What Alex Mortensen said ahead of the Louisiana game

UAB head coach Alex Mortensen said he was pleased with the Blazers' intangibles in Saturday's 26-20 win over Louisiana-Monroe but challenged his team to sharpen its detail ahead of a road trip to Louisiana. The Blazers rushed for 266 yards on 52 attempts, held ULM to three points in the second half and won the fourth quarter 13-0 — but Mortensen pointed to self-inflicted wounds that kept the game closer than it needed to be.

"We had to overcome some self-inflicted wounds," Mortensen said. "An interception in two-minute before the half was really bad. And then the punt return where we gave them the ball — those are two significant errors in the game."

Mortensen said the red zone remains a point of emphasis. Kicker Jonah Delange was outstanding, but the Blazers want to convert more trips into touchdowns. He called points per drive the most undervalued statistic in football.

"I think it's easy to get caught up in total yardage or total points in the game, but a lot of those are based on how many drives are in the game," Mortensen said. "If you have eight drives in the game, your capacity to score points is less than if there's 12 drives. When we get the ball, our primary objective is to end the drive with points, and ideally a touchdown, but at worst a field goal."

Mortensen praised quarterback Ryder Burton's scrambling ability, comparing him to Jacob Zeno's 2023 season — Mortensen's first year at UAB as offensive coordinator — when Zeno completed just under 74 percent of his passes and finished 10th all-time nationally in completion percentage. He said Burton's instinct to go forward rather than backward and his decision-making under pressure are strengths.

The Blazers now travel to Louisiana (1-1) for a 7 p.m. kickoff Saturday on ESPN+. UAB is making its first visit to Lafayette in 24 years. The all-time series is tied 4-4, but the Blazers have not won there since 1997. Louisiana scored 30 points at USC last week in a 49-30 loss, and Mortensen said dual-threat quarterback Lunch Winfield, defensive coordinator Jim Salgado and the Ragin' Cajuns' talent at all three levels of the defense present a significant challenge.

"They've got good players at all three levels," Mortensen said. "You can't really go, 'Hey, we're gonna go pick on them somewhere.' Schematically, they do a good job. It's well-rounded and sound and presents some challenges."

Full transcript

On the ULM win and the team's competitive spirit:

Alex Mortensen: "I thought our overall unity, competitive spirit was really good. We're gonna really challenge them to have better detail in a lot of areas. But I'm really, really pleased with the intangibles. ULM and Coach Vincent did a really good job. We expected them to be ready to play, expected them to have a good game, and I thought they did. We also had to prepare for both quarterbacks last week. We suspected they were gonna do what they did, but we had to get ready for both. I thought we adapted well in the game. I think we held them to three points in the second half. I thought we did a really good job at halftime on both sides of the ball."

On self-inflicted wounds and the team's resiliency:

Alex Mortensen: "We had to overcome some self-inflicted wounds. Some of the obvious ones — an interception in two-minute before the half was really bad. And then the punt return where we gave them the ball. Those are two significant errors in the game. There are many others too — whether it's offsides in the red area, a couple other things. But our resiliency, our fight, our toughness, to be down in a game like that, was just awesome. Really good to see. Ultimately we were able to prevail. They held 257 yards of offense and I think we ended up with 381. But I think the thing that stands out is we rushed for 266 yards on 52 run attempts. Our offensive line, our receivers did a good job. Tight ends — a lot of people were involved in the running game. And of course our backs I thought were great."

On shrinking the game and winning the fourth quarter:

Alex Mortensen: "It kind of shrunk the game. I think on paper we had nine possessions, but that last one where we knelt on the ball — really had eight possessions in the game. One of the things we want to emphasize is trying to win the fourth quarter, and I think we won the fourth quarter, 13 to nothing. That was positive. Again, they did a great job. Ton of respect for them and Coach Vincent and the plan and the job they did. They had their guys inspired and played hard. They've got some good players. They really do."

On the kicking game and red zone execution:

Alex Mortensen: "Jonah obviously was outstanding kicking field goals, so that was really good to see. And then once again, I will say we want to finish with the ball in the end zone more, though, and rely on him less. We've gotta do a better job in the red zone. We've gotta do a better job in the high red zone. Two games in a row we've shrunk the game, so if you're looking at the scoring percentage, it's probably okay. But you'd rather trade some of those field goals for touchdowns, and we're obviously gonna work to improve that."

