UAB left at least 12 points on the field at Illinois. Here's what Mortensen is fixing.

Ty Mims did not mince words Monday when asked what UAB needs to do to finish drives in the red zone.

"We need to be more disciplined," Mims said. "We like field goals, but we love touchdowns."

That was the simplest version of a message that echoed through UAB's football complex all week. The Blazers officially reached the red zone five times at Illinois and scored touchdowns twice. The other three trips ended in Jonah Delange field goals. But the damage started before the official count.

On the opening drive, UAB marched into Illinois territory and had a run that reached the 13-yard line — first-and-10 in the red zone. A holding penalty wiped it out and pushed the Blazers back to the Illinois 40, right at the edge of Delange's range. Then Ean Rhea sacked Ryder Burton and knocked UAB out of field goal range entirely. The Blazers punted. Mac Resetich returned it 65 yards. Three plays later, it was 7-0 Illinois.

A drive that should have produced points for UAB instead produced points for Illinois. That is a potential 14-point swing on one sequence.

Alex Mortensen detailed the opening drive during his Monday press conference ahead of Saturday's home opener against Louisiana-Monroe (2:30 p.m., ESPN+).

"We got the ball first and we ended up right at the kick line," Mortensen said. "Running back goes out of bounds at the 13-yard line. Would've had a new set of downs and then they called a holding penalty on our tight end who I think pancaked their corner."

Add the three field goals that should have been touchdowns, and the math is stark. In a game UAB lost by 19, the red zone left enough points on the field to change the outcome.

"The good news is we scored in the red zone," Mortensen said. "The bad news is more of those need to be touchdowns, not field goals."

Penalties, missed connections

Mortensen identified two categories of problems beyond the opening drive. The first was pre-snap penalties.

"We had two critical penalties down there — line of scrimmage, pre-snap penalties where we had false starts," Mortensen said. Illinois simulated cadence and shifted its defensive front before the snap, trying to draw UAB into jumping early. The Blazers practiced for it all week. It worked anyway.

"If we have the penalty, still want to score — still score a touchdown," Mortensen said. "That's something we're gonna work on."

The second problem was more nuanced. UAB's passing game is still building chemistry with a roster full of new players, and Mortensen said the film showed three missed connections that should have been touchdowns.

"We felt like we had three missed opportunities in the passing game — whether it's route detail, quarterback footwork, those things of that nature — that would've resulted in touchdowns," Mortensen said. "Those are other opportunities to turn field goals to touchdowns."

'That's completely on me'

Quarterback Ryder Burton did not wait until Monday to address the red zone struggles. He took ownership in the locker room Thursday night.

"I've got to play better in the red zone," Burton said after the Illinois game. "We've got to have a little bit better poise down there."

Burton was specific. He identified a wide-open corner route he missed that would have been a touchdown.

"It's on me, right?" Burton said. "I've got to play better. Point blank simple."

Burton also took responsibility for protection errors, saying many of them could have been corrected by his own pre-snap adjustments. That kind of accountability, Mortensen said Monday, is not performative.

"I don't think it's performative or phony with him," Mortensen said. "I think he really feels that way."

The receivers are answering questions

The preseason conversation around UAB's wide receivers centered on one word: unknown. Iverson Hooks transferred to Oregon. Brandon Hawkins Jr. graduated. Together they accounted for 113 catches, 1,467 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2025. Kaleb Brown, a former top-100 recruit who dealt with back-to-back spring injuries, started at Illinois and caught two passes for 20 yards. Jaylen Elder, the sophomore speed threat who drew a JJ Nelson comparison from the Birmingham Banner's Steve Irvine, has been out since the spring and has not been part of the rotation. The room was deep in bodies but thin in proven chemistry with Burton.

Against a Big Ten defense, the receivers showed they belong.

Mims, a redshirt senior transfer from Southern Miss with 96 career catches, said the group answered some of those preseason questions at Illinois.

"I feel like I did answer a few, but it's the first game," Mims said. "We still getting used to moving around, playing different positions."

What he saw on film encouraged him.

"We was definitely moving and catching the ball," Mims said. "I feel like since we did that versus Illinois, we can do that to anybody else on the schedule."

Mims pointed to communication as the red zone fix — hearing signals, seeing adjustments, executing as a unit.

"I think we need to get better at hearing the signals, see what's going on," Mims said. "We got to just communicate. That's it."

'We stopped ourselves'

Running back Bam McReynolds put it bluntly.

"I feel like the only time that we were stopped was when we stopped ourselves," McReynolds said Monday. "We had a lot of small mistakes that ended up being detrimental to our success, and I feel like we left a lot on the field."

The game facts support him. UAB outgained Illinois 413-332, held the ball for 41 minutes, ran 79 plays to Illinois' 43 and converted 10-of-19 third downs. The Blazers moved the ball at will for long stretches. Finishing was the problem.

Delange did his job. He was 3-for-3 on field goals (26, 23 and 35 yards) and kept points on the board every time UAB stalled inside the 25. But every field goal was a reminder of what could have been a touchdown.

Kirkland update

One development to monitor: starting offensive tackle Payton Kirkland left the Illinois game with a leg injury and did not return.

"We're monitoring that, but we feel really good about Keyon," Mortensen said of backup Keyon Cox, who replaced Kirkland. "It is something he can recover from. I think the timetable's the question."

Mortensen expressed confidence in his depth at the position, naming Cox, Kyrie Mason and Barry Walker as players who can step in.

"I think we've got really good players at that position, and we'll get them all ready to go," Mortensen said.

The fix

Mortensen framed the red zone work as correctable. Eliminate the pre-snap penalties. Clean up the passing chemistry. Execute better on the plays that are there.

"We're incredibly hungry and maybe even a little bit irritated, too, that those things happened," Mortensen said, "and chomping at the bit to get on the practice field and work."

UAB hosts Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at Protective Stadium. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+.