night. Roddy White's late third-quarter fumble and Hackney's interception led directly to 14 USF points. The momentum clearly shifted after White's fumble with UAB leading 20-17.

Brown had no answers. He took the blame for the loss and UAB's poor play despite 10 days of preparation following the 59-55 loss to Tulane.

"Hopefully, we can turn this thing around and that's my job," said Brown. "It was obvious that we didn't turn it around tonight from what happened last week. We've got to play better football, because we were not the same team that played here two weeks ago against TCU.

"We've got to figure out why and what's going on. That's my job."

UAB still has a lot to play for. At 5-3 the Blazers are very much within reach of the school's first-ever bowl bid. However, the defense must play better, preferably by forcing turnovers and getting itself off the field.

The offense must avoid turnovers and take advantage of red-zone opportunities. A play or two from the special teams would greatly help the Blazers' chances.

Of course, the team has to avoid the blame game.

Hackney didn't sound as if he had lost all hope.

"I still think we have unity," he said. "When we got down, the defense came over and told us to keep our heads up and keep fighting. No one is blaming anyone, we just have to play together."

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Coach held us together through a three game losing streak and now momentum has shifted back to positive.  UAB could implode. Not taking any solace in that, but at least we weren't reading about internal strife (with the exception of this board) amidst a three game losing streak.

[bulls96go]

hope we get our first bowl bid