UAB coach Bill Clark spoke this week with his team set to face the Miami Hurricanes and coming off a 45-35 season opening win over Central Arkansas.

"I was pleased with (that) win," Clark said. "Like any first game, we have tons of things to clean up. It's obviously good to get a win under our belt. Now we have to get ready for this next opponent. We have a huge challenge going to Miami. I think they are kind of like us with a lot of returning guys. They also went out and got a bunch of transfers. They have a new offensive coordinator. The thought is, what does the first game do versus not really knowing what your opponent is going to come out in. There are positives and negatives from both sides of that. We have had a good week of practice up to this point. We are keeping our days straight when we go Thursday to Thursday, knowing what that looks like in preparation. I am really proud of the guys right now. We are looking forward to a good trip. We are getting ready to go. We are still in the process."

Clark also spoke more about what he expects from Rhett Lashlee's new offense.

"Usually we would think of him and Gus (Malzahn)," Clark said. "They had a lot of success at UConn and SMU. He has kind of morphed. You probably have a lot of the same run game. There are tons of trick plays. They are known for trick plays and all kinds of special gimmicks plays that they have always done and been good at. I think his biggest change is the speed of the game. He is probably throwing it a lot more than what we are used to. That's where he's evolved. That's probably what he wanted to do anyway. The hardest thing, for us, is just the unknown. From a defensive standpoint, it really is, who are they? From a defensive standpoint, that's the hardest thing, knowing what an offense is going to do. When you remove the fact that they were not around last year, it creates a lot of unknown for us."

The coach's overall take on the Canes' talent level?

"As always, they're very talented, long and fast," he said. "They have a head coach who is defense-minded. You know those guys are going to be good. They are a traditional four down front. There is tons of talent over there. Their secondary is really long. They do a good job of mixing up man and zone. On special teams, they have some really talented kickers. With those athletes, their coverage teams are really good. I think the offense is where we are going to see the biggest change. They probably, with their standards, felt like they struggled last year. They went out and got the big transfer, D'Eriq King, who is a running back-quarterback, as I like to say. He is a guy who can really throw it, but also has running back speed and legs. They have some young freshmen running backs, from what I read. Of course, I don't have anything to go on. I know coach (Rhett) Lashlee really well. They have a super-fast tempo. I think they were third in the country in the number of reps they got last year at SMU. That's something we have to be ready for."

Of course, Clark isn't just coming to Miami to show up. He hopes his team can come away with a major upset.

"This is the next evolution in our program," he said. "We just have to get better. We just have to keep getting better. I know they probably feel the same way. They were, by their standards, disappointed in last year. Any time you have a chip on your shoulder as an athlete or a coach, you're going to be better. That's what we have to be. We feel like we have something to prove as well, especially on a national stage. When you hear the name Miami, that does get our guys attention and gets them excited. Every bit of our standard is about each game being important. It's also the conference. Everything we put in is to be conference champions. I do think, just from notoriety and recognition, that is the next step we want to take. For us, every one of our players said, when I asked why this game is important, 'Well, it's the next game.' Every game is important. Every game is big. Obviously, the name recognition is a big deal.

"We go in to win every game."

This is a team that has faced Power Five opponents in the last several years but hasn't come away with wins.

"When you go back to Texas A&M, we were playing really well going into that game," Clark said. "We went in with every intention to win. We fumbled the opening kickoff and they scooped and scored. We played and we were in it until they very end. At Tennessee, we played great defensively and we turned it over offensively. You can't turn it over, I don't care who it is. You saw what happened with Central Arkansas. It was a game that could have been not that much of a game. We kept them in the game with turnovers. Some of that, give them credit for. I think that's the big deal for us. It's the same things we say every week. The broken record of you have to protect the ball. You want explosive plays but you can't give them up. You can't give up explosive plays. Turnovers and explosive plays - that's going to be wherever you go, especially when you go to play at Miami."

Here's what UAB players were saying this week:

RT Sidney Wells

On preparing for Miami's DL. . . "We are preparing in the film room. Even though it's going to be difficult without any present day film, we have been looking at the old ones, because everything is still there on the defensive side. Especially for the transfers they have coming in, who are talented guys, we have been looking at their old team's film to try to get a grasp of who they are as a player."

