The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Blazers Hold Final Practice Before Taking On Army
10/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 30, 2003
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The UAB football team worked out for just over two hours Thursday in helmets and shorts in the team's final practice before taking Conference USA rival Army (0-8, 0-6 Conference USA) Saturday afternoon at Legion Field. The practice consisted mostly of mental preparation and closed with the offense working on a two-minute drill.
With the Black Knights' having lost their last two games by a combined total of 10 points, UAB head coach Watson Brown recognizes that Saturday's game will be a challenge.
"Their (Army) last two games, they've played very well," Brown said. "They lost a very close game at home to East Carolina and then lost by four to Cincinnati. They are playing good football right now. The games we've played with them, except one, have been close. Last year, we had to go 82 yards in the last minute to beat them, so I wouldn't say that we're an overconfident bunch right now. They returned a lot of starters. We didn't move the ball well last year, so we're going to have to work hard to score some points. Army's a pass first, run second team. The last couple of teams we've played have been run first, pass second. We're going to have to adjust to that a little bit. It's been awhile since we played that style of offense. We have done a good job of stopping the pass and I hope that continues because that's what Army is going to try to do."
In addition, Brown feels UAB's two close loses to nationally-ranked opponents (No. 4 Georgia and No. 13 TCU), while disappointing, should help the team's confidence.
"We played well, but we didn't play well enough to win," Brown said. "We're very disappointed about the losses. Hopefully, we'll gain a lot from it, gain some confidence. We've got four straight conference games, two of them at home. They are all very important games and we've got to get our minds right. I think the effort has been there all year. We've played better the last four games. The kids have had an aggressive attitude and they've learned how to win. They've gone in with a game plan and have executed them well. Even though we're playing with a lot of different kids than we were five weeks ago, the effort is still there."
Kickoff for UAB's (3-5, 2-2 C-USA) Homecoming game against Army is set for 3 p.m. The game can be heard live on WYDE-FM 101.1.
