10 things from UAB's overtime homecoming win over East Carolina

Ryder Burton is not a perfect quarterback.

He takes sacks he shouldn't take. He throws 120 mph when the off-speed pitch is the right call. He'll throw a pick or two. He finished Thursday night 19-of-37 with five interceptions through his first six starts this season.

But he is the perfect quarterback for UAB football right now.

What Burton has — what he had backed up to the 4-yard line with 1:37 left and an eight-point deficit and no timeouts — is something coaches can't teach. Mortensen compared it to Bryce Young before that fourth-down conversion in the 2021 Iron Bowl: "Just unflappable. I think that's a really special trait in quarterbacks. And I thought tonight Ryder kind of showed some of those type qualities where just had a great look in his eye tonight in stressful situations."

Look at what he did on that drive. A false start backed UAB to the 4. His first pass fell incomplete — second-and-13. Then he hit Sean Persson for nine yards to make it manageable. Ty Mims converted on a 17-yard grab to the UAB 30. Burton found CJ Smith for 21 to midfield, then 12 more to the ECU 37. A 20-yard strike to Mims moved it to the 17. Then Bam McReynolds for the tying touchdown with 35 seconds left. Burton ran in the two-point conversion himself.

Six completions, all under pressure, most of them threading coverage. "In the crunch time he played it very well, made some outstanding decisions and some of them were on schedule and then some of them were off schedule," Mortensen said. "His instincts and his decision-making really kept us alive and helped us win that game."

Elite clock management and decision-making from a guy with no timeouts and no margin. In overtime, he threw the go-ahead touchdown to Roderick Robinson II, and Delvon Gulley sealed it with an 80-yard pick-six. It was the third time in four wins this season that Burton led a second-half comeback. It's what he's done since last October, when he made his first career start in Mortensen's first game as interim head coach and led UAB to an upset of No. 22 Memphis.

UAB football has always been at its best with the ultimate chip on its shoulder. A blue-collar program that thrives on proving everyone wrong. That is Ryder Burton. "Six seconds at a time," he told his teammates on that final drive. "O-line, let's block inside out, and I'll make us right from there."

Read the full postgame report here.

2. Hello, Kaleb Brown.

The heralded transfer spent time at Ohio State and Iowa before landing at UAB, where injuries have limited his contribution for much of his career. Thursday, he stepped up when it mattered. On third-and-10 from the ECU 46 in the third quarter, Burton found Brown on a diving 32-yard catch down the left sideline to the ECU 14. Jonah Delange's 26-yard field goal made it 14-6 and kept UAB within a score.

"Kaleb Brown had a huge catch," Mortensen said. Brown making a consistent contribution over the final five games could be significant for an offense that could use another playmaker or two.

3. CJ Smith had a career night.

The former Georgia, Purdue and Memphis transfer caught eight passes for 119 yards, both career highs, and added a 22-yard carry in the fourth quarter — also a career best on the ground. Smith and Burton are developing chemistry as the season goes on. A deep threat with a physical presence, Smith could be the consistent big-play option this offense has been searching for.

"We just getting started," Smith said. "This is just a baseline. There's so much more we can offer, so much more we can do."

4. You know Jonah Delange. Pay attention to the punter, too.

Delange is one of the best field goal kickers in the country and deserves Lou Groza Award consideration. He went 3-of-3 Thursday (41, 26, 50 yards), scored 10 points and now has 48 career field goals — fourth in program history. His 50-yarder was his fourth career make from 50 or more. For the season, he's 17-of-19 (89.5%) and leads the team in scoring with 65 points, 35 more than the next Blazer.

But Oliver Straw has been just as important to how UAB plays. The late portal pickup from West Virginia averaged 45.5 yards on six punts Thursday with three of 50 or more, extending his streak of multiple 50-yard punts to four straight games. In a game Mortensen said "kind of felt like an old football game ... defense, field position," Straw's ability to flip the field forced ECU into longer drives all night.

5. UAB has already matched Trent Dilfer's best.

At 4-3, the Blazers have equaled the most wins UAB managed in any of Dilfer's three seasons as head coach (4-8, 3-9, 4-8). Five games remain. Two wins make them bowl eligible for the first time since 2022.

But at 2-1 in the American — a league that appears wide open, full of good teams that all have a flaw or two — the Blazers don't have to think about just getting back to a bowl. They can think about competing for something more. October and November are going to be fun.

