• There’s something significant about a Memphis-Navy game at the Liberty Bowl. Maybe it’s the pregame flyover that actually shakes the concrete stadium. The halftime enlistment of future officers reminds us that football is, yes, just a game for fall weekends. But in recent years, the Tigers and Midshipmen seem to cross paths heading opposite directions. In 2015, the Tigers won their first eight games of the season (the finest start in program history) and climbed to 15th in the national rankings. Navy came to town and declawed the Tigers, 45-20, the first loss in what would become a three-game skid for Memphis.
Fast-forward six years, and Memphis took the field Thursday night against Navy on a three-game losing streak, its first since 2015. But this time, the Tigers prevailed, 35-17, to earn their first conference win of the season and improve to 4-3. The win felt significant. Memphis has not been under .500 since its 3-9 campaign of 2013. Coach Ryan Silverfield seemed relieved after the win, noting — as coaches do — resilience as a key measure of a team’s character. “A much-needed win, I’m not gonna hide from that,” he said. “The kids have faced adversity the last three weeks. It seemed to be the same song-and-dance each week: this is what we need to do, we were close, we didn’t finish, we shot ourselves in the foot. It’s hard for [a team] to stick with that kind of mindset. You’re gonna ask us to come back and work harder? That’s what I’m so proud about: We didn’t see anyone tap out. If anything, they grew closer. Those are life lessons.”
• The Tigers’ quick-strike capability remains the most exciting component of this year’s team. In the win over Navy, Calvin Austin III took a pitch in the backfield and ran 69 yards for a touchdown to end the first quarter. Midway through the second period, Eddie Lewis caught a Seth Henigan pass in stride and scored a 74-yard TD. These were the fifth and sixth plays of at least 69 yards for Memphis this season, essentially one per game. These crowd-pleasers can prove disruptive to a team’s defense, as they don’t allow much rest for linebackers, cornerbacks, and safeties. The Tiger defense was on the field almost 40 minutes of Thursday night’s game. That takes a toll physically. But is Austin to tap the brakes on his game-changing speed? Is Henigan to stop looking beyond opposing linebackers for a deep target? If anything, the Memphis defense needs to consider the offense a standard. Force a three-and-out. Get Henigan and friends back on the field. If the two units can prove to be symbiotic, Memphis will indeed have a special team.
• There’s no better rivalry in the AAC (even if lopsided) than Memphis-UCF. After a short week to prepare for Navy, the Tigers now have a long week (a full seven days) to prepare for their visit to the University of Central Florida on October 22nd. This has come to be the game circled annually by close followers of either program. And they tend to be the kind of games TV audiences love. The teams combined for 99 points (Memphis scored 50) last year in an empty Liberty Bowl. UCF beat Memphis in the AAC championship game in both 2017 (62-55) and 2018 (56-41). Since they began playing regularly in 2005, UCF has won 13 of 14 games. The largest motivator of all for Tiger players: Memphis has never won in Orlando. The Knights have two losses (one of them to the Navy team Memphis just beat) with another likely Saturday at third-ranked Cincinnati. A Friday night game on national TV (ESPN2) should be another memory-maker in this series.
