Lethargy, Lack of Conversion; Loss.

The University of Alabama-Birmingham defeated our Mean Green 40-06 on Saturday, September 18 at Apogee Stadium in Denton. Lethargy and lack of conversion held the Eagles scoreless in the first half.

QB Jace Ruder succumbed to pressure and misfired a short pass in the first quarter resulting in an interception. He went 6/13 on passing attempts for a gain of 34 yards; scoring one touchdown in the fourth. Second-string quarterback Austin Aune accomplished 6/21 for 65 passing yards; yet could not motivate the offense.

The field battle was pass-reception and Eagle receivers had few looks at the ball. There were even a few pushing exchanges between Mean Green and UAB players. Remarkably, a called-back Mean Green touchdown was run into the end zone by Deonte Simpson; without a helmet. The Eagles Defense provided resistance through the consistent play of linebackers KD Davis (3 tackles and 3 assists) and Tyreke Davis, (5 tackles, 3 assists) and Defensive Back, DeShawn Gaddie, (5 tackles and 2 assists).

Running back Deandre Torrey surpassed expectations with 82 yards averaging 3.4 yards per carry. But, overall the Eagles couldn’t convert for positive yardage. Quarterbacks, Ruder and Aune struggled with ball release and the offensive line was slow on its feet.

Support the Mean Green when they hit the field again, September 25th against Louisiana Tech.