Birmingham, Ala. , uab Used a goal-line stand to upset No. 22 in the final seconds memphis 31-24 Saturday marked the debut of interim coach Alex Mortenson, son of late ESPN NFL insider Chris Mortenson.
The Blazers Trent Dilfer fired On Sunday.
Memphis (6-1, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) reached the 1-yard line twice in the final minute as it looked for the tying touchdown, but two false starts and a delay-of-game penalty halted the drive. Memphis threw an incomplete pass into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 11.
“We wanted to play with hardcore effort and the other thing was composure,” Mortensen said. “The third thing was that we talked about staying together, no matter what.”
UAB entered the game as a 23.5-point underdog, making it the largest upset of a ranked team in AAC history. It was the second-biggest FBS upset this season. UCLA Wonderful penn state As a 24.5-point underdog.
The Blazers’ offense was spectacular with Mortenson and the new starting quarterback rider burton The Charge surpassed 450 yards against an FBS opponent for the first time this year.
Burton completed 20 of his 27 passes for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns – all Iverson HooksWho caught 11 passes for 172 yards. The Blazers (3-4, 1-3) also ran for more than 200 yards against an FBS opponent for the first time since 2023.
Solomon BeebeAn 81-yard touchdown run put UAB up by 10 early in the third, after which UAB strung together two possessions that took more than 12 minutes off the clock to help preserve the win.
When Alex Mortensen was asked about his late father in an on-field interview with ESPN, he said, “He would be excited for our team and program.” “He’s covered football for a long time. He’s always sensitive about coaches losing their jobs. I know he’ll understand how hard these guys went through this week.”
Memphis’ AJ Hill Completed 13 of 25 passes for 175 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. he replaced Brandon Lewis At the beginning of the third quarter.
“I thought the guys were in the right mindset for the bye week, their approach to the game was right,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. “I think this loss had nothing to do with their lack of execution. We got outcoached.”
The Tigers lost all margin for error as it relates to the American Athletic Conference championship game and the College Football Playoff. The Tigers entered the day with a 43% chance of making the College Football Playoff, the best of any Group of 5 program, but it dropped to 19% with the loss.
Memphis will need to win to have a chance at either spot, starting with a matchup against No. 19 south florida Next week.
ESPN Research and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
