UAB sophomore running back Dan Burks will miss Saturday's game with TCU, head coach Watson Brown said.
Burks' shoulder injury will keep him out of a fourth straight game. Brown and his staff were hoping Burks could return to take some of the rushing load off Trey Chaney. Bo Moncur, the team's leading rusher, is expected to play.
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UAB head football coach Watson Brown believes the defense of the 16th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs resembles the well-known Steel Shield defenses of UAB's past.
"It looks like our defenses from two to three years ago," he said. "This is a dominant defensive football team."
Yet UAB (3-3, 2-1 Conference USA) must find some cracks in the defense of TCU (6-0, 3-0) if the Blazers want to stretch a season-high two-game winning streak to three. Brown said he expects a physical game when UAB and TCU kick off at 6:05 p.m. from Amon G. Carter Stadium. FM-101.1 and Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast will broadcast the game.
TCU is fourth in the nation in total defense (259.17 yards per game), fourth in scoring defense (12 points a game), and third in rush defense (61.8 yards per game). TCU tops C-USA in sacks with 26 and ranks 13th nationally in interceptions with 10 in six games.
"Their strength is their defensive line," said Brown. "They're going to crowd you in the secondary and it's hard to get deep on them because you don't have enough time to get deep.
"One of the strengths we've had the last few weeks is we've been able to keep the ball, play field position, get early leads and hang on.
"That doesn't happen against this team," Brown added. "This could be a different style of game for us than the last two have been."
Quarterback Darrell Hackney believes UAB is up to the challenge. UAB's offense has averaged 354 yards the past two games and is undefeated this season when it runs more than it passes. Most importantly, the Blazers have just one turnover in those games.
If the Blazers continue to take care of the ball, he said, he's confident they can play with any defense in the country.
"We've started eliminating turnovers and I realize that when we run the ball successfully, we win," he said. "We've moved the ball well on everybody we've played, it's just the turnovers.
The Horned Frogs, of course, have Hackney on their minds.
"He's very hard to tackle when you try to bring him down because of his size," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "UAB's biggest plays come when he scrambles and gets outside the pocket.
"He has the ability to flip the ball 50 or 60 yards downfield. We have to stay with our zone defense because he can cause big problems for us."
TCU is the defending C-USA co-champ. UAB knocked off Cincinnati, the co-champ with TCU, last week. Hackney said there's no pressure on the Blazers and all the pressure is on TCU, which is playing its homecoming game and trying to match the best start in school history.
"They lose, they're out of the rankings," he said.
Burks' shoulder injury will keep him out of a fourth straight game. Brown and his staff were hoping Burks could return to take some of the rushing load off Trey Chaney. Bo Moncur, the team's leading rusher, is expected to play.
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UAB head football coach Watson Brown believes the defense of the 16th-ranked TCU Horned Frogs resembles the well-known Steel Shield defenses of UAB's past.
"It looks like our defenses from two to three years ago," he said. "This is a dominant defensive football team."
Yet UAB (3-3, 2-1 Conference USA) must find some cracks in the defense of TCU (6-0, 3-0) if the Blazers want to stretch a season-high two-game winning streak to three. Brown said he expects a physical game when UAB and TCU kick off at 6:05 p.m. from Amon G. Carter Stadium. FM-101.1 and Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast will broadcast the game.
TCU is fourth in the nation in total defense (259.17 yards per game), fourth in scoring defense (12 points a game), and third in rush defense (61.8 yards per game). TCU tops C-USA in sacks with 26 and ranks 13th nationally in interceptions with 10 in six games.
"Their strength is their defensive line," said Brown. "They're going to crowd you in the secondary and it's hard to get deep on them because you don't have enough time to get deep.
"One of the strengths we've had the last few weeks is we've been able to keep the ball, play field position, get early leads and hang on.
"That doesn't happen against this team," Brown added. "This could be a different style of game for us than the last two have been."
Quarterback Darrell Hackney believes UAB is up to the challenge. UAB's offense has averaged 354 yards the past two games and is undefeated this season when it runs more than it passes. Most importantly, the Blazers have just one turnover in those games.
If the Blazers continue to take care of the ball, he said, he's confident they can play with any defense in the country.
"We've started eliminating turnovers and I realize that when we run the ball successfully, we win," he said. "We've moved the ball well on everybody we've played, it's just the turnovers.
The Horned Frogs, of course, have Hackney on their minds.
"He's very hard to tackle when you try to bring him down because of his size," TCU coach Gary Patterson said. "UAB's biggest plays come when he scrambles and gets outside the pocket.
"He has the ability to flip the ball 50 or 60 yards downfield. We have to stay with our zone defense because he can cause big problems for us."
TCU is the defending C-USA co-champ. UAB knocked off Cincinnati, the co-champ with TCU, last week. Hackney said there's no pressure on the Blazers and all the pressure is on TCU, which is playing its homecoming game and trying to match the best start in school history.
"They lose, they're out of the rankings," he said.
