10 things you didn't know: UAB at Memphis

Every week before a game, the sports information staffs at both schools put together game notes — thick packets full of stats, history, roster details and storylines about their programs. They hand them out to the media. Most of it never gets published. We read every page.

We published what Alex Mortensen said about the trip to Memphis and what Charles Huff said about welcoming UAB to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. This is the stuff that didn't make it into either of those stories — the details buried deep in 83 combined pages of game notes from both SID staffs. Here are 10 things you might not have known about Saturday's Battle for the Bones.

1. The Bones were forged at Sloss Furnaces

The trophy the Blazers and Tigers are playing for Saturday weighs nearly 100 pounds. It's a bronze rack of ribs — oversized, roughly two feet by two feet — and it was created at Birmingham's historic Sloss Furnaces. Artist Heather Spencer Holmes used actual racks of ribs to help build the mold.

UAB leads the all-time series 11-7 and reclaimed the trophy last season by upsetting No. 22 Memphis 31-24 at Protective Stadium. That was the first time the Bones had been in Birmingham since 2011.

The rivalry used to extend beyond the field. A barbecue competition ran alongside the game, with pitmasters from both cities going at it for bragging rights. The inaugural competition drew 16 teams and eventually grew to dozens. One side of the trophy records the football winners. The other side records the barbecue champions.

There is also an, ahem, unofficial Bones trophy for basketball, reflecting the shared legacy of Gene Bartow in both programs.

2. Three former Tigers are now Blazers

CJ Smith, Jeremiah Jordan and Jaylen Thompson all played for Memphis last season. All three transferred to UAB.

Jordan has made the biggest impact. He's third on the team in tackles with 32 and has one of UAB's four interceptions. He's also a Memphis-area native who went to Cordova High School, and he'll turn 23 on game day. Saturday is a homecoming.

3. Parker High School reunion

Memphis freshman corner Johnny Moody went to Parker High School in Birmingham. Four of his former teammates are on UAB's roster — Amari Brundidge, Phillip Davison Jr., Cameron Jennings and Malik Muhammad. They were all on Parker's 2023 squad together, when Moody was a sophomore and the four Blazers were seniors. That team finished 12-2, went undefeated in region play and reached the Class 6A state semifinals.

4. The Florence connection

Memphis offensive lineman Koby Keenum and UAB running back Hudson Higgins were teammates at Mars Hill Bible School in Florence. Keenum was a senior and Higgins a freshman on the Panthers' 10-2 team in 2022.

5. The Theodule trail

UAB defensive back Guylijah Theodule started his college career at Marshall in 2024 under Memphis head coach Charles Huff and played five games. When Huff left for Southern Miss, Theodule followed — played nine games, recorded six tackles, a pass breakup and a fumble recovery. Then Theodule transferred to UAB.

That path puts him on a roster playing against a bunch of guys who traveled the same road in the opposite direction. Memphis' roster is loaded with former Southern Miss players — Ian Foster, Tychaun Chapman, Ahmere Foster, Jaylin Carter, Dylan King, Anthony Richard Jr., Denzel Gardner, Mike Montgomery, TJ Johnson, Jermane Hayes, Jaden McKinney, J'Mond Tapp, Elijah Kinsler, Khalil Foster, Zach Ruffin, Amir Leonard-Jean Charles and Jabari Ishmael. Several of them were also at Marshall before Southern Miss.

Theodule took the Huff coaching tree in every direction. Now he plays against it.

6. How the Bones returned to Birmingham

Last October, Alex Mortensen coached his first game as UAB's interim head coach. Ryder Burton made his first collegiate start. The Blazers upset No. 22 Memphis 31-24.

Burton threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns — all three to Iverson Hooks, who finished with 11 catches for 172 yards. Solomon Beebe broke an 81-yard touchdown run, the longest rushing score in UAB history. After Pierre Royster picked off Memphis at the UAB 1, the Blazers answered with a 99-yard scoring drive. Memphis had one final shot and UAB held on a goal-line stand.

The win returned the Bones to Birmingham for the first time since 2011, snapped Memphis' 10-game winning streak and gave UAB its first victory over a ranked opponent since the 2021 Independence Bowl against No. 13 BYU.

7. 601 yards in Memphis

The last time UAB won at Memphis was 2011, and it took one of the greatest comebacks in program history to do it.

The Blazers trailed 35-17 going into the fourth quarter. They scored 24 unanswered. Jonathan Perry threw for a career-high 410 yards and four touchdowns. Greg Franklin punched in the game-winner on a 10-yard run with 1:36 left. UAB finished with 601 total yards.

That 18-point fourth-quarter deficit remains one of the biggest comebacks in program history. It was UAB's third straight Battle for the Bones win — and until last year's upset, it was the last one.

8. The gutsiest win of the Watson Brown era

UAB's first win in the series came in 2000 at Legion Field. Memphis had won the first two meetings and led 9-3 going into the fourth quarter.

Jegil Dugger scored on a 24-yard run with 8:41 left. Rhett Gallego added a 41-yard field goal. UAB held Memphis to 186 total yards. Jeff Aaron led the way in his first career start at quarterback.

Watson Brown called it one of the gutsiest wins of his UAB tenure. It broke the Tigers' 2-0 series start and kicked off a stretch in which UAB won 10 of the next 12.

9. One yard away

Ryder Burton has 1,499 career passing yards. His first completion Saturday pushes him past 1,500. He's completed 124-of-208 career passes with 11 touchdowns in 14 games.

Memphis is where that career got going — 251 yards and three touchdowns against the Tigers last season in his first career start.

10. $226.5 million worth of new

Memphis just finished a $226.5 million renovation of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. The new four-level West Tower has 26 luxury suites, 36 loge boxes, 370 club seats and a full-service kitchen. The stadium has 360-degree sound, fireworks around the bowl and one of the largest ribbon boards in college football.

The new capacity is 45,632 — smaller than the old configuration, built for a tighter atmosphere.

Saturday's game kicks off at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.