The UAB Blazers and head coach Trent Dilfer have had a tumultuous season thus far heading into their Week 7 game against the Army Black Knights. And according to CBS Sports sideline reporter Tina Cervasio, it didn’t take long at all for Blazers players to get down on themselves during Saturday’s game.
Frustration has continued to set in within the UAB program, highlighted by an extremely depressing postgame press conference from Dilfer after the team’s 51-point loss to Tulane last week.
Week 7 presented UAB and Dilfer with an opportunity to right the ship and get a big win against an undefeated Army program. But instead, Army got started on the right foot in the game with a 29-yard touchdown on their first offensive play of the game which featured a ridiculous stiff arm from Army quarterback Bryson Daily.
Bryson Daily gets it going early! @ArmyWP_Football strikes first pic.twitter.com/Jt06gr7tJR
— CBS Sports College Football 🏈 (@CBSSportsCFB) October 12, 2024
On the following UAB possession, Tina Cervasio offered a report on the morale of the players on the UAB sidelines, claiming that there were “a lot of downtrodden faces” and that they “just looked sad”.
“Right as Army scored that touchdown, I looked to the UAB sideline and a lot of downtrodden faces,” said Cervasio. “They just looked sad.”
A Tina Cervasio sideline report in the UAB-Army game: “Right as Army scored the touchdown, I looked at the UAB sidelines. A lot of downtrodden faces. They just looked sad.” Followed by discussion of Jason Riles Jr. staying pumped up. (H/T @edsbs.) pic.twitter.com/b38I44bmwb
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 12, 2024
Cervasio did add that UAB linebacker Jason Riles Jr. did try and rally the troops by pounding his chest and trying to get his team re-engaged.
Regardless, you typically get this kind of report in a game where one team is facing a significant deficit. To hear this kind of thing after just one touchdown two minutes into a game is quite jarring.
It’s perhaps hard to blame UAB players for feeling this way. Army comes into this game as 25.5-point favorites on the majority of sportsbooks. So perhaps this early touchdown had given UAB players flashbacks of their struggles on the year to this point.
Unfortunately for the Blazers, this report was seemingly a sign of things to come in this game. Through three quarters, UAB has again looked lifeless on both sides of the ball, with Army jumping out to a 41-3 lead on his fourth rushing touchdown in the game.
We’re likely to see a very similar press conference from Dilfer this week after UAB’s struggles continued on Saturday. And at this point, we very well may be witnessing the impending end of the former ESPN analyst’s tenure at the program unless something changes quickly.
