The UAB football team held a scrimmage at the Blazers Football Operations Center on Saturday morning, wrapping up spring practice with a mixed bag of evaluations from the Blazers coaching staff.

Trent Dilfer had this to say about his team's defense: “I thought our (No.) 1 defense took a big step forward last week. Really dramatic improvement. All week, the 1 defense was just shoving the offense around. And as you saw today, our 1 offense didn't have much success.”

— Steve Irvine (@SteveIrvine04) April 6, 2024

“I thought our (No. 1) defense made tremendous strides last week,” head coach Trent Dilfer said, per Steve Irvine of the X. “All week long, our No. 1 defense was shoving offenses around.”

Our first attack wasn't very successful.

The Blazers have been focusing on defense all spring training. The 2023 squad is one of the worst in the country, allowing 36.9 points and 435 yards per game. UAB has held an FBS opponent to 30 points or less just once.

To address that issue, Dilfer's staff brought in several high-major transfers, including Georgia Tech safety Sirad Bryant, Indiana defensive lineman Ledarius Cox, Purdue linebacker O.C. Brothers and Georgia Tech edge Ezra Odinjo.

Dilfer called Cox “a great player after the spring game.DominantCox, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound redshirt senior, played his football at McGill-Toolen High School. He began his collegiate career at Ole Miss, transferred to Indiana University and joined the Blazers in February. He's expected to be a key component of a Blazers defensive line that ranked 126th in the nation in rushing yards last year.

“I think our personnel has gotten better. I've said that before. But more importantly, our mentality has gotten better,” Coach Dilfer told Irvine. “I think we've put a lot more emphasis on getting off blocks and running to the ball. Strategy helps to some extent, but defensively, you have to be positioned correctly, know your role, get off blocks and run to the ball.”

The first-team offense, led by returning quarterback Jacob Zeno, looked competent but not dominant. The team scored multiple touchdowns while on the field, but also allowed multiple pressures out of the backfield and committed turnovers.

“I think today's game was representative of most of our games this spring. I thought we could have played better up front in some situations.” “We probably made some mistakes at the line of scrimmage today,” offensive coordinator Alex Mortensen told Irvine.

Mortensen said he's “really excited” about the receivers, who are missing two of their top three but have a wealth of young talent. Cam Shanks, a redshirt freshman from Prattville, has been generating a lot of buzz this spring with some highlight plays.

Cameran Shanks is fast 💨 #Winner pic.twitter.com/bEfKJx9BHO

— UAB Football (@UAB_FB) March 29, 2024

One of the fastest players on the team, the 5'8″ receiver nicknamed “Speedy” had an outstanding performance in the spring game, making several impressive catches.

The Blazers are looking to improve on one of the nation's best offenses in 2023. Zeno has thrown for 3,126 yards and ranked second in the country in completion percentage, including a 484-yard pass in a win over Florida Atlantic. The Blazers have averaged nearly 30 points per game and ranked in the top 20 in the country in yards per game.

The Blazers will host Alcorn State University at Protective Stadium on August 29th.