• Try not to recoil when you read the next sentence. The Tigers could lose the rest of the games on their schedule and call this season a success. (I just recoiled myself. Back to the keyboard.) Take a breath, and let your mind wander back to the summer of 2012 when a rookie Memphis coach was trying to identify just what he had to “rebuild.” Let’s say that rookie coach suggested his team could win eight games by Year Four . . . and beat a member of the SEC in doing so. Another breath: Do you take that deal? Of course you do.
Needless to say, losing four (or five) games will not be measured as a success by anyone remotely associated with the Memphis football program today. Having won 15 consecutive games (read that again) and climbed to 15th in the Associated Press rankings (between a pair of mid-level programs, Oklahoma and Michigan), the Tigers have entered thought bubbles previously foreign in these parts. They have a battle on their hands, particularly the next three weeks, to beat Houston and Navy for a berth in the inaugural American Athletic Conference championship game (all three teams are 4-0 in the AAC). With each win added to the program-record streak, expectations grow. That precious “Group of Five” slot in the New Year’s Six bowl arrangement? Could be the Tigers. Twelve, thirteen, or (deep breath, once more) fourteen wins? There’s so much on the table for this record-breaking team. But retain perspective when or if a stumble occurs. Memphis football is in a new place. Already.
• My first football hero was Roger Staubach. Among my earliest memories of pure joy is landing Staubach’s 1978 Topps football card in one of two precious packs left at the convenience store near my grandparents’ house in Cleveland, Tennessee. Captain Comeback may as well have worn a cape and mask in the world I knew then. And his heroics started at the Naval Academy (before I was born). So Saturday’s game — the first between Memphis and Navy — will be special on a personal level. Like most Memphians, I’d like to see the Tigers’ undefeated season extend another four (five? six?) games. But it’s hard to build vitriol against a team of players with a higher agenda attached to their football scholarships.
And this is a good Navy team the Tigers will face. Current quarterback Keenan Reynolds will set an NCAA record for career rushing touchdowns with his next plunge into the end zone. (He’s currently tied at 77 with former Wisconsin tailback Montee Ball.) In Navy’s win over USF last Saturday, three Midshipmen (Chris Swain, Dishan Romine, and Reynolds) each ran for 100 yards, a first in the long history of the program. Navy is fourth in the country with its average of 319.7 rushing yards per game. Memphis only allows 118.7 yards per game on the ground, but that’s partly because the Tigers have been so dreadful against the pass. Tiger coach Justin Fuente described this week’s opponent as “very dangerous” after his team’s win over Tulane last weekend and noted his defense will need to be prepared to handle the cut blocks in Navy’s triple-option attack. Watch the Memphis linebackers: Wynton McManis, Leonard Pegues, Genard Avery and friends. They’ll likely determine if Saturday’s game becomes yet another shootout or a contest the Tiger offense controls.
• Nine Memphis players caught passes from Tiger quarterback Paxton Lynch in the win over Tulane. It’s challenging to read uniform numbers when the Tigers don their black jerseys (with blue numbers), so the passing attack has become a game of sorts in the press box: Pick the Tiger pass receiver! Alan Cross is easy for his skin color and the frequency he’ll run a route between the hash marks. Anthony Miller’s sheer athleticism is starting to stand out after he receives the football (he’s averaging more than 17 yards per catch) and Mose Frazier is the safest guess with a team-leading 46 receptions thus far. At least three Memphis pass-catchers — Miller, Frazier, and Phil Mayhue — will surpass last season’s team-leading total of 506 yards (by Frazier) and two others (Roderick Proctor and Tevin Jones) could join the fun. If this is confusing for those of us tasked with watching from above, imagine what the plethora of downfield targets does to opposing secondaries (and defensive coordinators). It’s a fun chicken-or-egg question: Does Paxton Lynch make every Tiger receiver a threat, or does a crowd of dangerous receivers make Lynch an NFL prospect? Let’s debate this a few more weeks.
