With their defensive players apparently prepping to play Saturday, Memphis and Tulsa went ahead and played a football game Friday night in Oklahoma. Behind 447 yards and five touchdowns (one of them rushing) from junior quarterback Paxton Lynch, the 18th-ranked Tigers earned their seventh win of the season and school-record 14th straight dating back to the 2014 campaign. Memphis accumulated a total of 704 yards of offense (a season high) to give coach Justin Fuente a victory in his first visit to his hometown since taking over the Memphis program in 2012. 
The game was the Tigers’ fifth this season in which the teams combined to score at least 70 points, and the combined point total of 108 is the highest in an FBS game this season. Memphis has now scored a total of 342 points for the season, putting the team well ahead of last season’s record-setting 471 points (in 13 games).
Starring alongside Lynch were receivers Mose Frazier (10 catches for 128 yards) and Anthony Miller (five for 106). Doroland Dorceus had his best game on the ground this season with 138 yards on 32 carries while freshman Jamarius Henderson added 112 yards on 14 attempts. In scoring 12 points, junior kicker Jake Elliott moved into third place on the Memphis career-scoring chart (now behind only Stephen Gostkowski and DeAngelo Williams). Lynch has now thrown 17 touchdown passes on the season with only one interception.
Tulsa scored touchdowns on consecutive possessions in the third quarter to close within seven points (42-35), but Memphis answered with a scoring drive capped by a three-yard bootleg by Lynch.
Among the game’s 15 touchdowns,six went for at least 30 yards, including a desperation heave by Tulsa quarterback Dane Evans that was caught on a deflection as the first half expired by Golden Hurricane wideout Keyarris Garrett. Garrett finished the game with 14 receptions for 268 yards and three touchdowns.
Tulsa had 535 yards of total offense, the third time this season the U of M defense has allowed at least 500.
The Tigers improve to 7-0 (3-0 in the American Athletic Conference), while Tulsa falls to 3-4 (0-3). Memphis returns to the Liberty Bowl on Halloween night to host Tulane.
