Memphis would head south to Birmingham to take on the UAB Blazers in the 2025 version of the Battle For The Bones. With rumblings of the College Football Playoff, College Gameday, and winning the conference, the Tigers would look to avoid a trap situation where they lose to a far less talented team in the Blazers of UAB, who came into the game with Memphis riding the emotional high of a change in leadership and the chance to upset their biggest rival. 

UAB announced earlier in the week that former Head Coach Trent Dilfer would no longer be the Head Coach of the Blazers, as offensive guru Alex Mortensen would finish the season in Birmingham as the interim Head Coach. Mortensen served under Coach Saban at Alabama for nine seasons in various roles with the Crimson Tide offense. 

UAB put together a methodical five-and-a-half-minute opening drive to take an early 7-0 lead over the Tigers. Sutton Smith would give a response of his own with a 99-yard kick return for a touchdown to tie the game at seven. UAB would see its second drive stalled out as Sam Brumfield picked off Ryder Burton to give the Tigers the ball back with 3:09 on the clock in the first quarter. Memphis would fail to keep the mometum on offense as the drive stalled out with a turnover on downs. UAB would respond by pushing the Memphis defense to the backs of the goal line, but it was a massive third-and-goal stop that would hold the Blazers to a field goal as they retook a 10-7 lead over Memphis with 7:08 remaining in the half. Memphis would respond with a long drive that took 5:56 off the clock, which ended with a Greg Desrosiers touchdown run to make it 14-10 Memphis with 1:12 remaining in the half. UAB would open the offense up a bit to close the half with a touchdown drive that would give the Blazers a 17-14 lead over Memphis. 

The UAB offense finished the first half with 236 yards, while the Memphis offense had 86 yards of total offense at the break. Not ideal for a Memphis team looking to put away a pesky rival with an upset on their mind. 

The UAB defense would force a Memphis punt to open the second half, leaving the door open for a UAB 81-yard touchdown run to extend the Blazers’ lead to 24-14 over the Tigers. Memphis would respond with a lot of time off the clock, having to settle for a field goal to cut the UAB lead to 24-17 with 3:14 in the third. At the end of the third, UAB held on to the 24-17 lead over the Tigers. 

The Memphis defense would force a UAB fumble, giving the Tigers the ball back with 12:45 remaining, down seven. A dumb throw by AJ Hill would give the Blazers the ball back, ending a promising Memphis drive with 10:46 remaining in the game. UAB would add another touchdown to the board before allowing Memphis to cut it a touchdown late in the 4th quarter, before stopping Memphis on four straight plays from the goal line to shock the Tigers 31-24. 

So, let’s talk about it. 

First, Memphis had an opportunity waiting in the shadows to showcase the program on a national level with the potential of College Gameday coming to Tiger Lane next Saturday as Memphis welcomes USF to the Bowl. However, Coach Ryan Silverfield and his staff did not have the team prepared and lost to a team without a head coach. Not to mention, the Tigers were embarrassed by a program that measures their success in a season as if they beat Memphis. There was no excuse whatsoever for the lack of preparation the Tigers showcased last night. Because of that, the USF game is now a must-win, as is the rest of the season, and the chance to showcase Memphis football to other conferences has greatly diminished with the loss last night. 

Second, we’ll likely find out how long Brenden Lewis is out with whatever injury he has either today, on Sunday, or on Monday. If he’s out for an extended period of time, then the starting role goes to AJ Hill or Arrington Maiden. From what we saw on Saturday when Lewis went down, the starting role would likely go to AJ Hill, with Maiden getting the role only in situations where a QB keeper is needed. Memphis will need to spend the first part of this week figuring out the offensive schemes that fit this situation, then roll with it. If that means getting Sutton Smith and Greg Desrosiers getting more action and leaning on the run a bit more than rolling with it, and getting the offensive line to block better, creating running lanes for either guy. 

Lastly, there’s a lot of football to be played. A loss to UAB doesn’t end the season, just makes things more difficult. You can still compete for an AAC Championship, you can still reach the College Football Playoff, and you can still have a really successful season. However, things have to change internally with the mental makeup of this team. There are still at least six chapters remaining in the storybook of the 2025 Memphis football team. One loss doesn’t change the goals; it doesn’t change the process; it just complicates things a bit and adds some pressure to a team that has proven it can handle the heat. Don’t let the lone weird loss to UAB turn into another loss next week when you welcome the USF Bulls to the Liberty Bowl next Saturday. Again, there’s still a lot of football to be played if you’re Memphis. Trust the process, take ownership of the loss on Saturday, and then do the little things that Coach Silverfield talks about to go 1-0 each week. 

As for the fans, you outnumbered UAB fans in their own stadium on Saturday, not a great number turnout, but that happened. Go out to the Liberty Bowl on Saturday and support Memphis, then do it again the remaining two homes as the Memphis Tigers look to bounce back from the loss to UAB against a really good South Florida team. I get it, it sounds like a broken record at this point, but the guys have everything in front of them, do your part and get out and show the nation who Memphis football really is. There’s no excuse, if you’re asking the guys to shake the UAB loss then you as a fan need to do the same as well, the Memphis ticket office has ticket deals going on, the area around the Bowl is as safe as its ever been with the National Guard in town, there’s no excuse from a fan perpective as to why Saturday at the Bowl can’t be rocking. 

Memphis and South Florida will get underway on Saturday morning with an early kick of 11 a.m. on ESPN2. 

Photo Credits- Memphis football on X