6. Enjoy the bowl projections, Blazer fans.

When UAB starts showing up in bowl projections over the next few weeks, enjoy it. It's been a while.

The team won't be thinking like that. Mortensen is a Saban protege — he'll be talking about rat poison during this bye. Part of becoming successful is learning how to handle attention and success, and something about this group suggests they understand that. These players are new together, but there is a bond and focus that is visible from the outside.

A video shared by UAB Athletics showed the locker room after the win, players chanting "New Blazers." That phrase is a key part of their identity — new outlook, new approach, new mindset, new culture. This has been a player-led team.

"Man, I love this team. I love this staff, and we put in work every day when nobody's watching. All the work we put in, and it shows. We not done yet."

7. The defense is earning its flowers.

East Carolina is not an offensive juggernaut. But after settling in from a rough first quarter — ECU put up 139 yards in the opening period — the defense was spectacular, holding the Pirates to 165 yards over the final three quarters and overtime.

Stopping a tush push two plays in a row is impressive. ECU had third-and-1 at its own 46 in the third quarter. Muaaz Byard and Sterling Sanders stuffed Emory Williams at the line. Fourth-and-1: Byard and Tylin Jackson met him in the hole. Zero yards. Turnover on downs. "There's technique and all those things, there's scheme, but man, there's also will," Mortensen said. "There's will to win, will to fight."

What was missing the last couple of years — players being where they're supposed to be, then playing with reckless abandon — is showing up now. Nobody embodies that more than Jo'Tavion Pierce. The safety transfer from Oklahoma State and Montgomery native had 16 tackles Thursday, 10 solo, a career high. It's his second straight game with at least 12. He's all over the field. It's hard to name a better secondary player in the American this year.

But perhaps more important than Pierce's play has been his leadership. He has been a driving force in setting the standard within Todd Grantham's scheme. "I start with our staff, man," Pierce said. "They do a good job with preparation and getting us ready for the games. I think that was a big success. We know our mentality. We know what we gotta do, and that's stop, put pressure on the quarterback and win the game."

8. Don't sleep on Delvon Gulley, either.

Pierce has been outstanding, but Gulley at cornerback has been elite. The pick-six that sealed Thursday's win — jumping the route at the UAB 20 and taking it 80 yards to the house — was the punctuation mark, but his play has been consistently excellent all season. He has two interceptions, five pass breakups and has graded off the charts in advanced analytics.

"He played with great technique there and trapped it and finished on the play," Mortensen said. The UAB secondary is playing at a level this program hasn't seen in years. Gulley and Pierce are two of the biggest reasons.

9. Thursday was a step in the right direction. Keep it going.

UAB has been getting skewered for poor attendance on social media. It's frustrating if you're a diehard who's there every game. This team deserves more support than it has gotten. After everything the program went through, it's understandable that Birmingham tuned out. But 19,834 on Thursday was encouraging.

The promotion and marketing worked. The $3 drafts and $5 domestics — bring that back. Kids getting in free — do that more often. But here's the thing: build outreach to youth groups before the season. Don't wait until game week. Set a goal next year to fill Protective for a kids' night out and start pushing it in July and August, not in October.

You have to get people back into the stadium and document it. Birmingham needs to see fans coming to UAB games and having fun. Pay attention to the postgame comments from these players. They appreciate the fans who show up. Make sure you're there next time, and bring some friends.

"I just tell the people in the city of Birmingham, we're trying to make a change, and we want you to be here," Pierce said. "And whoever come out, we appreciate y'all, but we want the city of Birmingham to come out, 'cause new Blazers is coming."

10. The bye comes at the perfect time.

UAB enters a 17-day bye with seven weeks of film and more than two weeks to work on improvements. But perhaps more important than the scheme work is the chance for banged-up players to heal. Center Adam Lepkowski, Kaleb Brown, defensive lineman Nigel Tate and others who have either been out or missed time this season have a chance to make an impact over those final five games.

"There's opportunity to get better and grow through the year," Mortensen said. "That's the other thing I'm excited about with that group is I expect, as we go into the bye and then down the stretch, they should keep getting better."

Five games remain: at South Florida (Oct. 31), Charlotte (Nov. 7), at Temple (Nov. 14), UTSA (Nov. 21) and at North Texas (Nov. 28).