South Florida at UAB: Game preview, prediction
TAMPA, Fla., (Oct. 6, 2023) – South Florida (3-2; 2-0 AAC) aims to string two American Athletic Conference road victories together for the first time since the 2017 season Saturday when they travel to Protective Stadium to take on the University of Alabama at Birmingham (1-4; 0-1 AAC).
Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and the Bulls are a -3.5 favorite for this game.
This will be the third matchup between these teams all-time, with the series tied at 1-1. Both games were won by the visiting team with the Bulls winning 45-20 the last time they visited Birmingham (2004). Saturday will also be the seventh annual Children’s Harbor game, in which the Blazers players will wear gray and lime green alternate uniforms with the names of patients from the Children’s Hospital located on UAB’s campus on the back of their jerseys.
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UAB OFFENSE
On offense the Blazers will look to redshirt junior quarterback Jacob Zeno to lead the attack.
Zeno has been a machine so far this season, ranking third in the country in completions by averaging 31 per game and completing 75.5 percent of his passes, good for fourth in the country. He has thrown for 1,442-yards and eight touchdowns with four interceptions this season.
Zeno will look to spread the ball around to many targets, but senior Tejhaun Palmer and freshman Amare Thomas have stood out as playmakers through five games. Palmer leads the team with 231 receiving yards with one touchdown catch, and Thomas, a 17-year-old true freshman, has added 227 yards, a touchdown and some highlight reel catches.
UAB utilizes two running backs in this offense, with redshirt sophomore Isaiah Jacobs as the lead back and senior Jermaine Brown Jr. being involved more on passing downs. The Blazers have struggled to run the ball early in games, although Jacobs and Brown Jr. have racked up 257 yards and 168 yards respectively on the ground.
UAB DEFENSE
The key stat for this defense is fumble recoveries. The Blazers are tied for the most in the nation through the first five games of the season with eight recoveries. Senior linebacker Damon Miller and junior defensive end Michael Fairbanks II have each forced three fumbles this year, so the Bulls will need to clean up the fumbling issues that they ran into last week at Navy.
Senior safety Keondre Swoopes leads the team in tackles with 31, and averages just under eight tackles a game, which ranks as third most in the AAC.
Swoopes will get some backup in the secondary from junior corner BJ Mayes, who has been outstanding since breaking into the starting lineup in UAB’s second game. He has totaled six pass breakups and an interception so far this year, although he will likely have his hands full this week with all the emerging talent at receiver for the Bulls.
“Defensively probably the biggest team that we’ve played since week three (Alabama), so it’ll present a challenge that way up front, really athletic on the back end, linebackers can run,” said Bulls head coach Alex Golesh on Tuesday. “So, it’ll be a challenge for us to go run the football and establish from a pass protection standpoint.”
JACK’S SUMMARY
South Florida is coming off their first road win in years and will look to keep their positive momentum going this Saturday. The Bulls have struggled to run the ball recently, but they should look to get back on track as UAB is allowing 204 rush yards per game and 5.6 yards per carry.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Byrum Brown has been a game changer since the Alabama game, racking up 828 total yards against Rice and Navy. If Brown and the rest of the offense can keep finding success, it will be a long day for the Blazers secondary. On defense the key to this game will be to shut down the quick pass game that UAB has excelled at this season, while also being wary of the big play potential from the Blazers’ skill positions.
My prediction is that the Bulls will keep rolling, winning their second straight game on the road 38-21.