What Alex Mortensen said ahead of UAB's homecoming game against East Carolina

Alex Mortensen was asked directly Monday whether he has considered a quarterback change after UAB's 38-13 loss at Memphis. His answer was emphatic. "There's zero doubts about Ryder," Mortensen said of Ryder Burton.

Mortensen pointed to the all-22 film and said the fix starts with the players around Burton. "We got to get some people to play better around him too," he said, invoking a coaching mentor: "Part of the key to getting your quarterback to play well is to get the 10 people around him to play well first." Burton owns the fumble and the third-down interception at Memphis, but "it's a group effort."

Center Adam Lepkowski left the Memphis game in the second half and is questionable for Thursday. Mortensen called him "the quarterback of the offensive line" and said losing him mid-game disrupted chemistry and the comfort level of snaps under center. Cooper Young, who replaced Lepkowski, will benefit from a full week of first-team reps.

Mortensen also addressed Nate Rogers' effectiveness in packages. The option game adds numbers in the run game without needing to block every defender. He cited Navy's win over Tulsa, where the quarterback threw seven passes, as an example.

UAB (3-3, 1-1 American) hosts East Carolina (3-2, 1-0 American) Thursday at Protective Stadium (6:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) in the homecoming game. ESPN's SportsCenter will broadcast from campus that afternoon with Matt Barrie and Chase Daniel. Mortensen said ECU has built a good team around a strong defensive front. Head coach Blake Harrell is a defensive coach by trade who hired Jordon Hankins — formerly of Memphis — as defensive coordinator. It will be the first meeting between the programs since 2013.

Mortensen announced an expanded partnership with UAB Medicine, which will now appear on the back of UAB helmets. "We're trying to create a program that's sustainable and improving and growing," he said.

Full transcript

Opening statement — Memphis game reflection:

Alex Mortensen: "Just kinda reflecting on the last game. We played Memphis. They have a good team, good program. They've obviously made a significant investment into their team and their program, and I think Coach Huff is doing a good job. Disappointing game in a lot of areas, and also there were some bright spots. The bright spot, I think obviously the largest one was just kind of the totality of the first half. Definitely not perfect first half, but we were very productive on offense. I think we had north of two hundred and fifty yards of offense in the first half, which is really, really good. And then defensively, we held them to ten points, an offense I think that at the time is leading our conference in a lot of categories. So that was really positive.

"The second half, not productive enough on offense, and then defensively had a hard time at points getting off the field on third down and gave up a few big plays. I think if you look at the first half, one of the positives is we are steadily trying to work towards more early down balance and more early down diversity on offense. And I think, without getting into too many strategic or specific football reasons why that is a process, I think that was positive to see some of that start. Now, we're not where we wanna be in terms of the balance and diversity on early downs yet.

"I think when you look at the game, you're playing a good team. Self-inflicted issues I think is probably the first thing you have to look at. And there were two kinda things that jump out to me. One, there were three turnovers where we gave them the ball, and then the second thing is we had a short yardage situation where we ran the wrong play. I'll just leave it at that without going into a lot of detail. So those were kind of four things in the game where we hurt ourselves to an extent. The turnovers, we had two fumbles, one of which was inside the ten-yard line, really right around the five. So at worst, we're coming out with a field goal there in the first half, and then we had another fumble on a third down where we're working to convert there. And then we had an interception on a third down. So those were hurtful. Anytime you look at the things that correlate with winning and losing games, we talk about it a lot, but the explosive play battle is right there near the top, and then the turnover margin is too. So play a good team, you give it to them three times, they don't give it to you any, it's difficult to overcome that. But again, there were some positives early in the game."

Opening statement — UAB Medicine partnership:

Alex Mortensen: "Where I would actually like to start before we get into the matchup with East Carolina, just some bigger picture things that are going on with our program that we're really excited about. So one, just talking about UAB Medicine — we've got a helmet here that I'll show, but you can see the branding there on the back of it. We're really excited to expand our partnership with them. Having their brand represented in our program is something we're really proud of. UAB's obviously got a world-class medical school, and then to have UAB Medicine associated with us is really exceptional. So it's an example of really the support and the overall momentum we've got behind UAB Athletics. We're trying to squeeze every drop out of the 2026 season and the team we've got now. But also we're working very hard to build the longevity of the program. We're trying to create a program that's sustainable and improving and growing. And so this is a really positive step, one that I'm really excited about."

