McGee turns his attention to Vanderbilt

Following last Saturday's win over Northwestern State, the Blazers jump back in action and take a step up in competition this Saturday when they go to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.

"I liked the effort and the intensity," UAB coach Garrick McGee said of the defensive effort in the Northwestern State win. "I thought our kids flew around and played really good, hard-nosed ball. They played with a lot of passion and gang-tackled."

McGee knew they Blazers didn't have time to reflect on the win over Northwestern State with a Southeastern Conference team just ahead this weekend.

"They are very talented," McGee said. "Their head coach (James Franklin) is the offensive play caller. He has always been a very good play caller. They have very good wide receivers and running backs. They have these funky little shifts and motions that cause you a lot of problems on defense. They also have a Wildcat package where the quarterback lines up out wide and they direct snap it to the running back.

"Those are challenges for our defense that we are going to have to come up with answers to during the week.

"On defense, they are a very simple defense," the Blazers' coach said. "They are very technique sound. A lot of times a defense like that is more dangerous because they understand how to match your routes. Instead of trying to trick you, they sit in a certain defense and they understand your offense. But we are going to be up to the challenge."

Offensively McGee knows what to expect from Vanderbilt and their outstanding wide receiver Jordan Matthews.

"They are a multiple tight end, multiple offense team like us. Their coach spent some time in the NFL. They run some traditional football plays."

"The challenge is that they line (Jordan) up in multiple spots on the field, so it's hard to find where he is going to line up. It's hard to set up a coverage that is going to take him away because they do a good job of moving him around. Our guys will have our hands full with him. He is one of the top receivers in the country.

"This is a big opportunity for our program, to go up there on television and get our record back to 2-2. We are looking forward to it," said McGee.