When you think of football in the state of Alabama what do you think of? The Alabama Group of 5? Do you think of Nick Saban’s dynasty? Do you think of Gus Malzahn’s up and down tenure? Whichever side you root for, there are three teams at the FBS level that might get left out. We are going to take some time to preview those teams. UAB, Troy, and South Alabama fans, this one is for you.
UAB:
The first team in the Alabama Group of 5 is the UAB Blazers. They are a feel-good story for college football. In 2014, the university decided to drop their football program. The Blazers finished that year 6-6 but were not selected to participate in a bowl game. Lack of success and funding is what ultimately led to this decision. Two years later, however, UAB decided to give football another chance. In 2017, the Blazers showed no signs of rust winning eight regular season games. UAB advanced to their first bowl game since 2004. They lost to Ohio in the Bahamas Bowl 41-6. Cinderella finally shined on UAB last year. The Blazers went 9-3 and clinched a berth in the Conference USA Championship game. UAB stayed in Murfreesboro for a rematch with Middle Tennessee State. The Blue Raiders defeated UAB the prior week 27-3. The glass slipper did not break as the Blazers bounced back to defeat Middle Tennessee 27-25. The magical season finished with UAB winning their first ever bowl game over Northern Illinois. The Blazers won 11 games and captured their first conference championship in program history. UAB waited 18 years to have a season like this. Well worth the wait for this university and athletics.
Bill Clark begins his 4th year as head coach for this UAB team. The Blazers return four starters on offense and defense. The offense returns quarterback Tyler Johnston and running back Spencer Brown. Defensively UAB gets back one defensive lineman, two linebackers, and one corner back. It will be a challenge for the Blazers to duplicate what happened last year, but you know there will be motivation to show the entire NCAA that they are the real deal.
UAB starts 2019 with matchups against Alabama State and Akron. Four of the next five games are against conference opponents including Western Kentucky (WKU), Rice, UTSA, and Old Dominion. After a road game against Tennessee, the Blazers close out their conference slate against Southern Miss, UTEP, Louisiana Tech, and North Texas. UAB should have no problem starting 3-0, with their third win coming against South Alabama. I see the Blazers losing to WKU before winning their next three heading to Knoxville. UAB could lose to both Tennessee and Southern Miss, but they bounce back to win their next two. This makes the Blazers 8-3 going into their final game against North Texas. I give UAB losses to WKU and Southern Miss because they are both road games and both opponents enter those matchups off byes. Best case scenario is to go 1-1 in those games and that leaves a victory over the Mean Green putting UAB at 10-2. Six or seven wins, in conference, might be good enough to win your second consecutive division championship. If the Blazers limit their losses to just Tennessee, we could see UAB in a New Year’s Six bowl game. That would be a huge accomplishment and do wonders for this football program. I cannot wait to see UAB does as an encore to last year.
Troy:
The Troy Trojans stumbled in mediocrity after the 2010 season. The Men of Troy finished 2010 with a record of 8-5. The Trojans capped off the season with a 48-21 win over Ohio in the New Orleans bowl. From that point on, the seasons became forgettable for the team from Troy, Alabama. The Men of Troy only managed one 6 win season over the next four years. Despite winning six games in 2013, the Trojans were not selected to participate in a bowl game. In 2015, Troy made a coaching change for the first time since 1991. Neal Brown took over the Trojans but saw the same fate his first year. The Men of Troy won only four games. It did not take Coach Brown long, however, to turn the Trojans around. Over the next three years, Coach Brown went 31-8, including a share of the 2017 Sun Belt Championship. For his efforts in 2017, Coach Brown was named Sun Belt Coach of the Year. The last two years, The Trojans defeated SEC foe LSU and Big-10 opponent Nebraska. Coach Brown deserves a lot of credit for returning the Men of Troy to their glory days of the mid to late 2000s.
2019 is the start of new era in Troy, Alabama with the hiring of new Head Coach Chip Lindsey. Lindsey arrives at Troy after stints at Southern Miss, Arizona State, and Auburn. This will be Lindsey’s first head coaching job as a college coach. Lindsey served as a head coach for high schools in Alabama and Georgia. The Trojans return seven starters on offense and six starters on defense. Troy sees quarterback Kaleb Baker return, as well as their top three running backs from last year. The Trojans will have to replace some top receivers, but this offense should be equally explosive with Lindsey’s offensive system in place. On defense, the Men of Troy get back two starters on each level of their defense. Two defensive linemen, two linebacker, and two cornerbacks. This is a Trojans defense that gave up 22 points per game on average last year. Look for Troy to be improved on the defensive side of the football.