Opening statement — SportsCenter on campus and homecoming:

Alex Mortensen: "It's starting to get publicized with SportsCenter on campus. So we're playing this game Thursday night here in Birmingham at Protective Stadium. SportsCenter is going to be on campus. So there's a lot of energy around that this week. Number one, it's homecoming, which is really exciting for a lot of people. And then two, it's a national TV game. So we get a lot of publicity from that standpoint. And then three, SportsCenter on campus. So we just want to encourage everyone again to get out to the game. I think it's going to be a really exciting environment, conference game. We're one-on-one in the conference right now, and we're looking to build momentum and go compete well."

Opening statement — East Carolina scouting report:

Alex Mortensen: "We're playing East Carolina. They've got a really good team. They've got a really good defense. Blake Harrell is their head coach. Got to know Coach Harrell a little bit just through the recruiting trail and then seeing him at some of our conference events. He's kind of a defensive coach by trade and is known for having very good defenses. And then he's hired Jordon Hankins as their defensive coordinator. And Jordan was at Memphis last year, really for a few years, where they had one of the top defenses in our league. So familiar with him. I think he does a great job as well. They're doing a great job at East Carolina right now. And then Jordan Davis is there on offense, who was at North Texas for several years. North Texas has also been really effective on offense for the last three or four years. So they've got a really strong staff, really put a good roster together. So it'll be a challenge, particularly on a short week coming off a road game playing at night. But we're really excited about it. I think our players are excited to play and we're excited to put the work in as a staff and do the preparation."

On Adam Lepkowski's status and what UAB loses without him:

Alex Mortensen: "In terms of an update on him, we're getting a little bit more information this afternoon. I think it's very fair to say he's going to be questionable for this game and probably going to be tough to get him back. But we really like Cooper, who came into the game and Coop is a really good player. And I think having a week under his belt to take all those one reps is going to really help him.

"But yeah, in the middle of the game, that's tough. Adam Lepkowski is a really good player. He's a great player and he's a great team guy too. But beyond that, he's kind of like the quarterback of the offensive line, right? The center's got to make a lot of decisions, has to be a great communicator. And then also there's a comfort level even of the quarterback taking snaps. We get under center a little bit too beyond the shotgun snaps. So those things can definitely disrupt you in the middle of a game. I think we tried to manage it the best we could, but there were some times that it probably hurt us a little bit. And that's no shot at Cooper either. Cooper's really good. It's just the chemistry and having to deal with that in the middle of the game."

On Cooper Young's center background:

Alex Mortensen: "No, we knew that — I mean, one, we would have taken him if he didn't have center experience. We really liked him a lot, but that was a factor, a big factor in us taking him was his experience at center. So that's something we've known for some time and we've gotten him a lot of reps there."

On the difference between the first half and the second half at Memphis:

Alex Mortensen: "It's a great question. Obviously we had a significant drop off. It was probably played as good offense as we played all year in the first half against a really good team and then really dropped off fast. And it would be a major oversimplification just to say they just went into halftime and adjusted.

"I think from a coaching standpoint, I do think we probably had a really good plan coming out, frankly, probably better than we did in the second half to be totally transparent. So I think that's a factor. And you got to give our players credit too. They executed the plan well in the first half. And then I think there are things in the second half that from a coaching standpoint, I think we can do a better job. And then I think too, there were some execution related things as well. And again, having multiple turnovers too is really killer in a game that is that challenging. And then I think when you get behind a little bit, it can make it — not that we're uncomfortable from playing like that, but it can make it hard when you're playing against a good team."

On preparing for a Thursday game on a short week:

Alex Mortensen: "It is different, playing on a Thursday, but both teams have to deal with it. And I think there are multiple things you look at to get your team ready to play. There's a physiological component — one, you got to maintain your physical conditioning and you got to be in shape, but you also need to minimize fatigue going in the game and deal with any injuries you've got. So there's a balance there of doing enough work and then also making sure we're fresh.

