There is plenty of action across the Week 1 Thursday college football slate. Closing it out, the UAB Blazers will face the Illinois Fighting Illini in a 9 p.m. ET kickoff, with each team opening their seasons.
Looking at the odds, Illinois enters as monstrous 27.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook. UAB is +1700 to pull off the upset, with the game total set at 54.5 points.
This article previews both teams and offers a pick for the Week 1 matchup.
UAB vs. Illinois Preview
UAB Blazers
UAB is in a new era of football, with Alex Mortensen laying the foundation as head coach. Mortensen took over as interim head coach following the midseason firing of Trent Dilfer, and has served as the program’s offensive coordinator since 2022. UAB ultimately finished last season with a 4-8 record, with a 2-4 mark under both Dilfer and Mortensen last year.
Ryder Burton will begin his first season as the full-time starter for UAB after seeing action in nine games last year. The flashes of talent are evident, headlined by Burton leading the Blazers to a 31-24 upset over No. 22-ranked Memphis last season as the starter. There, he threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns. The redshirt junior will carry higher expectations coming into this season; he completed 62 of his 98 total passes last year for 708 yards, seven scores, and five interceptions. However, most of the notable names around Burton have changed.
Just 6.2% of the rushing yardage production and 12.6% of the receiving yardage have returned from last year. Georgia transfer Rod Robinson II is expected to headline the rushing attack, with Bam McReynolds also playing a role. Kaleb Brown is returning at wide receiver after recording 255 yards and two touchdowns last season while missing some time. UAB also did a nice job attacking the defensive side of the ball in the transfer portal, hoping for a drastic change in a unit that gave up 38.2 points per game last year. This ranked 135th out of the 136 qualifying D1 teams. While turnovers and tough matchups will test this streak, UAB has won 10 consecutive season-opening games.
Illinois Fighting Illini
Speaking of turnover, there is plenty to recognize regarding the Illinois Fighting Illini. While Bret Bielema is in his sixth season with the program, including posting a combined 19-7 record across the past two seasons, there are 62 names on the roster this year. The program had real momentum after a 30-28 victory over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl, but now has to build from the ground up with more than half the roster and coaches in different places.
Katin Houser will step up as the starting quarterback after showing some promise over his past two seasons at East Carolina. He tallied 37 touchdowns and 18 interceptions over his past two seasons with the Pirates. Ca’Lil Valentine returns after leading the team with 614 rushing yards last year, as will Hudson Clement at wide receiver following his 454 receiving yards last year. The offensive line is unproven as a unit, but has a respectable amount of college reps under its belt and will hope to hit the ground running this year.
The Fighting Illini secondary is expected to be the unit’s strength. The defensive line has some talent, but each notable name is making a jump in the level of competition. A similar sentiment applies to the linebacker spot. Beyond just the different faces on the field, Bobby Hauck is taking over defensive coordinator duties this season.
UAB vs. Illinois Pick
Both teams have very different outlooks than the rosters and coaching staffs that most recently walked off the field to represent each school. UAB took some encouraging strides to close last season, as the roster bought into Alex Mortensen’s quick-passing system. Even with a bit more familiarity to build off, the talent gap feels too much to overlook in this matchup.
Bret Bielema has earned a bit of the benefit of the doubt entering this season. Illinois has won 11 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents and covered the spread in seven of the past eight non-conference matchups. They set the tone early, winning the first quarter in nine of the last 10 games against non-conference opponents at home and winning the first half in each of the last 10 games as favorites. In contrast, UAB has lost 17 of its last 18 road games and failed to cover the spread in seven of its last eight games against non-AP-ranked teams. Even with the streak of victories during their season opener across the past decade, this will be the stiffest competition that UAB has faced in these matchups, and there are plenty of other variables leading into this year.
Katin Houser has had ups and downs, but he has shown enough at the college level to believe his skill set will translate to the Fighting Illini. He has big-play ability that will stretch this UAB team, and the ability to ad-lib out of the pocket that could come into play as the team settles in. UAB had arguably the worst defense in college football last year, and all improvements are still theoretical. There are some encouraging additions, but they have no floor to build on. It is tough to find a talent advantage for the Blazers, even with question marks about how this new-look Fighting Illini team will fit together on both sides of the ball.
Expect the talent discrepancy to drive this result and for Illinois to announce their presence back to the college football world. Bielema has built a strong foundation for the program, and don’t expect him to let the team take their foot off the gas. Buckle up for a blowout season opener and for UAB to remain in the early parts of their organizational rebuild following a turbulent and frustrating few years.
