WKU Football: UAB Q&A with The Daily Dragon
We’re four days away from WKU’s return to action to take on conference rival UAB. With the opportunity to start 2–0 & to knock off the…
We’re four days away from WKU’s return to action to take on conference rival UAB. With the opportunity to start 2–0 & to knock off the defending conference champions, we thought that we’d get a UAB perspective on the game. Luckily for us, we got Charlie from The Daily Dragon to give us his thoughts on the UAB program, the rivalry, the game, and his predictions. Without further adieu, here is our conversation with Charlie.
1) UAB is coming off a Conference USA Title and now sits at 3–0 on the young season. Are we witnessing the golden era of the UAB program?
Without a doubt. From 1996–2014, UAB had three winning records, one bowl appearance, and was derided by local and national media. Now, the tables have turned. Last year’s conference championship and bowl game wins were the program’s first, and the 11–3 record was the best the football team has ever compiled.
This season looks to be going the same way. The Blazers beat an FBS team by 32 last week (a sentence I never thought I would say in 2013), and are 3–0 for the first time in 27 years. We’ve never experienced success like this in any capacity.
2) With the plans of the new stadium coming on board down the road and support at an all-time high, do UAB fans feel confident they can keep head coach Bill Clark after the season?
Honestly, I think that depends on who you ask. Coach Clark seems to love the school and culture. He stuck with us during the 2015–2016 shutdown, after all, and recently agreed to a five-year extension. Clark’s already the most successful coach in Blazer history and the future only looks bright.
However, there have been reports that Auburn is going to be after him once they fire Malzahn, and I’m not entirely sure Coach would turn down an enticing offer from the Tigers. Nobody really has any idea how long he’ll be at UAB.
3) Geographically UAB is WKU’s second-closest rival in Conference USA (closer than Marshall). How do Blazers fans view the WKU rivalry?
I wouldn’t say we hate y’all as much as we do Louisiana Tech or Southern Miss. Not having played in football since 2014 hasn’t exactly fanned the rivalry flames. Western fans usually aren’t that obnoxious towards us on Twitter, and you guys are always nice whenever we visit BG.
With that being said, we haven’t forgotten the 2016 MBB conference tournament quarterfinals.
4) Much was made of UAB losing 34 seniors off of last year’s team. Have there been many growing pains replacing them?
Not as many pains as most predicted. Obviously, it hurts to lose so many guys that knew the system, and I guess we’ve seen a little bit of a negative effect. The offensive line lost four starters and has struggled in run blocking.
But what people didn’t take into account was the recruiting class Clark built behind those 34 seniors. The success of the program brought in two of the better classes in UAB history, and many of those guys were with the program last year, learning from upperclassmen. It’s not like we’re trotting out freshmen that don’t know what they’re doing. The new guys are really good players, most of which familiarized themselves with the system while redshirting last season.
5) Quarterback Tyler Johnston was a part-time starter with senior A.J. Erdely last year. How has he taken to being the full-time starter?
Tyler has taken over the full-time starting QB job without a hitch. He had a rough opener against Alabama State, but has thrown for 300+ yards in both games since then. Johnston’s main problem last year was poor decision-making, as evidenced by his 8 interceptions in five starts. He only has two this year, and one of them was a Hail Mary to the end zone.
6) Who are some skill position players that WKU should worry about on Saturday?
On offense, Johnston III and deep threat WR Kendall Parham have had absolutely lethal synergy this year. Johnston ranks fourth nationally in yards per attempt (10.66), while Parham is first in the country in yards per reception (28.00). Kendall is incredibly fast, and it’s over once he gets behind your DBs.
All-American RB Spencer Brown is finally starting to heat up as well. He combined for just 112 yards in the first two games of the season and looked uncomfortable behind the reformed offensive line. Spencer burst out of the slump against USA, going for 80 yards on 16 attempts. If both the passing and rushing facets of this offense are on, watch out.
7) Defensively UAB has only allowed 14 points per game. Why has it been so successful thus far?
A combination of veterans making big plays and young guys stepping up has lead the Blazer D to success. Senior DL Garrett Marino already has 12 solo tackles and 4 sacks and was named to the Pro Football Focus NATIONAL Team of the Week in week 2. Junior LB Kris Moll has racked up 11 tackles and a sack, and has been really solid in run defense.
That’s not to discount the contributions of LB Noah Wilder and CB’s Starling Thomas and CD Daniels, all-seeing their first year of significant playing time. Wilder leads the team in total tackles with 21, 2.5 of them being for loss. Thomas and Daniels have performed admirably in the absence of star CB Brontae Harris, who was lost for the year in training camp. They contributed to South Alabama’s 80-passing-yard disaster game last Saturday.
8) How do you see the game playing out? What is your prediction?
I think UAB is going to come away with this one somewhat convincingly. Although Western has improved significantly since the opening loss to UCA, I don’t think the secondary is ready for the Blazer receiving corps. My prediction is that WKU will struggle in pass defense and give up multiple big plays through the air.
UAB 27, WKU 10
I want to thank Charlie for taking the time to do this q&a with us. You can read his work on The Daily Dragon and follow his twitter account @F5DailyDragon for fun analysis and reaction to Saturday’s matchup.