Superman had Kryptonite, Chris Farley had cheeseburgers and the Memphis football team has UAB.
For the fifth time in as many years, the Blazers upset the Tigers. However, after five years in a row it's hard to argue that anything about the 35-28 loss was an upset - other than the stomachs of thousands of Memphis fans in attendance.
"I'm disappointed because we lost the football game," said Memphis coach Tommy West. "Probably the most disappointing thing is that we put ourselves in position to win the game and we didn't close it and that's not us."
The Tigers (3-1 overall, 0-1 in Conference USA) fell behind 21-3 at halftime, but stormed back to tie the score at 21-21 in the fourth quarter.
After another Blazers (2-1, 1-0) touchdown, Memphis once again answered with one of their own with 1:37 remaining to tie the score at 28.
Their only mistake was leaving too much time on the clock.
After a 44-yard kickoff return, UAB marched into field goal range. Running back Corey White was actually trying to set up field goal kicker Nick Hayes when the Tigers' defense folded like house of cards and White was able to waltz 30 yards into the endzone for the decisive score.
After coming back from the slow start, Memphis was too tired to finish off the Blazers, West said.
"When you get down like we went down, it takes so much energy to get back even," West said. "You're almost worn out by the time you get back even. We just couldn't hold on because we were so worn out from trying to get back in it."
When looking back at the first quarter, the disparity between the two teams is obvious.
Tiger tailback DeAngelo Williams rushed for 18 yards while UAB running back Dan Burks had 49 yards.
Memphis quarterback Danny Wimprine threw for 21 yards, while the Blazersà Darrell Hackney passed for 171 yards.
Williams finished with 92 yards on 24 carries, snapping a streak of 13-straight 100-yard rushing performances.
"If there's anything offensively (that needs improvement) it's coming out of the gate," West said. "I think there's some things we can do to simplify some things to get our offense on track."
UAB's 539 yards of total offense to the Tigers' 463, marks the first time an opponent out gained them since TCU in the 2002 season finale. The Tigers were 13-4 during that stretch.
The streak almost ended against Arkansas State, but the Tigers recovered. This time, Memphis couldn't recover from the slow start.
"They made plays early, we didn't, and that's pretty much the story," Wimprine said.
"We didn't play well enough to win. I thought we were going to win (with the score tied at 21-21), but I made a bad decision late and threw the ball out there when I shouldn't have. It was a rookie mistake."
Wimprine was 26-of-43 for 347 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw four interceptions, including two on consecutive throws with the score tied at 21 and one on a last second hail mary.
Defensive lineman Marcus West said he knew poise would be a key to avoiding an early deficit, but that he didn't see it at UAB.
"I said last week that focus would be our goal, that we would come out and play, but we obviously didn't," Marcus said. "This week we've got to find it."
Tommy West stressed that the loss should be put in some perspective and not be blown out of proportion.
"I'm not ready to jump in the casket because we lost a football game," West said. "You don't think I wanted to win that game? You don't think I don't want to get that monkey off my back. We've got seven football games (left) and I'm worried about one. I told ya'll that it matters at the end. You sack 'em up at the end."
