The UAB football team opened fall camp last week in Birmingham and wrapped up its eighth practice Wednesday while continuing preparations for the season opener against North Carolina A&T at Protective Stadium.

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Here are some observations from the limited access period provided to the media:

— UAB practiced Monday night before taking Tuesday off and head coach Trent Dilfer was quite pleased with the results, even liking the development of the team to taking a trip to the hardware store. The Blazers are three weeks away from their season opener and Dilfer’s comments would suggest the team is ahead of the learning curve at the moment.

“I told them before the night practice two nights ago that they exceeded expectations on progression. They’ve been given the knowledge. They went into Home Depot and bought all the cool stuff and didn’t know how to use any of them. After the first week, they actually learned how to use a lot more of the drills and the tractors and the lawnmowers and the bits and all that stuff. We teach a bunch of stuff and they’ve done a great job grasping it and now we’re starting to see the technique and all the other core values match it. That’s what you’re looking for.”

— JUCO transfer running back Isaiah Jacobs, who started his career at Maryland, is turning heads in fall camp and making a strong case to receive his fair share of touches for a potential high-volume offense. The younger brother of former Alabama and current Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, (Isaiah) Jacobs appeared in nine games at Maryland while rushing for 177 yards and reeling in nine catches for 69 yards. He spent a season at Independence Community College (Kan.), racking up 514 yards and two touchdowns, and signed with UAB only a few hours removed from National Signing Day.

“He’s been everything we hoped for and more. We knew the character, we knew the work ethic, we knew the ability and he’s got more explosiveness and more twitch than anybody. A coach’s kid, NFL pedigree, professional athlete pedigree, CEO pedigree, firemen pedigree — all those difference makers in life, you look at their home life and the standards in their home life, their sibling standards, and they get core values at a younger age than others.”

— The Blazers are a healthy bunch two weeks into fall camp, despite a few bumps and bruises on the mend, but there is room for caution with seasoned veterans and the growing bodies of underclassmen. There were a few players who did not participate in drills Wednesday and were held out for precautionary reasons.

“There’s some concerning things, every team is dealing with them. We got a lot of tough guys on this team that are playing with what I call ‘boo-boos,’ which sucks, it really does. But there’s a mentality you get from that too and I’m really proud of these guys that they’ve embraced it. There are physical players that are so hyper-competitive they need protection from themselves a little bit. Guys are banged up but love the guy and support the guy that’s trying to fight his way back in.”

— Former Clemson and USF transfer Ray Thornton has been cleared for practice by the NCAA and was spotted working drills during the open period.

“He has veteran leadership, length and physicality and a professional mentality. He’s been through a lot of adversity in his career. You get beat down and have to pick yourself up. You go through tough things and you don’t whine or don’t complain, you just keep pushing. He’s that kind of guy and immediately earned the respect of his teammates by how he approached it.”

— There’s still movement between positions for a few select players on the roster. T’sai McDaniel was working with the safety group after starting out at cornerback and true freshman defensive lineman Emmanuel Waller was seen working with the SAM linebackers.

— Jermaine Brown Jr. received another preseason accolade in being one of 75 running backs named to the Doak Walker Award watch list. Brown is currently on three watch lists including the Maxwell Award and Paul Hornung Award. The senior has rushed for 2,275 yards and 18 touchdowns in his career, along with eight 100-yard performances.