It's not a rivalry, but it is a Birmingham house call — UAB opens October by hosting an FCS Samford team that's rebuilding from the ground up.
Bush’s Picks
SAMUAB
SAMUAB
OverUnder
Best BetUAB
UAB is the FBS program hosting an FCS opponent, and that gap in overall talent depth is usually the whole ballgame regardless of how messy either roster looks on paper. The Blazers' offseason turmoil is real, but Samford is starting from a much lower baseline after a 1-11 season and a first-year staff still sorting out its starting quarterback.
Samford
+New coach John Grass has proven FCS pedigree at Jacksonville State
+Aggressive transfer portal rebuild under new staff
+Explosive skill talent like Preston Bird praised this spring
−Coming off a 1-11 season with a midseason coaching change
−Quarterback competition still unsettled entering the year
−Brand-new staff and scheme installing in year one
UAB
+FBS roster and depth advantage over an FCS opponent
+41 transfer portal additions to retool the roster
+Coaching continuity under Alex Mortensen after interim run
−Fired Trent Dilfer mid-2025 after a 2-4 start, finished 4-8
−Starting QB Jalen Kitna is gone, replacement largely unproven
−First full season for a first-time head coach
Two Birmingham programs, same city, almost no shared history — Samford and UAB have met exactly once, back in 1992 when UAB was still Division III. This one's a scheduled buy game for UAB, the kind of matchup FBS programs pencil in to pad the record, but both sides are walking in with something to prove after 2025 seasons that ended in coaching changes.
UAB fired Trent Dilfer in October of last year after a 2-4 start, and the Blazers limped to a 4-8 finish with no bowl game. Alex Mortensen, who took over on an interim basis, now gets his first full season in charge, and the program brought in 41 transfer portal additions to retool the roster. The QB picture is still murky — Jalen Kitna is gone, and Ryder Burton, the presumed next man up, threw more picks than touchdowns in a backup role a year ago.
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SAM Samford
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Samford's turnaround story is even more dramatic. The Bulldogs went 1-11 in 2025 and fired Chris Hatcher mid-season before hiring John Grass, a proven winner who built Jacksonville State into an FCS power. Grass inherited a wide-open quarterback competition — four guys took reps this spring — and a roster he's actively reshaping through the portal. Saturday, October 3 is an early gut-check for a program trying to prove last year was the bottom, not the new normal.
Samford Bulldogs
UAB Blazers
Sep 25?vs Navy—
Sep 19?@ Louisiana—
Sep 12?vs UL Monroe—
Sep 3?@ Illinois—
Recent form.
On paper, this is exactly the kind of game UAB scheduled it to be — a chance to bank a win against an FCS opponent while a new coaching staff and a mostly new roster find their footing. Samford brings some juice on offense, with playmakers like Preston Bird drawing praise this spring, but an FCS team on the road against FBS competition is a tough spot no matter who's calling plays.
Samford Bulldogs
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
UAB Blazers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Both fan bases are selling hope right now — new coaches, new transfer classes, new quarterbacks — but neither program has actually shown it on the field yet. That's what makes an early-October buy game like this one worth watching: it's the first real data point for two staffs that talked a big offseason game.
