The UAB football team returned to the Big Easy to reignite an old conference rivalry in its new league home but history has a funny way of repeating itself.

And for all the wrong reasons.

Jacob Zeno had just marched his offense down to the goal line, coming up a yard short on a fantastic run by Isaiah Jacobs, but gave the ball away on a fumble two plays later on a second straight sneak into the defensive front.

Despite the untimely mistake, UAB’s defense stood stall on a three-and-out but memories of the 2018 CUSA title game soon became a reality as the Blazers were called for 12 men on the field that resulted in a first down for the opponent and UAB head coach Trent Dilfer hounding his assistants for yet another mistake within a comedy of errors.

“It’s just unacceptable,” Dilfer said. “You have 24 headsets or 22 headsets, I’m asking the question and we can’t count to 11 or 12. It’s unacceptable.”

The score never waived during the two error-filled drives but another strong effort from the Blazers was not enough to overcome the litany of miscues in their 35-23 loss to Tulane, Saturday, Sept. 30, at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans.

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UAB falls to 1-4 overall, losing its first AAC contest, and is now on its first four-game losing streak in more than a decade.

“Obviously, we’re playing a little bit better but making foolish mistakes that are getting us beat, from the coaching side and the player side,” Dilfer said. “It doesn’t matter how much effort you play with — if you don’t execute in critical moments, you’re going to lose games. We gave that second half away. We felt like we had control in the first half and came out in the second half and gave it away with foolishness. You’re not going to win any games doing that so we got to clean everything up.”

Offensively speaking, UAB racked up 434 yards with quarterback Jacob Zeno finishing 27-of-35 for 236 yards, and the rushing attack finally found traction for the first time this season in producing 170 yards on the ground. Isaiah Jacobs had 95 yards and two scores while Jermaine Brown Jr. combined for 92 total yards.

The Blazers broke out to a 20-7 lead late in the second frame but were outscored 28-3 down the stretch as costly and untimely mistakes mounted in the second half. While not technically a mistake, or even a gaggle of errors, the UAB defense allowed a scoring drive in the final minute of the first half for the fifth time in five games this season.

Leading 20-14 to open the second half, UAB allowed a 3-play, 63-yard scoring drive to the Green Wave and was fortunate to come away with a fumble on the next possession following another march to the red zone. The Blazers drove quickly into Tulane territory, eventually turning the ball over on downs, and gave up possession once more on a Zeno fumble into the end zone after driving to the goal line.

UAB forced a three-and-out on the ensuing Green Wave drive but was called for an illegal substation on fourth down, resulting in a fresh set for Tulane and limiting opportunity for the Blazers.

Although self-inflected wounds kept the Blazers bound between opposing red zones, the defense was gashed in the second half for 160 yards on the ground and was able to get off the field on the fumble recovery and a missed field goal attempt.

“They need to grow faster,” Dilfer said. “We can’t keep allowing 200 yards rushing. We did a good job in the first half stopping the run, then they came out in the second half and pounded down our faces. We have to get better everywhere. You can ask the micro-questions but there’s not an error on this team that we can’t get better at.”

True freshman Amare Thomas is certainly improving on a weekly basis and once again led the UAB receiving effort after doing so last week at No. 1 Georgia. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound receiver had eight receptions for 99 yards, including a 31-yard catch that saw Thomas reach back over a defender to reel in the pass. In the last two weeks, Thomas has produced 159 yards and a touchdown on 17 receptions, both against reigning conference champions.

“I was really proud of him because he didn’t get the big head,” Dilfer said. “He had a great week of practice. You can see a 17-year-old kind smell the perfume that was getting poured on him and said he went to work and started grinding. He’s a kid that as we’ve talked about, mature beyond his years, and I expect him to continue to show up and make big plays.”

For all the positive momentum UAB gained from an inspired performance last week at No. 1 Georgia, preventable errors have kept the rising Blazers from tasting victory in September for the first time since the 2012 season.

“These guys are growing emotionally,” Dilfer said. “Their lows are not as low, their highs aren’t as high. They’re learning how to reset their minds and their focus each play. They’re learning how to play harder for one another. They’re learning how to think clearly in some chaotic situations. But we got to speed up that learning curve so we can get some wins.”