BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UAB used a goal-line stand in the final seconds to upset No. 22 Memphis 31-24 on Saturday in the debut of interim coach Alex Mortensen, the son of late ESPN NFL Insider Chris Mortensen.
The Blazers fired Trent Dilfer on Sunday.
Memphis (6-1, 2-1 American Athletic Conference) reached the 1-yard line twice in the final minute as it looked for the tying touchdown, but two false starts and one delay-of-game penalty stalled the drive. Memphis threw an incomplete pass into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the 11.
“We wanted to play with fanatical effort, and the second thing was poise,” Mortensen said. “The third thing was we talked about staying together no matter what.”
UAB entered the game as a 23.5-point underdog, making it the biggest upset of a ranked team in AAC history. It was the second-biggest upset in all of FBS this season, behind only UCLA stunning Penn State as a 24.5-point underdog.
The Blazers’ offense was stellar with Mortensen and new starting quarterback Ryder Burton in charge, surpassing 450 yards against an FBS opponent for the first time this year.
Burton completed 20 of his 27 passes for 351 yards and 3 touchdowns — all to Iverson Hookswho caught 11 passes for 172 yards. The Blazers (3-4, 1-3) also ran for over 200 yards against an FBS opponent for the first time since 2023.
Solomon Beebe‘s 81-yard touchdown run put UAB up 10 early in the third, after which UAB pieced together two possessions that milked more than 12 minutes off the clock to help preserve the win.
“He would be excited for our team and program,” Alex Mortensen said when asked about his late father in an on-field interview with ESPN. “He covered football for a long time. He’s always sensitive to coaches losing their jobs. I know he would understand how hard it was what these guys went through this week.”
Memphis’ AJ Hill completed 13 of 25 passes for 175 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. He replaced Brendon Lewis early in the third quarter.
“I thought the guys had the right mindset to the bye week, the right approach to the game,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. “I think this loss had nothing to do with their lack of execution. We got outcoached.”
The Tigers lost all margin for error as it relates to the American Athletic Conference championship game and the College Football Playoff. The Tigers entered the day with a 43% chance to make the College Football Playoff, which was the best of any Group of 5 program, but saw that fall to 19% with the loss.
Memphis will need to win out to have a chance at either, beginning with a matchup against No. 19 South Florida next week.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
