UAB football players reach breaking point, give up on Trent Dilfer after another devastating loss
The Trent Dilfer era at UAB has been a complete failure, and Saturday’s performance only highlighted that further. It would be surprising if the second-year head coach survives the week without being fired.
His players appeared visibly defeated on the sidelines during yet another crushing loss.
Army hosted the American Athletic Conference matchup in West Point, entering the game as a 5-0 team with genuine aspirations to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff as one of the top five ranked conference champions. The Black Knights were favored by 26.5 points against a struggling 1-4 Blazers team that has shown little resilience since their Week 1 victory over an FCS opponent.
One of UAB’s earlier losses was a 41-18 defeat against Navy, and their second attempt to overcome a service academy went no better. Dilfer’s squad quickly fell behind 20-3 in the first quarter.
The Blazers were utterly demoralized, giving up less than five minutes into the game after Army quarterback Bryson Daily stiff-armed a defender en route to a touchdown.
The linebacker had to be scraped off the field.
Shortly after the touchdown, CBS Sports sideline reporter Tina Cervasio shared her observations about the team’s morale. As expected, Army was full of energy, while the UAB players were anything but.
She noted that the players on the visiting sideline “looked sad.”
And that was just after one touchdown!
UAB had clearly given up. The Black Knights were only getting warmed up, with Daily scoring three times in the first quarter alone. They headed into halftime with a lead of over 30 points.
During yet another humiliating blowout loss on Saturday, UAB players officially gave up on Trent Dilfer. Their body language clearly indicated that any glimmer of hope for a turnaround had vanished. A bowl game is no longer a possibility, and there’s no chance of winning a conference championship.