"There's a tactical or schematic component too, because in a short amount of time, we still have to get our guys ready to go. We got to get them the best plan we can. We got to get them to get familiar and intimate with the opponent, know them really well and get them enough reps to understand how to execute those things against them. So you're trying to strike a balance because you would think, well, to do that, you need to do a lot of work. But sometimes a lot of work on a short week can create a lot of fatigue. I think it's important to figure out, and we've done a lot of research on it in the off-season too, on do you walk through a little bit more. Those are some things we may do. So we will balance all of those things because we're trying to balance the physiological and also the schematic and tactical as well."

On starting East Carolina preparation on the bus ride from Memphis:

Alex Mortensen: "Yeah, we did both. We all kind of did independent work on the bus back, but I had my computer, so I was able to watch the Memphis game a few times and make notes on that, and then started watching East Carolina. Of course, they played Rice on Saturday, so didn't have access to that game, but had every other game, and so got going right away immediately."

On Ryder Burton's confidence and the quarterback situation:

Alex Mortensen: "No, I think, look, one thing people on TV don't have access to a lot of times is the all 22. We got to get some people to play better around him too. Now, he's got to take responsibility for areas he needs to do better, particularly the things that are going to jump out are the fumble and the interception on third down, which was not a good decision by him. But I also think we're playing a pretty good team. Team's got a really good D line. I think there are points early in the year where we let him get hit too much too. So we've got to — one of the best coaches I've ever been around, he said part of the key to getting your quarterback to play well is to get the 10 people around him to play well first. And so we're working — it's a group effort. It's a unit thing. So no, we got a ton of confidence in Ryder Burton and he's got a chance to have a great year here.

"We got a lot of football left. So no, the answer is no on that. And love Nate. We've got a lot of confidence in Nate too. We've obviously played him in packages. He's been effective there. We have confidence in Nate's ability to throw the ball and run the offense too. We've actually called passes with Nate in games. It's funny, he scored a touchdown on one of them because they covered everybody and he ran. So we've called throws with him. We're willing to run a balanced offense with him. And then I think the other thing too with Nate is you can even be a little more run heavy when you're running the option, right? Because you don't have to block everybody. I mean, Navy beat Tulsa the other night, their quarterback threw seven passes on the game. You think Tulsa didn't know they were going to run the ball, right? But when you add the quarterback in the run game, you gain a number back. And then also then when you gain one more number if you choose to read somebody. So that's part of why Nate's stuff has been so effective. I'm not going to say it's been 1,000% efficient, but we have confidence in Nate's ability to come in and if the situation required him to just play and run the whole offense and then also to use these packages.

"But yeah, there's zero doubts about Ryder and for us or our program and not worried about his confidence in the least. So no. But yeah, I mean, I can understand why after a game like that where we have a rough second half, why you'll ask a question like that. I get it."

On facing East Carolina for the first time as American Conference members:

Alex Mortensen: "I think when you talk about playing an opponent repeat years, there's so many factors that go into it. There's the coaching part of it. When you play a team — like take, you mentioned Navy — they've kind of been the same on defense for some time. So there is some carryover and there's a repeat history there where you have some familiarity. And then sometimes you play teams, you might play them every year, but they're totally different because the coaching staff changes and then these rosters are getting churned up significantly every year.

"So it's almost like you're playing a new team. I think sometimes you can make a little too much of it if you're playing someone — like take ULM, you mentioned ULM, they had two new coordinators on each side of the ball and a bunch of new players. So that's like totally different situation. It's like you might as well be playing a different team, and that's kind of how this game is. I'll say this, you turn the film on and I was, coming off watching Memphis, who's got good players, and put this film on and go, 'Wow, they've got a good roster.' It's very clear that they've got really good players on defense, especially on their defensive front. Coach Harrell being a defensive coach, I'm sure has put a great emphasis on that. And then with Coach Hankins being there too on defense, we had to coach against him last year and he — like I said, they've had one of the best defenses in the league at Memphis. So there is some carryover, but gosh, you're mixing and matching coaches, players. It's kind of like you really, I think, have to start pretty fresh on it."