Head coach Trent Dilfer was not a happy camper on the sidelines, particularly in the fourth quarter of UAB’s 35-23 loss on Saturday afternoon.
With his team trailing 28-20 against Tulane and 11:58 on the clock in a fourth-and-2 situation, the Blazers took a penalty for an illegal substitution while on the defensive side of the ball — giving the Green Wave a first down.
When this flag came out, Dilfer didn’t take it sitting quietly, taking out all of his rage on his own coaching staff.
The 51-year-old, in his first year as UAB’s head coach, ranted and raved on the sidelines, pointing his finger — quite literally — and jawing at multiple coaches after the officials announced the call.
It’s unclear who was truly at fault for the penalty, but Dilfer was displeased enough that he took off his headset at one point as he got incredibly heated at his assistants on the side of the field.
The penalty did not end up costing the Blazers on that particular drive, however, as Tulane missed a 45-yard field goal.
But UAB, which at one point led 20-7 in the second quarter, crumpled in the second half, only scoring three points to Tulane’s 21 in a difficult AAC opener.
Dilfer’s squad started off the season on a high note with a win over North Carolina A&T in Week 1, but have since lost four games in a row.
In three of the four losses, the team’s defense has yielded 40-plus points.
Dilfer, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback for the Ravens in 2000 against the Giants, previously was a head coach at Lipscomb Academy in Tennessee from 2019-22 before joining the Blazers this year.
A Fresno State product, Dilfer was a longtime NFL analyst for ESPN before going into coaching.
The Blazers next take on USF next Saturday.
