Oct. 12, 2007

By Steve Irvin
The Birmingham (Ala.) News

The UAB defense doesn't have to tackle Mississippi State's Anthony Dixon anymore this season.

For fans with short memories, the 6-foot-1, 240-pound Dixon steamrolled to a game-changing three touchdowns in the Bulldogs' 30-13 victory over UAB last Saturday.

Unfortunately for UAB, head coach Neil Callaway thinks this week's defensive assignment - stopping 6-foot-2, 225-pound Tulane running back Matt Forté - is more difficult.

"I think he brings more to the table than what the guy did last week," Callaway said. "He's got a lot more speed. I think Forté has all the tools. He's a big, physical guy, has excellent speed, catches the ball well out of the backfield. I think he'll be a high (NFL) draft choice."

Tulane has run 326 offensive plays this season and Forté has been the guy with the football on 136 of those plays with 119 rushes and 17 receptions.

The Tulane offense has gained 1,594 yards this season and Forté has accounted for 856 of those yards. Tulane has scored 11 offensive touchdowns this season and Forte has eight of those.

Forté ranks fourth in the country - and second in Conference USA behind UCF's Kevin Smith - with 142 yards rushing per game. Forte is also 15th in all-purpose yards with 173.4 yards per game.

"He's what makes them go," said Callaway, whose team plays host to Tulane on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Legion Field.

With that in mind, the No. 1 defensive priority this week in practice is working on stopping the run. What's disturbing for UAB is the Blazers have struggled in that area for a large part of the past two weeks. Tulsa, which is known for its passing game, had 362 yards on 49 rushing attempts. Mississippi State had only 165 rushing yards on 45 carries but 144 of those yards came in the decisive second half.

Overall, the Blazers allow 221.8 yards rushing per game, which stands 11th best in Conference USA.

So what will it take to improve?

"You got to go back to the basics," said defensive end Brandon Jeffries. "The fundamentals of tackling, wrapping up, holding on and swarming to the ball."

Callaway said the fundamentals of stopping the run need to start up front.

"The defensive front has to whip their offensive front," Callaway said. "If we expect our safeties to be the leading tacklers and all those things, it's not what you want."

If that's true, then the team's tackle chart shows there's a problem. Three of the top five Blazers in tackles play safety. Will Dunbar leads the team with 41 tackles and he's played in only three of the team's five games. Durrell Fuqua ranks fourth on the team with 31 tackles and Matt Taylor is fifth with 28 tackles. The two other players in the top five are linebackers Mike Tashman (38 tackles) and Joe Henderson (34 tackles.).

The first time a defensive lineman shows up on the tackle chart is at ninth, where freshmen D.J. Reese and Bryant Turner each have 17 tackles.

"We've got to win the battle up front," Callaway said. "Our defensive line has to establish a new line of scrimmage and have penetration in the backfield. It will help negate the running game."