On Miami's transfers . . . "They are very good pass rushers. We are going to have to take better angles and go back to the fundamentals. They do everything well, especially pass rushing. We are trying to analyze and trying to get a jump on what their tendencies are."

On Miami's stadium capacity . . . "For us, it's another game. The capacity is going to be the same. It's just another game in terms of preparation for us. Our communication should be fine with that."

On the offensive performance versus Central Arkansas . . . "The biggest takeaway was that when Central Arkansas made plays, we were able to gel together after that. At one point it was 28-7 and then it became 28-21. We stuck together no matter what the situation was. We had a couple of turnovers, but we were able to overcome that by keeping on, playing and chipping away."

DL Tyree Turner

On playing at Miami . . . "It's just the next game, as Coach said. I have played a lot of football in my days, so it's just the next game."

On the defensive line's performance against Central Arkansas . . . "Our performance was decent, but it could have been better, as far as tackles and sacks. Going into this second game, we knocked the rust off during the first game and should be better in the second game."

On Miami QB D'Eriq King . . . "The first thing I notice is his legs. He is a running back playing quarterback, but he can throw the ball. He is just a talented athlete all the way around. He can beat you with his arm or his legs. We are going to try to make him choose which one he wants to use. We want him to throw the ball more than run the ball. I feel like his legs are the more dangerous."

On the defense's mindset after Central Arkansas… "A win is a win, so everybody is happy with that. You could feel the demeanor on everyone that it really wasn't our standard of playing. It was a win, but the aura in the locker room was a little off because everyone expected to do a little better than they did. Going into this next game, we definitely feel like we are going to knock all the mistakes off from week one to week two."

* UAB is coming off a season-opening 45-35 victory over Central Arkansas in which the Blazers set a Conference USA record with their 19th-consectuive home victory. This is Miami's first game of the season and its only non-conference game of the year.

* Spencer Brown opened his senior season by tallying his 14th career 100-yard rushing performance. Brown rushed 24 times for 127 yards and a touchdown. He now has 3,249 career rushing yards and is the nation's second active career leading rusher.

* Fellow senior Austin Watkins Jr. had seven catches for 72 yards, and in the process cracked UAB's Top 10 for career receiving yards. Watkins Jr. now has 1,246 career receiving yards in just 19 career games.

* Tyler Johnston III was 17-of-25 for 143 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in the season opener, and improved his record to 11-4 as the starter. Redshirt freshman Bryson Lucero was also impressive in his first substantial action, completing 7-of-9 passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.

* Despite allowing 35 points to the Bears, the UAB defense had a very solid outing which included six tackles for loss, two sacks, six pass breakups, five quarterback hurries and one interception. 21 of UCA's 35 points came off UAB turnovers.

* Sophomore Nikia Eason Jr. registered both sacks for the Blazers. He was one of two players in the nation to have multiple sacks in the first week of the season (Isaiah Kaufusi – BYU).

* Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year candidate Kristopher Moll returns home to Miami this week. Moll had eight tackles, two pass breakups and two quarterback hurries in the season opener.

* The defense allowed just 293 total yards against UCA with 193 coming through the air and 100 on the ground.

* Redshirt freshman placekicker Matt Quinn was named the Conference USA Special Teams Player of the Week. Quinn was perfect in his collegiate debut, going 6-of-6 on PAT and 1-of-1 on field goal attempts. Junior punter Kyle Greenwell also had a great outing, compiling a 45.0 yards per punt average on four punts. He had a long of 53 and pinned two inside the 20.

* Miami begins year two under the direction of head coach Manny Diaz after a 6-7 record last year. The Hurricanes have a new offensive coordinator in Rhett Lashlee, who was most recently the offensive coordinator at SMU.

* Not only will this be the first game for Lashlee, but also for starting quarterback and Houston graduate transfer D'Eriq King. In his career at Houston, King threw for over 4,900 career yards and 50 touchdowns, while rushing for over 1,400 yards and 28 touchdowns.

* Miami has not lost a home opener since 2006. The Hurricanes return 11 starters and 39 letterwinners from last year's team.