Watson Brown: Heartbreaker
Tennessee 17, UAB 10
For all the haters that think Mike Shula is guilty of calling the worst games in the state of Alabama, please take note that Watson Brown routinely attempts to pry defeat from the jaws of victory each time he steps onto the field. Today, he was successful.
Negatives: Unfortunately for UAB, Watson ball is centered around the idea of either running up a score and then trying to run the clock out, or vice versa. The former produced two heart-attack inducing wins over both Memphis and Cincinatti last season when the Blazers blew up the scoreboard in the first half and then had to cling tooth and nail to their lead in the second. The latter produced today's debacle. This was an upset in the making the whole way through, but continuing to advance with a mostly innefective running game behind a sketchy O-line was a bad idea to begin with. Using this strategy to "control the tempo of the game and give us a chance in the 4th quarter" was just nuts. With a QB like Hack under center and a defense that lost it's best linebackers and wasn't anything to brag about last season, there's no call for such a conservative strategy, especially against a questionable secondary and the unbelievably good fortune of Fulmer deciding to start Ainge over Claussen. UAB could have easily taken the wind out of the UT sails and shut their hillbilly fan's whore mouths by coming out gunning and showing them what a big play offense looks like (I'm thinking of the aerial expolsives from the big number games of last season like Baylor, Tulane, and Hawaii). There were fleeting glimpses of the Hack we all know and love at the end of the second quarter, and again in the fourth, but he was mostly absent the rest of the time. The loss of Roddy White may have been a factor in keeping the ball on the ground but both Lindsey and Drinkard are capable wideouts and stretching the field would have also served to showcase both Burks and Corey White at running back, two guys who are more than able to break off big runs. Instead UT was showcasing their D-line and linebackers the entire first half. And yet, UAB hung with the Vols and still had a chance to win. If it weren't for running that same off tackle run that hadn't worked ONCE the entire game in the red zone and costing yardage and a down, UAB could have been sitting on a tie and either OT or possibly holding the Vols offense again and managing the upset. Of course, Watson can't be blamed for the entire ordeal. Each time we started driving and having real success sloppy play would shoot us in the foot. I don't remember exactly how many offsides and illegal formation penalties were called but there were more than enough. This was a huge chance to put UAB firmly on the mid-major map but it was an opportunity wasted. For shame.
Positives: UAB's defense looked sharper than it did all of last season, but the loss (again) of Carlos Hendricks to injury is a bad omen. I liked what I saw and feel better about our chances at a conference title now after seeing them hang with a UT team expected to make a run for the national title (even if I think those expectations are ludicrous). They are going to have to get better on run defense since Riggs pretty well ran all over them and they'll need to get more penetration in the backfield, but overall they've made leaps and bounds over last years unit.
For all the haters that think Mike Shula is guilty of calling the worst games in the state of Alabama, please take note that Watson Brown routinely attempts to pry defeat from the jaws of victory each time he steps onto the field. Today, he was successful.
Negatives: Unfortunately for UAB, Watson ball is centered around the idea of either running up a score and then trying to run the clock out, or vice versa. The former produced two heart-attack inducing wins over both Memphis and Cincinatti last season when the Blazers blew up the scoreboard in the first half and then had to cling tooth and nail to their lead in the second. The latter produced today's debacle. This was an upset in the making the whole way through, but continuing to advance with a mostly innefective running game behind a sketchy O-line was a bad idea to begin with. Using this strategy to "control the tempo of the game and give us a chance in the 4th quarter" was just nuts. With a QB like Hack under center and a defense that lost it's best linebackers and wasn't anything to brag about last season, there's no call for such a conservative strategy, especially against a questionable secondary and the unbelievably good fortune of Fulmer deciding to start Ainge over Claussen. UAB could have easily taken the wind out of the UT sails and shut their hillbilly fan's whore mouths by coming out gunning and showing them what a big play offense looks like (I'm thinking of the aerial expolsives from the big number games of last season like Baylor, Tulane, and Hawaii). There were fleeting glimpses of the Hack we all know and love at the end of the second quarter, and again in the fourth, but he was mostly absent the rest of the time. The loss of Roddy White may have been a factor in keeping the ball on the ground but both Lindsey and Drinkard are capable wideouts and stretching the field would have also served to showcase both Burks and Corey White at running back, two guys who are more than able to break off big runs. Instead UT was showcasing their D-line and linebackers the entire first half. And yet, UAB hung with the Vols and still had a chance to win. If it weren't for running that same off tackle run that hadn't worked ONCE the entire game in the red zone and costing yardage and a down, UAB could have been sitting on a tie and either OT or possibly holding the Vols offense again and managing the upset. Of course, Watson can't be blamed for the entire ordeal. Each time we started driving and having real success sloppy play would shoot us in the foot. I don't remember exactly how many offsides and illegal formation penalties were called but there were more than enough. This was a huge chance to put UAB firmly on the mid-major map but it was an opportunity wasted. For shame.
Positives: UAB's defense looked sharper than it did all of last season, but the loss (again) of Carlos Hendricks to injury is a bad omen. I liked what I saw and feel better about our chances at a conference title now after seeing them hang with a UT team expected to make a run for the national title (even if I think those expectations are ludicrous). They are going to have to get better on run defense since Riggs pretty well ran all over them and they'll need to get more penetration in the backfield, but overall they've made leaps and bounds over last years unit.
posted by Todd Jones at 3:18 PM
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