ATHENS, Ga. — Trent Dilfer is in his first season as a college football coach at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and he said watching video of the top-ranked Georgia Bulldogs takes him back to his days as an NFL quarterback.
Dilfer realizes that’s not good news for his Blazers, who face the two-time reigning national champions on Saturday night at Sanford Stadium.
The Bulldogs (3-0) are favored by 41 1/2 points against visiting UAB (1-2) as they put their 20-game winning streak on the line. Dilfer, who led the Baltimore Ravens to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV to cap the NFL’s 2000 season, said he understands why his Blazers are facing a difficult challenge.
“I’m trying to build this thing on embracing the challenges and doing hard things, and I got what I asked for,” Dilfer said this week. “It can’t get any harder than this. They’ve allowed 24 points this year. We allowed 24 points in the first half of one game. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Dilfer said his preparation for the visit to Athens “looks very similar” to his game-planning process in the NFL, “very much like getting ready for the Baltimore Ravens or the Rams or the Chargers.”