
After firing former head football coach Trent Dilfer on Oct. 12 following its third straight loss, UAB seems to have found something in interim coach Alex Mortensen, the son of the late former ESPN NFL insider Chris Mortensen. Led by its new interim coach, and a defense that was stout when it needed to be, UAB stunned the previously unbeaten and 22nd-ranked Memphis Tigers 31–24 on Saturday.
Not only was it a magical first game as an interim head coach for Mortensen, but it was also a historic one. UAB's victory over Memphis is the largest upset victory in a coach's first game since 1978, according to ESPN Insights.