Sean Dykes – Memphis Flyer

The Tigers’ three-game winning streak came to an end Saturday afternoon at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans. Tulane scored early and put up touchdowns in each quarter, never trailing, to improve to 6-5 on the season and 3-5 in the American Athletic Conference. The Tigers fell to 6-3 (4-3) and have now lost two straight at Tulane.
Tyler Kaufman

After falling behind by a touchdown, the Tigers tied the score at 7-7 when Brady White connected with Calvin Austin III for a 59-yard score just five minutes into the game. (Austin later dropped a pair of would-be touchdown passes.) The Green Wave regained the lead when quarterback Michael Pratt found Jha’Quan Jackson for a 42-yard touchdown late in the first quarter. Memphis played from behind the remainder of the contest.

The Tigers played without two of their top defensive linemen, as O’Bryan Goodson didn’t suit up and Joseph Dorceus was sidelined early after a blow to the head.

White’s second touchdown pass of the game — a six-yarder to tight end Sean Dykes — brought Memphis within seven points (28-21) with 5:13 to play in the third quarter. On Tulane’s ensuing drive, Tiger safety Quindell Johnson intercepted his second pass in as many weeks. (Johnson also forced a fumble for the second straight game.) But the Tiger offense couldn’t finish drives, Austin’s two drops proving especially painful. Cameron Carroll’s nine-yard touchdown scamper put Tulane up by 14 points with 11:34 left on the clock and proved to be the clincher.

White completed 19 of 39 passes for 248 yards, becoming only the second Memphis quarterback to top 10,000 yards for his career. (He needs 56 yards to surpass Danny Wimprine’s program record.) White threw a pair of interceptions in addition to his two touchdown tosses. Austin caught five of his passes for 110 yards.

An ongoing problem for the Tigers — their running game — resurfaced, Memphis gaining only 45 yards on 28 carries. Tulane ran the ball for 165 yards and Pratt passed for 254 more.

The Tigers will complete the strangest regular season in memory next Saturday when Houston (3-3) visits the Liberty Bowl. For the first time in four years, Memphis will not have an appearance in the AAC championship game to extend the season. A bowl berth likely awaits, perhaps the Birmingham Bowl, where Memphis last played in 2015.

The Memphis Tigers erased a 13-point deficit in the final five minutes of their game Saturday at the Liberty Bowl to beat the USF Bulls and earn their 13th-straight home win, a record in the stadium where they’ve played since 1965. Tiger quarterback Brady White threw four touchdown passes — including the game-winner to Calvin Austin with just over a minute to play – to tie Danny Wimprine’s career record (81) and set a new mark for wins by a Memphis quarterback (24). The victory improves the Tigers’ record to 4-2 (3-2 in the American Athletic Conference) while USF falls to 1-6 (0-5).

Joe Murphy

Brady White

Playing in front of a pandemic-reduced crowd of just over 10,000, the Tigers struggled throughout the first half, with three series ending on downs and USF’s Daquan Evans returning an interception of White 51 yards for an early 13-6 Bulls lead. The only Memphis touchdown before halftime came on a White-to-Austin 65-yard pass connection. But USF scored touchdowns on each of its next two possessions to take a 27-13 lead at the break.

White found tight end Sean Dykes for a five-yard touchdown strike on the Tigers’ first possession of the third quarter to reduce the USF lead to 27-20, but the U of M’s next two possessions ended with punts. A Spencer Shrader field goal (his fourth of the game) from 46 yards gave USF a 33-20 lead with just 4:36 left in the game.

Memphis marched 72 yards in just over a minute and reduced the deficit to 33-27 when White connected with Dykes again, this time from 10 yards with 3:19 left on the clock. A maligned Memphis defense then managed to stop the Bulls, forcing a punt that set up what proved to be the game-winning drive. White completed six straight passes (after an incompletion) to complete the comeback, finding Kylan Watkins (three times), Tahj Washington, and Kameron Wilson before hitting Austin for the decisive score.

White completed 30 of 50 passes for 437 yards, his favorite target being Dykes (7 catches for 147 yards). Austin caught five passes for 102 yards.

The Memphis defense held USF to 330 yards, considerably lower than the average for Tiger opponents this season. Memphis gained a total of 535 yards.

The Tigers are scheduled to travel to Annapolis, Maryland, next week to face Navy. (The Midshipmen are 3-4 and had their game against Tulsa today postponed because of Covid cases at the Naval Academy.) Memphis returns to the Liberty Bowl on November 21st when Stephen F. Austin comes to town.