The Men of Troy open with home games against Campbell and Southern Miss before playing two of their next three games on the road. The Trojans travel to Akron in week four and Missouri in week six. After the Missouri game, it is a stretch of seven straight conference games. Home games against South Alabama, Georgia Southern, and Appalachian State remain on the schedule. The Trojans also have road games against Georgia State, Coastal Carolina, Texas State, and Louisiana to wrap up 2019. The Men of Troy can get to 4-0 before their showdown with Missouri. As mentioned above, the Trojans are 2-0 against power 5 opponents the last two years. Giving Troy the upset, the Trojans only losses could be to Coastal Carolina and Louisiana. Even with the loss to Missouri, that leaves Troy with a 9-3 record. The 2018 Sun Belt East game down to the final game against Appalachian State vs Troy. The Mountaineers won that game and advanced to the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship game. No matter what Troy’s record is when they play Appalachian State, the winner of this game will once again clinch a berth in the Sun Belt Championship game. Best case scenario, the Men of Troy could enter their matchup with the Mountaineers at 10-1 or 11-0. This scenario makes this game irrelevant in terms of the Sun Belt Championship. The Trojans will still have a New Year’s Six bowl game to play for with 10 or 11 wins at this point. Even with a new head coach, I do not see anything stopping the Trojans from putting together another double-digit win season. Lindsey and company hope to establish their own identity, in addition to what is already there.
South Alabama:
The South Alabama Jaguars started their football team in 2009. The Jaguars began as an unclassified and joined FCS in 2011. The Jaguars fulfilled their journey to FBS in 2012. Two years later South Alabama played in the programs first bowl game. The Jaguars lost the Camellia Bowl to Arizona 33-28. In 2016, South Alabama picked up their biggest win in program history defeating Mississippi State 21-20. The Jaguars rode this momentum to another 6-6 record. The same fate awaited South Alabama in the Arizona Bowl. The Jaguars lost to Air Force 45-21. South Alabama has not tasted the bowl season since then. The last two years the Jaguars have finished with a combined record of 7-17. Coach Steve Campbell enters year two at the helm of South Alabama. Campbell and company hope to make 2019 a turnaround season in Mobile.
Coach Campbell and his Jaguars return eight starters on offense and 5 starters on defense. South Alabama looks to third string quarterback Cephus Johnson to lead the offense. Johnson has running back Tra Minter and receiver Kawaan Baker returning to this offense. Minter and Baker will be key cogs in the offensive machine to get the Jaguars off to a good start. This South Alabama defense returns five of their starters from last year. The Jaguars were terrible last year and look to improve this year. Tyree Turner, Jordan Beaton, Nick Mobley, and Jalen Thompson return to lead the defense in 2019. Look for these five gentlemen to take this defense to new heights in 2019.
South Alabama starts 2019 with four non-conference games against Nebraska, Jackson State, Memphis, and UAB. The Jaguars then begin conference play with matchups against ULM and Georgia Southern. The 2019 season can be labeled a success if South Alabama enters their first bye week 3-3. These records allow the Jaguars the possibility to make a bowl game. If South Alabama starts 2-4, it will be an uphill climb the final seven games. After the bye week, South Alabama plays Troy and Appalachian State. Best case, regardless of their record, the Jaguars need to split these two games. The final four games see South Alabama play Texas State, Louisiana, Georgia State, and Arkansas State. Another best case scenario is to go 2-2 over these last four weeks. A 3-3 start with a 3-3 finish gives South Alabama a 6-6 record and an opportunity to play in a bowl game. If the Jaguars start 2-4 or 1-5, they will come up a game short if they finish 3-3. South Alabama will beat Jackson State for sure. A toss up win against Memphis, ULM and Georgia Southern gets the Jaguars to 4-2. Losing two of those three makes South Alabama in desperate need of a win later in the year. The two games they can steal are Texas State and Georgia State. If all goes well, I am confident South Alabama can get to 3-3 before their first bye week. Give the Jaguars an advantage in their three remaining home games to get to the six win threshold. If South Alabama steals a win, on the road, against the two teams I mentioned, the Jaguars could be an eight win team in 2019. This is a long shot goal but would be a huge steppingstone for this team and coaching staff. While South Alabama is the underdog in the Sun Belt, do not count them out. Coach Campbell’s Jaguars look to shock the college football world in 2019.
