UAB's Alex Mortensen delivers upset, recalls late father, in coaching debut

In his archetypal mates of days arsenic UAB's interim shot coach, Alex Mortensen rapidly earned the respect of diversion manager Mark Ingram, who was impressed by Mortensen's composure, professionalism and dependable enactment amid a challenging transition.

Mortensen, the 39-year-old lad of precocious ESPN newsman Chris Mortensen, had been tasked with replacing erstwhile Blazers manager Trent Dilfer, who had fixed him his archetypal large interruption successful coaching erstwhile helium hired him arsenic the team's violative coordinator successful 2023.

According to Ingram, Mortensen was calm and assured erstwhile helium met with UAB's players and adjunct coaches for the archetypal clip aft Dilfer was fired Oct. 12. Mortensen was polished and prepared erstwhile helium faced the media the adjacent day.

"You're talking astir a clump of guys that were precise affectional astir that news, and I thought Alex handled that beautifully," Ingram said. "He met with the staff, and I thought helium handled that beautifully. He was fabulous astatine the podium with [the media]. I hatred to accidental that I was surprised, but I was benignant of pleasantly amazed astatine however good he's done with each of that due to the fact that helium conscionable hadn't done it before."

Mortensen had that aforesaid chill and measured demeanor erstwhile helium made his head-coaching debut past week, starring UAB, a 21½-point underdog, to a 31-24 upset of then-No. 22 Memphis astatine Protective Stadium successful Birmingham, Alabama.

After the Blazers punted with a seven-point pb and little than 2 minutes to play, the Tigers converted connected fourth-and-7 erstwhile backmost AJ Hill completed a 21-yard walk to Cortez Braham Jr.

Then it looked arsenic if Memphis had a touchdown, with the imaginable to necktie the people with a PAT oregon instrumentality the pb with a 2-point conversion, erstwhile Greg Desrosiers Jr. broke disconnected a 41-yard run. But replay officials ruled Desrosiers' near genu was down astatine the 1-yard line.

That's erstwhile things fell isolated for the Tigers. A false-start punishment backed them up to the UAB 6. Desrosiers astir scored connected first-and-goal but was pushed retired astatine the 1. Then came different mendacious start, 2 incompletions and a delay-of-game penalty, leaving the Tigers with fourth-and-goal from the 11 with 19 seconds remaining.

What was going done Mortensen's caput successful the biggest infinitesimal of his archetypal crippled successful charge?

"Do we request to oregon privation to usage a timeout successful immoderate of those situations?" Mortensen said. "What volition we bash if we don't consciousness bully astir however we're aligned oregon possibly what acceptable they travel retired in? I'm reasoning about, obviously, we've got to beryllium prepared for them to tally a 2-point play if they score. If they necktie it, I'm besides contemplating however possibly we privation to grip overtime.

"So, you know, conscionable moving done each those things. There was adjacent a constituent wherever you're going, 'OK, if they people with ample clip connected the clock, however bash we privation to grip the two-minute situation?' However overmuch clip is left, whether we privation to effort to people oregon whether we privation to instrumentality it to overtime."

On fourth-and-goal, Lewis threw to the near broadside of the extremity portion for Braham, who caught the shot retired of bounds. Once replay upheld the call, the Blazers wildly celebrated ending a three-game losing streak and winning for the archetypal clip successful much than a month.

With backup backmost Ryder Burton making his archetypal vocation commencement (starter Jalen Kitna was sidelined with a enarthrosis injury), the Blazers ...