Battle For The Bones: UAB Travels to Rival Memphis – UAB Athletics

• UAB (2-7, 1-4 AAC) holds a 10-6 series advantage over Memphis (8-2, 4-2 AAC), but the Tigers currently have possession of the Bones Trophy after last year’s 45-21 victory over the Blazers in Birmingham.
  
   
• Wide receivers Amare Thomas and Kam Shanks are having standout years for the Blazers. Thomas just became the eighth player in school history to surpass 100 career receptions and it took the sophomore just 21 games to do so. He leads the Blazers in catches (48), yards (542) and touchdowns (8). Shanks is right behind Thomas with 46 catches, for 536 yards and four touchdowns, and he leads the nation in punt return yards and average. Shanks has been dynamic in the return game with 14 returns for 312 yards and two touchdowns (22.3 avg).
  
   
• Following a 3.5 TFL performance which included two sacks, Desmond Little now leads the AAC in sacks (6) and sacks per game (.067). Little is having a strong year on the edge for UAB with 36 total tackles, 9.5 TFL and six sacks. 

 
HEAD COACH TRENT DILFER:
 
Coach’s opening statement: 
 
“Battle for the Bones Week, (I’m) fired up. Disappointing loss on Saturday. I thought we had the game in hand and found a way to lose it in the fourth quarter which is disappointing, but we showed a lot of signs of improvement and our kids played hard the entire game and I am proud of them for that.”
 
Coach on the UAB/Memphis rivalry: 
 
“The short time I’ve been here, you can see and feel the intensity of it. Last year, it was something that our kids got really excited for. We had a lot of adversity going into that week and they still rallied and practiced their tails off and played well for a half of football. Turnovers got us in the second half, and then the basketball (game) this offseason, watching the hoops (team) play, we brought the boys to that game, and we were all fired up. It was an awesome atmosphere and we are excited to play in another one.”
 
Coach on the opportunities to run the ball in the second half of Saturday’s game: 
 
“There really weren’t. We had three first down turnovers. If you take, conservatively, five per drive, and we were actually higher than that, we’re about seven plays per drive, that’s the average, that’s 20 run plays that we would’ve had in the second half. We were around 50/50 run-pass on second down. Actually, we’re heavy second down run in this game on purpose. So (if) you don’t turn it over on the three first down plays, you’re looking at at least another 10 run (plays), so there really wasn’t (an opportunity). In the second half, you have the good drive that we throw the interception down near the goal line on a first down play, we’re heavy running in the red zone, so those would have been more run opportunities. You have an incomplete pass that’s ruled a fumble. That’s a first down play to start a drive, you’re going to have opportunities to run the ball on that drive. Then you have the screen pass that goes for 10 (yards) that’s ruled a fumble. That’s a first down to first down play, and typically you’re going to get more runs called there and we are on the plus side of the field there. I was wondering if there were more opportunities to run it as I watched the film. It was really the lack of plays because of the turnovers that stopped us from running the ball in the second half.”
 
Coach on what Memphis looks like on film and what challenges the Tigers bring: 
 
“They are a really good team, very talented. The quarterback (Seth Henigan) is a really good player. They have invested a lot on both sides of the ball. They have players who have been highly successful both there and other places. They’re “traity,” meaning they have all the traits you are looking for. They are really well coached. I’m really surprised they’ve lost two (games) to be honest with you with as talented as they are, so it’ll be a great challenge to go to their place (in a) rivalry game, a night game, which I think is awesome. I think being able to play those night games, on ESPN2, should be an incredible environment, but they are a very talented football team.”
 
Coach on the overall team morale heading into Saturday’s game: 
 
“I haven’t met with them yet. I will see them tonight and get a better temperament on their morale. They’ve been fantastic this year bouncing back. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of opportunities to bounce back from defeat. Unfortunately, we are getting good at this, but the morale has been good to this point. I think there’s always something to play for. It is very disappointing to be out of bowl contention, but this is a bowl game. It’s a bowl game atmosphere, it’s a bowl game venue, it’s a bowl game team, it’s a bowl game network, it’s a rivalry game, so for all intents and purposes, this is a bowl game for us. I think even beyond that, there’s so much to play for as a young student athlete. One, you get to. I will try to remind them of that as this is a privilege that they get to play college football, so that alone should be enough motivation. They get to represent the institution, they represent their family’s name, they get to create value for themselves in an open market, you know, college football. There’s still a lot to play for, there’s a lot to coach for and we’ll approach it that way.”