UAB pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 season with a 31-24 stunner over No. 22 Memphis in interim coach Alex Mortensen’s first game in charge.
The Blazers entered the game as 22.5-point underdogs and somehow held on as Memphis had multiple opportunities to be an extra point away from a tie inside the last minute.
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Memphis RB Greg Desrosiers broke a 41-yard run with just over a minute to go and appeared to have scored a touchdown. But Desrosiers was taken down a yard short of the goal line by Tariq Watson.
A touchdown with 1:03 to go wouldn’t have been a terrible thing for UAB. The Blazers still had all three of their timeouts and would have had plenty of time for a game-winning drive. Memphis realized that, and immediately started running time off the clock after a replay review ruled that Desrosiers was down at the 1-yard line.
That’s when things went haywire for the Tigers. As Memphis was letting the clock roll, the Tigers committed a false start that backed them up five yards. A short pass to Desrosiers got the Tigers back to the 1 yard-line, but Memphis again backed themselves up with another false start.
After two incomplete passes, the Tigers then committed a delay of game penalty on fourth down to back themselves up to the 11-yard line before AJ Hill’s pass to Cortez Braham Jr. was incomplete as Braham couldn’t keep a toe down in the end zone.
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Hill was in the game for starter Brendon Lewis, who was injured on a third-quarter sack. Lewis was 9-of-10 passing for 68 yards before leaving the game. Hill was 13-of-25 passing for 175 yards and a TD and an interception.