On scouting Louisiana:

Alex Mortensen: "It's a new week. Let's turn the page. We're playing University of Louisiana. Mike Desormeaux is their coach. Coach Desormeaux's done a great job. He's been there for some time. I remember when he was a part of Coach Napier's staff there as an assistant. He's got a long history there. They've got good players. I think they've always done a good job recruiting and putting a roster together. It's an area that's rich with talent, too, just geographically. Lunch Winfield's playing really good quarterback for them. They've got a really good defensive team. They scored 30 points on Southern Cal last week, so definitely expect it to be a challenge. Tim Leger's been there on offense for some time. He's been a part of those staffs for a long, long time to help him run the offense. Jim Salgado, their defensive coordinator, he's got a good history in the NFL — was at the Buffalo Bills for a while where they had some great defenses. Really good staff. They've got good players. It's certainly expected to be a challenge going on the road and going to their place."

On the challenges of defending Lunch Winfield as a dual-threat quarterback:

Alex Mortensen: "When you have a quarterback that's athletic, you've gotta be prepared to defend all the quarterback runs and have a plan for that, and then still be effective enough defending the passing game. And then I think the next layer to it is when the passes are called, if he's got scramble ability too, that adds another dimension. It is hard. I think part of the reason you seek balance on offense is if the defense tilts one direction really heavy, it gives you other things. When you've got a quarterback that's got the ability to do both things, it can stretch you thin and make it hard. I think it makes it that much more important for our guys to play with the effort, fundamentals and technique, to be able to defeat blocks, shed blocks, or if we're singled up in coverage, to go win those matchups. Sometimes fundamental execution can help you if you lose a numerical advantage because of the quarterback run game."

On the offensive line in pass protection:

Alex Mortensen: "I think the offensive line is doing a really good job in the running game, and there are certain things where we need to protect better and we can protect better. Protection's kind of an all-encompassing endeavor. There's a lot of people involved with it. There's quarterback involved pre-snap and post-snap. The line's involved. Depending on the protection, the tight end's involved, the back's involved. The receivers are involved. If a receiver or whoever's in the route — they've got to be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there on time. That allows the quarterback to play on time. If the quarterback and the receivers are playing on time, that can take stress off of the offensive line. There are a lot of things involved with it. There's some things we need to improve and I expect we will."

On what Louisiana's performance at USC tells him about the team he's facing:

Alex Mortensen: "I think they're a really good team. They've got really good players on both sides of the ball. Southern Cal's got a good team. To go out there on the road and have to play them at 10:00 Central Time and put up 30 points, I think says a lot about the team we're playing."

On the art of the quarterback sneak:

Alex Mortensen: "There's definitely an art to it and there's technique involved. There's certain things we want to coach them to do, without getting too specific, on how we want to execute it from a technique standpoint. It's not just a scrum. There's a little more to it. For the quarterback to be in there doing it, I think it's something you kind of get used to. They're physical plays, but they're often not — knock on wood — high collision plays. It's physical, but the contact happens in a pretty short area."

On Ryder Burton's scrambling ability:

Alex Mortensen: "I think Ryder is a good athlete and probably better than people realize, and I do think he's a good scrambler. If he's exhausted his options or doesn't see anyone open, there's an athleticism component and a decision-making component. I think he's good at both. His instinct to usually go forward and not go backwards helps him as well. In the first two games there have been a number of times he's escaped where there was air.

"One of the interesting things — every now and then we talk about Jacob Zeno's year in '23, which is my first year here as a coordinator. He's 10th all-time on this completion percentage list. I think he completed just under 74 percent of his passes, which is pretty remarkable. Part of it that he was accurate, receivers did a good job getting open, we protected him. But the other part of that is he was an intelligent scrambler. When the options were exhausted, he took off. I remember hearing Bobby Petrino talk about that a long time ago with Stefan LeFors, who used to be near the top of the list nationally in terms of completion percentage — Stefan was an intelligent scrambler. If his options were exhausted, instead of trying to stick a low-percentage throw in there, he could go five yards. I think that was something Zeno did a really good job of. We have areas to improve and work on in our passing game, but one of the strengths of Ryder's game is his ability to go do that."

On points per drive as an undervalued statistic:

Alex Mortensen: "I think every game is different in terms of whether you want to shrink a game or not — try to minimize the amount of drives in the game. There are different ways to do that. I think the most undervalued statistic in football that people don't talk about enough is points per drive. It's easy to get caught up in total yardage or total points in the game, but a lot of those are based on how many drives are in the game. If you have eight drives, your capacity to score points is less than if there's 12 drives. Ultimately, when we get the ball, our primary objective is to end the drive with points, and ideally a touchdown, but at worst a field goal.

"Whatever that takes. If that takes an extended drive, that's fine. If there's an explosive play that gets us in the end zone or changes the field position and it's a shorter drive, that's great too. The main thing we want to do when we get the ball is find a way to score. You can work to stay ahead of the sticks. I've also been a part of some great offenses where we really get third-down avoidance and you convert more on first and second down. I still think it's a great comparison as a fight. If you get into a fight, a drive is like a fight, and there's different ways to fight. You can come out and knock somebody out in the first round, or you can control that fight and wear 'em down and break 'em down, and eventually you knock 'em out late. Just wanna make sure you knock 'em out."

