UAB offensive coordinator Darin Hinshaw emphasizes four simple words to his burgeoning offensive unit.

Discipline, attitude, toughness and effort.

As cliché as those words may seem, they are the backbone of an offense on the verge of reaching its full potential.

“It’s about doing that doing the little things,” Hinshaw said. “Ball security, when we own the football a lot of good things happen and we’re not putting our defense back on the field. We got to go out there and do all the little things correctly. It’s all about 11 guys on the same page all the time and as long as that’s happening, the sky’s the limit on how good we can be.”

The Blazers dropped a season-high 581 yards of offense last week and have an opportunity to string together high-volume outings as they face off against Charlotte, Saturday, Oct. 15, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

Charlotte is 1-5 on the season and has one of the worst defenses in the nation, ranking 130 out of 131 teams, and the Blazers are coming off their most impressive victory of the season in a 41-14 shellacking of Middle Tennessee State.

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UAB’s offense had a field day against the Blue Raiders and Trea Shropshire was the key to opening up a passing game often overshadowed by a dominating rushing attack.

On the first play of the game against MTSU, Dylan Hopkins worked play-action and underthrew a deep ball to Shropshire but the senior receiver made a last-second correction to corral the pass for a 46-yard gain into Blue Raider territory. The second play of possession was a short left-side hitch that Shropshire turned into a first-down in the red zone and DeWayne McBride finished off the 4-play, 70-yard drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown.

“It was a little underthrown, but Shropshire did a great job of adjusting to the ball and making the catch,” UAB interim head coach Bryant Vincent said. “When we sprinted out to the left side (the second play of the game) and we threw him that hitch, seeing him take that ball and drive it forward through the defender to get 11 yards, it was a sign of growth and development in his underneath game.”

Shropshire had 6 receptions for a career-high 193 yards in the win over MTSU, including a 68-yard touchdown catch, and his presence creates an obvious mismatch with the ability to stretch the field and attract double coverages.

The senior missed the majority of the season opener after taking a hard hit to his midsection early in the game and did not play in UAB’s win over Georgia Southern, due to a violation of team standards. Both games saw the passing game take a back seat to a rushing attack that rushed for more than 230 yards. At Liberty, Shropshire had a single catch, opening the second half with 56-yard reception deep into the Flames’ red zone, but it went for naught as UAB turned the ball over on downs to highlight a turnover-plagued outing on offense.

Despite suffering a 28-24 letdown at Rice, Shropshire, along with Tejhaun Palmer, were able to set then season-high performances with Palmer pulling down 2 catches for 82 yards, including a 71-yard reception, and Shropshire logging 4 catches for 65 yards and a score. Their success carried over against MTSU as the Blazers were able to leisurely build a 38-7 halftime lead.

“We know that he (Shropshire) can take the top off,” Vincent said. “We challenged him this offseason to be a more physical runner. With our running game and our play-action game, when you have Trea Shropshire and Tejhaun Palmer and those safeties want to come down and start fitting the run, which everybody’s doing to us right now, that gives us the ability and the opportunity to go over the top. When we start hitting those shots and we start attacking defenses early in that way, that’s when this offense can really start running.”

Shropshire and Palmer’s contributions are not only superficial, as it relates to their production, but create a more dangerous offense that can attack opposing defenses on two different fronts. The running game only becomes more problematic with the possibility of taking the top off the defense but that ability also allows fellow receivers and tight ends to flourish in the intermediate passing game.

Samario Rudolph and Fred Farrier II are the most prominent beneficiaries in the wide receiver room, combining for 78 yards on 6 catches, and the tight end unit is starting to produce more than solid run-blocking. Bryce Damous leads the group with 48 yards and a touchdown on 4 receptions while Terrell McDonald has 4 catches for 22 yards and a team-high 2 touchdowns.

“Having guys like Shropshire and Palmer, those guys are somebody you really have to plan for,” Damous said. “They’re guys you have to plan for and can make plays anywhere, whether it’s a 10-yard route or 40 or 50 yards downfield. For us, it opens us up underneath because they have to take care of it so much. It lets us have one-on-one matchups and take advantage of people who have trouble protecting the pass.”

Another aspect that has aided in maintaining possessions is Hopkins relying on his pocket instincts and pulling the ball down rather than waiting too long in the backfield to make a play. He had 52 yards on 5 carries against MTSU, feeling the pressure well before it was able to wrangle him to the ground.

Hopkins is aware of the shortcoming and made a concerted effort after going down twice to end UAB’s final scoring opportunity at Rice.

“Dumb sacks when I was trying to get the ball out,” he said. “(Not doing that) really helped us, especially on big downs. Whether we’re in field-goal range or not, getting the ball out, hitting Debo in the flat on the check down or taking off (for a positive play) is good for us.”

UAB has built its reputation on a bone-crushing running game since its return season in 2017, winning three straight division titles and two conference championships, but the evolution of its passing game has the potential to make the Blazers into an offensive juggernaut.

“We have an identity and people know we’re going to run the football, but not how we’re going to run the football,” Hinshaw said. “We’re going to run the ball and what it does is it opens up shots down the field and opens up our passing game. We’re building this offense as we go and it’s not built yet. We’re continually finding ways to do whatever we can do to force the ball down the field but also run the football successfully.”