Marlin Dean was sick all week. Then he gave a speech

Marlin Dean was sick all week. He practiced through it, and nobody outside the building knew. Before kickoff Saturday, he stood in front of his teammates and talked about the Children's Harbor game tradition.

Every Blazer wore a gray jersey bearing the name of a child fighting a serious illness that is supported by Children's Harbor. Ninety-nine names on 99 jerseys.

"I wanted the focus for the team to be for them," Dean said after the Blazers (5-4, 3-2 American Conference) had beaten Charlotte 23-12. "And we played our best, I feel like. We played hard."

The name on the back of Dean's jersey read SLAUGHTER — Lehvyn Slaughter, the child he'd been paired with for the 10th annual Children's Harbor game. That proper noun didn't go unnoticed by the ESPN announcers, who noted that it could be used as an adjective and an adverb, too, after the havoc Dean and his defensive teammates unleashed on the visiting 49ers (1-8, 1-4) at Protective Stadium.

Dean had a career-high three sacks for 22 yards and a forced fumble. Charlotte managed 94 total yards in the first half and 59 rushing yards for the game, the fewest UAB has allowed this season.

When someone asked Dean afterward about being sick, he didn't want to talk about it.

"Those kids, they go through worse," he said. "What I had going on didn't mean nothing."

That is how this defense plays. Dean's pregame speech was one man stepping up. The game that followed was the product of a unit that has been building toward this since the spring — five transfers, a new coordinator and a shared conviction that they are the reason UAB's season is still alive.

From worst to first

Under Trent Dilfer, UAB's defense was one of the worst in college football. It allowed 36.9 points per game in 2023, 34.2 in 2024 and 38.25 in 2025. By the time Dilfer was fired six games into the 2025 season, UAB ranked 136th out of 136 FBS programs in scoring defense.

This year, under defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, it has gotten better almost week by week. Nine consecutive opponents held under 200 passing yards. UAB leads the FBS with 122.6 passing yards allowed per game. The Blazers are allowing 23.78 points per game — nearly 15 fewer per game than last season.

"I think the defense was pretty well dominant in a lot of parts of the game," UAB Coach Alex Mortensen said. "... That's on top of having to deal with some turnovers that the offense had."

Saturday was the clearest evidence yet.

The standard

The offense turned it over four times Saturday. The defense did not flinch.

Charlotte's best chance came off a third-quarter interception that gave the 49ers the ball at the UAB 21. Four plays later, they had gained six yards and settled for a field goal. The defense bent from the 21 to the 15 and gave up three points. That was the most damage any of the four turnovers produced.

On Charlotte's next possession, Gulley erased a fourth-and-1 at the UAB 47 by breaking up Conner Harrell's deep shot to Jaylen Hampton. In the fourth quarter, Dean ended a Charlotte drive on its first play with a sack and forced fumble. Two possessions later, the defense turned Charlotte away on downs at the UAB 35. Each time the offense handed the ball over, the defense handed it back.

"Coach Grantham's energy just feed off," Dean said. "Every time they make a turnover or we come off the field, Coach Grantham's energy just really just feed off on us. ... It's not about what they doing. It's about us. It's about the standard that the defense hold."

The five who changed everything

Dean is the centerpiece. He accounts for half the team's sacks, has forced five fumbles and leads UAB with 13.5 tackles for loss. Even when he is not getting to the quarterback, offensive coordinators have to account for him on every snap, which opens lanes for everyone else.

Dean played at Georgia, Butler Community College, Utah State and Georgia State before UAB.

"The player I am today is from the four to five years that I've been in college," Dean said. "I give it all to God. He was able to keep my head high through all those times, and I'm able to show my ability to the fullest."

Gulley is the highest-rated cornerback in the American Conference according to Pro Football Network. He has 10 pass breakups and two interceptions in nine games and has become the kind of corner who changes how opponents call a game.

"Gulley is a really good player," Mortensen said. "... He's competitive. He's a good athlete. ... He's become a smart player. ... When you got pass rushers like we do and then you've got a guy like Gulley in the back end, it's a really good match."

Jo'Tavion Pierce is a safety who tackles like a linebacker — 78 on the season, 2.5 sacks and two forced fumbles. He led the team with eight tackles Saturday.

Muaaz Byard and Ike Esonwune have combined for 145 tackles at linebacker — 83 for Byard, 62 for Esonwune. Byard had seven Saturday. Esonwune had five, with a quarterback hurry. Tylin Jackson had half a sack and three quarterback hurries from the other edge.

Asked how much attention defenses are paying him, Dean redirected.

"The whole defense is ballers," he said. "You can't just worry about me. You gotta worry about everybody. ... If you just worry about me, you're doing a dishonor to the defense."

"We a team"

The offense has struggled all season. These players know it. They were asked Saturday what the vibe is when they keep getting sent back onto the field after something has gone wrong.

"We put no fault on the offense," Gulley said. "We tell them we got their back, go out there and do our thing. It's standard."

"We a team," Gulley said. "We got each other."

Mortensen sees it, too. After spending an answer praising Gulley's play, he paused and added something that spoke to where this defense is — and where it is going.

"None of us are — as well as we played defensively — like, this is when we first ... we got a lot of unfinished business going forward too."

He is not wrong. UAB is 5-4 and one win from bowl eligibility for the first time since 2022. The defense has made that possible. The American Conference championship is still within reach. The defense has made that possible, too.

Dean and Lehvyn had worked out a celebration dance during the week. Dean got to do it on the field Saturday after one of his sacks.

"That's my kid now. ... Me and him had a celly dance. I finally got to do it out there. I hope he got to see it. That was my focus."