On Lamar White's first career catch:

Alex Mortensen: "I'm very, very, very proud of Lamar White. He made a big play in the game. We ran a boot, and they kind of covered the first couple options. He ran a great route, had to adjust his route a little bit based on the coverage, and made a really good catch there. I've had the blessing of watching him really grow and just mature. From being a young guy and a freshman just to now — very tough, hardworking. His skill level has really jumped up. He had a very good spring, and unfortunately he got beat up a little bit. He's had a couple injuries. He's getting himself back. I had pretty high hopes for the kind of year he could have. Still do. Really excited about the progress he's made and where he can go."

On EJ Reid's progress since arriving in January:

Alex Mortensen: "EJ's really progressed a lot. We really like EJ a lot. Really like a lot of our receivers. I think we got a good room. EJ's another guy that is a little bit beat up. One of the things that we found is that we've had a kind of weird rash of injuries at receiver. EJ falls in that category. He was out for a little bit. So much of passing game is built on timing and trust between the quarterback and those that are running the routes. EJ was really gaining a lot of ground before he was out for a little bit, so seeing him get back has been really positive. He ran a great route the other night on that — really good speed, good angle — and then our wide receiver threw that ball really high and really far and did a great job tracking it down."

On Louisiana's defense:

Alex Mortensen: "I start with the players. They've got good players at all three levels. They've got a stout front, both inside and outside. They've got good size. They're good at the second level. They have good linebackers that run well. Their DBs have both speed and some height and length. They're good players at all three levels. You can't really go, 'Hey, we're gonna go pick on them somewhere.' Schematically, they do a good job. They've got a really good scheme, and it's well-rounded and sound and presents some challenges. They're just a really balanced group."

On addressing penalties from the first two games:

Alex Mortensen: "You obviously want to eliminate them. You're looking — are there themes? Are there commonalities? The good thing is offensively, some of the pre-snap things improved from week one to week two. We had a couple young players on defense that maybe had a couple pre-snap things last week. You hope they improve too. I start every team meeting in training camp, we show penalties from the day before, particularly pre-snap penalties.

"We talk about our core values as a football team. One, we talk about hard work. Two, we talk about playing hard — effort and toughness. Three, we talk about playing smart. That's discipline and poise. And then finally, we talk about playing together — having unity. That third one, playing smart, having the discipline to do your job. One of the things Coach Saban used to talk about is you want to play the game with emotion but not emotional. Sometimes when guys get into competitive environments, there's things that rear their head that don't rear their head in practice. There's some psychological components to that. Part of it is we coach it, we train it, we reinforce when we do well. We catch it when we don't do it well in practice. Unfortunately, some of these things have reared their heads in games, and you just hope that from game to game it gets better."

On what else stands out about Louisiana's offense besides Winfield:

Alex Mortensen: "They've always been pretty balanced. They've got a lot of guys that were on major staffs there. I do think they've got good balance in their offense, and then you've also got a dual-threat quarterback. I think that's one of the challenges — you have to play it pretty honest. They've got a good mix of things they do."

On how fighting through adversity in the ULM game helps the team's growth:

Alex Mortensen: "I think it does help. Should help tremendously. We try to have a hard offseason. The offseason's hard. There's aspects of the winter that are really tough. In July, our conditioning is hard. There's physiological reasons to get the guys in shape — we're trying to enhance our ability to perform physically. We talk about great effort. One of the prerequisites for effort is being in shape, but there's also a mental toughness component. Every time you answer the bell when it starts getting hard, you get a little bit tougher. You get a little bit tougher mentally. Your self-talk gets better. You learn how to push through things.

"This is another stage. We practice hard. Practices are not easy here. Our guys do love football. You come to practice and it's pretty competitive and it can get pretty violent and physical. Those are all parts of it, but then we got to carry it to the game. Getting to a game where you get in a tough position — some of it the opponent does a good job, some of it's self-inflicted. How do you respond to that? Do you feel the pressure of it? Do you get tight? Or do you stick to what we talk about — having a no-scoreboard mentality? Each play has a history and life of its own. Don't worry about the last play that just happened. Just play each play in the game and have the poise, competitiveness, toughness and grit. And then staying together, not turning on each other, not turning on a teammate, a coach. The positive energy that we had, all those things — really encouraging to see us go the right way when it got hard. That was exciting. Now, that's one game. We're gonna encounter more challenges, more adversity as the year goes on and greater difficulties. We have to build on that. But that was a good sign."