Josh Rosen – Memphis Flyer

“One game cannot define a season,” said Memphis football coach Mike Norvell shortly after his Tigers had beaten the 25th-ranked UCLA Bruins at the Liberty Bowl. “But one game can be remembered.”

Saturday’s nationally televised game featured a combined 93 points and 1,193 yards of offense, but may come to be remembered for the final 10 minutes, during which neither team managed a point. Senior receiver Phil Mayhue caught a three-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Riley Ferguson to give Memphis a 48-45 lead with 9:56 to play. It was Ferguson’s sixth touchdown pass of the day, the game’s sixth lead change, and, as it turned out, the final points of the contest.
Larry Kuzniewski

Riley Ferguson

“That was an exceptional game,” said Norvell. “We talked all summer about this game being a showcase game. Memphis showed well today. Not just our football team, but the community support, every aspect of what we’re trying to do. We didn’t play a perfect game; there were mistakes we made. And against a really good football team. But our guys continued to push, continued to battle. I’m so proud, top to bottom.” A crowd of 46,291 attended the game despite the ABC broadcast and the visiting team traveling across two time zones (with a relatively small traveling party in the stands).

The Tigers had a chance to increase their three-point lead with the ball inside the Bruin 30-yard line with just under four minutes to play. Norvell called a fake field-goal attempt, but freshman kicker Riley Patterson’s pass was intercepted in the end zone. On its ensuing possession, UCLA was hit with an offensive pass-interference penalty. The Bruins’ final breath was extinguished when a Josh Rosen pass on fourth down was deflected by freshman cornerback Jacobi Francis.

An All-America candidate, Rosen completed 34 of 56 passes for 463 yards and four touchdowns, but tossed a pair of critical interceptions to Tiger freshmen Tim Hart and T.J. Carter. Hart returned his 60 yards for a third-quarter touchdown and Carter’s erased a fourth-quarter drive that could have given the Bruins the lead.

A graduate of Memphis University School, Hart was especially pleased to grab some spotlight after being redshirted last year. “I’ve grown a lot,” he said. “It’s a mindset. By coming here, you put your trust in the coaches. Memphis football is at a level it’s never been before. I never took a day off.”
Larry Kuzniewski

Anthony Miller

Senior wideout Anthony Miller had his first star showing of the season, catching nine passes for 185 yards. Ferguson completed 23 of 38 passes for 398 yards and six touchdowns (tying a career high, one shy of the Memphis single-game record). Tailback Darrell Henderson galloped 80 yards on the Tigers’ first play from scrimmage and finished with 105 yards on the ground.

“We knew we wanted to be balanced,” said Norvell. “We played 76 snaps on offense and 91 on defense. That was a grind, and against a top-25 opponent.”

Ferguson relished the victory over a high-profile opponent (and high-profile quarterback). “We have to go out and try to score every time we take the field,” emphasized Ferguson. “No matter if the other team scores or punts us the ball. Every time. Nothing changes for us. We believe in our defense. Don’t worry about what the score is.”

As for his favorite target, Ferguson delights in what he’s come to expect as normal. “[Anthony Miller] is so good. If you throw him the ball, he’s gonna make a play. I love having him on any defensive back in the country. It gets the juices going, seeing Ant make a big-time play.” Miller caught consecutive passes — one a 41-yard, diving catch and the other for 33 yards into the end zone — to give Memphis a 27-24 lead just before halftime.

Linebacker Austin Hall and safety Jonathan Cook led the Tiger defense, each with nine tackles and one behind the line of scrimmage. Sophomore defensive tackle Jonathan Wilson sacked Rosen in the second half after serving a suspension in the first half for a targeting penalty in the Tigers’ opener against Louisiana-Monroe.

The win improves the Tigers to 2-0 after a pair of hurricane-related false starts to the season. Memphis has started each of the last three seasons 2-0, a streak unmatched since 1959-61. The Tigers will host Southern Illinois next Saturday at the Liberty Bowl in their final nonconference game of the season.

• There’s no feel to this season. Not yet. No rhythm (if such can be felt in a sport with weekly games). The star of the Tigers’ opener — two weeks ago — was Hurricane Harvey, or at least the last vicious breaths of that ravaging storm that so thoroughly drowned parts of Texas. Memphis escaped with a win over Louisiana-Monroe, but in front of no more than 10,000 drenched fans. Then last week’s game at UCF was mercifully cancelled, this time a hurricane proving too much, even for a football game. So we’re left with what many consider the Tigers’ biggest game of the year — UCLA and a forecast of sunshine! — and very little sense of how strong this year’s Memphis team might be. Quarterback Riley Ferguson and his band of talented receivers were declawed by the weather system on August 31st. Will they be ready to counterpunch a Bruin attack led by NFL-bound Josh Rosen under center, an offense that erased a 34-point lead in less than 20 minutes against Texas A & M? Sixty minutes of football at UCF — in reasonable conditions — would have suggested an answer. Until 11 a.m. Saturday morning, no one really knows, including the Memphis coaching staff. We’ll have a feel for the 2017 Memphis Tigers by mid-afternoon Saturday.

“Our guys, I have to give them a compliment for the maturity they’ve shown,” said Memphis coach Mike Norvell during his weekly press conference Monday. “They’ve handled a lot of different things and quite a good deal of adversity here early when it comes to the schedule and their routine. They’re definitely looking forward to this Saturday.”

• When I think of Memphis-UCLA I think of basketball. The Tigers have played in three Final Fours and faced the Bruins in two of them. Most famously, Bill Walton became a household name in the 1973 championship game, beating what remains the most famous team in Memphis sports history, one led by Larry Finch, Ronnie Robinson, and Larry Kenon. Thirty-five years later, the U of M (with Derrick Rose) whipped UCLA (with Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook) in San Antonio.

The Tigers and Bruins have only played once before on the gridiron, a 42-35 UCLA win in Los Angeles in 2014. That was the Tigers’ second game of the season, Paxton Lynch’s second start at quarterback, and the first real indication that a corner might be turned for the Tiger program. Memphis had a chance in the fourth quarter to knock off the country’s 11th-ranked team. There seemed to be a renewal of hope two weeks later when Memphis handled Middle Tennessee at the Liberty Bowl. They went on to win eight of their last ten games and earn a ranking of 25 in the final AP poll. Here’s hoping this week’s game deepens the association of these two schools on the football field.

• AAC commissioner Mike Aresco likes describing his league — and the programs that comprise it — as “Power Six.” The implication is that the AAC deserves equal standing with the likes of the SEC, Big 10, and Pac-12 . . . the fabled “Power Five” that centers college football. Since the Tiger program’s revival in 2014, Memphis has played seven games against Power Five teams and won three of them. Two of those victories came against Kansas, though, one of the weakest programs in the classification.The 2015 upset of Ole Miss was historic (it extended a Tiger winning streak to an astounding 13 games). The four Power Five losses during this period: UCLA, Auburn (in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl), and Ole Miss twice. A win over UCLA — as televised live by the ABC cameras — would be a significant step in the right direction for Mike Norvell and this program. And it would give a little more credence to the notion of a “Power Six” league.