Life hasn’t been easy for Trent Dilfer’s UAB Blazers recently.

They’ve suffered blowout losses in back-to-back weeks, to conference opponents at home. Home crowds that continue to diminish for each outing at Protective Stadium. The UAB faithful lose faith weekly in this program’s ability to put a winning product on the field.

Things won’t get any easier this week either.

The Blazers sit at 1-4 on the season and travel to West Point to take on the 5-0 conference-leading Black Knights of Army this weekend.

Army’s FBS-leading rushing attack with over 360 yards a game this season has propelled the team to score over 38 points per game. Quarterback Bryson Daily leads the way with 602 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Running back Kanye Udoh adds 434 yards and six scores and Noah Short with 355 yards rushing. Short is also the team’s leading receiver with 201 yards and three receiving touchdowns this year.

Their greatest strength happens to be the Blazers greatest weakness, as UAB has failed to stop the run against any team they’ve faced this year. They rank eighth worst in the country in rushing yards allowed, giving up 227 yards per game, and allowed the fifth most rushing touchdowns in the nation at 15.

UAB’s pass defense is still statistically the seventh-best in the nation, but it’s a far less impressive feat considering they’ve only been tested on 92 throws, the least in the country. Teams know they don’t need to throw the ball to beat them. They can simply run them over and control the clock while they’re at it.

The Blazers will likely have to take to the air on offense if they want to hang with a high-scoring, clock-controlling team like the Knights. Outside of their close game at Arkansas, it’s an element of their game that hasn’t been displayed in 2024.

It remains unclear who will start at quarterback for UAB on Saturday, but either Jalen Kitna or Jacob Zeno will need to overcome a top 30 pass defense to keep them in the game, something they couldn’t do last week against Tulane.

Army currently holds the spot for the seventh-best rushing defense in the country, allowing 81.8 rushing yards a game. Getting running back Lee Beebe Jr. going is an important aspect for UAB’s running game. Which hasn’t been effective since the season opener against Alcorn St.

The game kicks off at 11 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.