• The 2014 Tigers broke a 10-year-old program record by scoring 471 points for the season. (They averaged 36.2 points over 13 games.) This year’s Memphis offense is making last year’s look like merely a warm-up act. Through seven games, the Tigers have scored 342 points, an average of 48.8 per game. Should that average hold, they’ll break the season scoring record in the Houston game, their tenth of the season. The Tigers will almost certainly become the first team in U of M history to reach the 500-point plateau, especially considering they could play as many as 14 games (counting a bowl game and a possible appearance in the first American Athletic Conference championship game). Need more perspective on how far Justin Fuente has brought this program in his four years on the sideline? The 2011 Tigers needed five games to score their 66th point of the season, a total Memphis put up in 60 minutes in Tulsa last Friday night.
• I bring this up every season, and will continue to do so until the university and Liberty Bowl management get it right. Where are the names of honored Tigers at the Liberty Bowl? The U of M has retired the jersey of six former players: John Bramlett, Isaac Bruce, Dave Casinelli, Charles Greenhill, Harry Schuh, and DeAngelo Williams. But you’d never know on game day at the Liberty Bowl. There’s a handsome display highlighting these Tiger greats at the team’s training facility on the south campus. There needs to be at least as much — visible to the public — when the Tigers are playing in front of their adoring fans. (More and more of whom have become “adoring” this season.) It can be temporary: a banner, a flag, or a group of banners and flags. But these honorees need to be brought out of hiding by the program that chose to honor them. How about in time for Senior Day (Thanksgiving weekend) this season?
• The Tigers’ greatest weakness hasn’t hurt them this season. At least not yet. Memphis ranks dead last in the AAC in pass defense, allowing 342.1 yards per game through the air. But they’ve beaten the league’s top two passing teams not named Memphis (Tulsa and Cincinnati). We knew entering the season the Tigers would have some growing pains on defense, having lost eight starters from the 2014 unit. Pressure on opposing quarterbacks has been sporadic, though best, it seems, in tight games late, like the wins over Bowling Green and Cincinnati. The secondary has struggled and given up some big plays (see last week’s Hail Mary before halftime in Tulsa), but rookies like Chris Morley and Arthur Maulet have also come up with a pass-breakup here, an interception there to help secure victories. Tulane shouldn’t be much of a test this Saturday, and Navy will aim to beat the Tigers the same way they do any opponent: on the ground. Houston is the highest-ranked passing team left on the Tiger schedule (269.6 yards per game, currently fifth in the AAC). It will be interesting to see if the Memphis defense can do some late-season growing, display the week-to-week improvement Fuente craves and preaches. With the Tiger offense roaring, there’s room for the Memphis defense to bend. But how much?
