The Battle for Bham from both sidelines

Blazers Hosts Bulldogs in First Meeting Since 1992

By Jackson Hillis

UAB will put its American Conference schedule on pause this weekend to play the cross-town Samford Bulldogs at Protective Stadium.

Though the teams’ campuses are less than four miles apart, Saturday’s game will be the second time the Blazers and Bulldogs have faced off on the gridiron. In their first game 34 years ago, UAB only managed to score one field goal in a 49-3 loss.

This time around, the Bulldogs are led by first-year head coach John Grass, who served as Jacksonville State’s head coach for eight years and as an analyst for the Clemson Tigers for four before coming to Homewood.

Also on the Samford staff are a number of coaches with connections to prominent figures in college football. Samford wide receivers coach Drew Swinney is the son of Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Tyler and Jake Venables, sons of Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables, are also on the Bulldogs’ coaching roster.

The Bulldogs currently sit at 1-3 on the season, starting off with three consecutive losses to North Alabama, Southern Illinois, and Tennessee Tech in which they were outscored 89-47 cumulatively. They got back in the win column with last week’s 45-7 win over the Virginia Military Institute.

For the Blazers, week four’s victory against Navy was the most impactful win so far in head coach Alex Mortensen’s first season.

Since last Saturday’s performance, graduate student outside linebacker Marlin Dean received recognition as the American Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week, and redshirt senior linebacker Muaaz Byard broke into national rankings with the fourth most tackles in college football. As a group, the Blazer defense has also ascended into national relevance, currently sitting as the second-best pass defense in the nation.

With defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s unit heating up, the Blazers’ offensive line play, particularly in passing situations, will look to improve as well.

UAB quarterback Ryder Burton put together his most statistically complete game of the season against Navy, with a season-high completion percentage and the most passing yards since the season opener against Illinois. In terms of pass protection, Burton was sacked four times by the Midshipmen, the most in a single game so far.

Head coach Alex Mortensen remarked on the Blazer’s performance in the team’s weekly press conference.

He said, “Yeah, I think we did take a step forward [in the passing game]. I think statistically we finished 13 of 20 … which is still under where we want to be … from a completion percentage and efficiency standpoint.”

He acknowledged the team is “still not protecting to the degree that we’re capable,” and that fans “probably saw us run out the back of the pocket a couple of times.”

Still, Mortensen said that “there were actually some positive strides in pass protection despite a couple of those plays,” highlighting good “route detail, quarterback timing, and rhythm.”

“But the exciting thing for us is like, there’s still a lot of steps that we can take,” he said. “And I think we continue to get a lot better.”

Blazer and Bulldog fans will see which team will come out on top in what Birmingham Sports has dubbed the “Battle of Birmingham” this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Samford revives series down the road against UAB 

By Ben Edwards

The Bulldogs travel to Protective Stadium on Saturday for just the second meeting ever with UAB and the first since 1992, when Samford defeated the Blazers 49-3. 

Much has changed since then. FCS Samford is 1-3 through the first four games of the John Grass era, following a 1-11 season in 2025. The Bulldogs opened the season with three losses to tough opponents, North Alabama (22-10), Southern Illinois (22-18) and Tennessee Tech (45-19). Then came a breakthrough in Homewood on Sept. 26, when Samford took down VMI 45-7. 

That game provided the clearest look yet at what Grass wants this team to be. Samford piled up 488 yards, including 221 on the ground and 267 through the air, while controlling the ball for 34:33. Quarterback Gabarri Johnson completed 22 of 26 passes without an interception. On the other side of the ball, the Bulldogs recorded three interceptions and three sacks while holding VMI to 212 total yards. Samford led 28-0 at halftime. 

Johnson has done a good job limiting turnovers but has faced plenty of pressure, being sacked 13 times through four games. He enters Saturday completing 58.7 percent of his passes, while Samford is averaging 248.7 passing yards and 80.5 rushing yards per game. 

For the Bulldogs, the formula against UAB will be straightforward: maintain a balanced offense, protect Johnson, and avoid giving the Blazers extra opportunities through negative plays and turnovers. Special teams could also play a role after Samford made just one of three field-goal attempts against VMI. 

Samford enters Saturday at 1-3, while UAB is 2-2 and will have the advantage of playing at home. For the Bulldogs, however, the matchup offers an opportunity to build on the momentum from their dominant win over VMI, test Grass’ vision for the team against an FBS opponent and potentially lay the foundation for a new cross-town series