The UAB football program has been under new direction for two months shy of a year but the legacy of former head coach Bill Clark lives on in one of the best traditions in college football.

The Blazers will once more honor patients of childhood disease for the seventh annual Children’s Harbor game, against South Florida, Saturday, Oct. 7, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.

Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

“I know how much this means to the kids and how much this means to the parents,” UAB head coach Trent Dilfer said. “We are eternally grateful for what Children’s Harbor does. I think Bill Clark, Mark Ingram, and the entire athletic department, played a huge part in establishing this relationship seven years ago. I think it’s one of the best legacies in college football.”

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UAB has honored Children’s Harbor patients before the official return of the program to the field and has affixed more than 700 patient names on the back of alternate grey and lime uniforms since their debut in the inaugural Children’s Harbor game back in the 2017 season.

Although in his first year leading the Blazers, Dilfer understands the meaning behind the game more than most having lost his only son, Trevin, to heart disease in 2003 at the age of five.

“I was in the hospital for forty days,” Dilfer said. “We lived in the hospital. My wife and I slept there every night. My young daughters were there. But more importantly, my extended family showed up. They called it ‘Camp Trevin,’ and I would’ve done anything to have a ‘Children’s Harbor’ come serve our family in that time of need.”

“This is not just wearing a jersey and putting names on the back,” he added. “This is super, super important to the Dilfer family, because we lived it, and we know what these families are going through. I see parents and siblings watching their kids go through these issues, because I lived it, and they’re doing amazing work to be able to come and serve these families in such a dark time. I’m so honored to be the head coach of a game with this type of meaning.”

The Blazers are 5-1 in the Children’s Harbor game, the only loss coming in a 30-24 upset to Rice in the 2021 season, and currently 1-4 on the season. A win would certainly jumpstart a dormant UAB team that has underperformed thus far, but the Blazers face a South Florida team that has improved drastically under first-year head coach Alex Golesh.

South Florida is composed almost entirely of transfers and other newcomers and has played to the level of its opposition in sporting a 3-2 overall record and a 2-0 start to the conference slate.

The Bulls are well-equipped on offense and have a top-50 rushing defense, both of which could cause problems for a UAB team that has struggled inside the trenches this season. The Blazers have slightly improved their own rushing attack but are one of the worst in the nation at stopping the run (204.4 ypg).

“We believe in running the football,” Dilfer said. “I’ve always been a run-first guy. In four years of calling plays, I was 51/49 passing, so I’ve always believed in running football. It’s the only way to win games — you have to be able to stop the run and run the football. We’re not doing either very well.”

“That’s a hard pill to swallow,” he added. “But I also don’t believe in running the ball for one yard, and then one yard again, and then having a third-and-eight. You have to find a way to move the football and right now our best methodology of moving the football is the short passing game.”

UAB currently ranks 22nd in passing offense (294 ypg) and quarterback Jacob Zeno continues his historic pace with 1,442 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions, along with 102 yards and three scores on the ground. He is also third nationally in completions per game (31.4) and fourth in completion rate (75.5 percent).

The Blazers have performed admirably the last two weeks, competing well against two reigning conference champions (No. 1 Georgia and Tulane) on the road, but need a complete-game effort from all phases while limiting the mistakes that have inflicted the most damage during their current four-game losing streak.

“As much as you go into Georgia expecting to win, when you don’t it’s easier to see the bright side when we played at such a high level,” Dilfer said. “Last Sunday, it wasn’t devastation but more like sucker punch. Yesterday there was devastation. By the time we left, you had a sense of the flushing of devastation and a resetting or rebooting on the task at hand.”