Tag: Tiger football

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Sports Tiger Blue

Friendly Fire

Mario Anderson (photo by Wes Hale)

Memphis Tiger football would not be where it is today — and Ryan Silverfield would not be in charge of the program — were it not for Mike Norvell. The Tigers travel to Tallahassee this week for a Saturday confrontation with Norvell’s current team, the Florida State Seminoles. It’s hard to imagine a more poignant game against a former coach in the history of the Memphis program.

Should your memory be unusually short, Norvell arrived in Memphis as a rookie head coach before the 2016 season (with Ryan Silverfield a member of his staff). If you were familiar with the 35-year-old Arizona State assistant then, you frankly spent too much time on college football. But in just four years, Norvell won 38 games, led the Tigers to three appearances in the American Athletic Conference championship game (winning in 2019), and earned the most prestigious bowl berth (the 2019 Cotton Bowl) in Tigers history. That’s how you get the Florida State gig before your 40th birthday. Last season, Norvell’s fourth at FSU, the Seminoles went 13-0 but were somehow left out of the four-team College Football Playoff. (After several players opted out of the Orange Bowl, Florida State was crushed by Georgia.)

Florida State will not go 13-0 this season, having lost its first two games, to Georgia Tech and Boston College. Memphis will not be facing a Top-10 team this weekend, a disappointment for a program favored to win a “Group of 5” league but thirsty for an early-season attention grabber. Blowout wins over North Alabama and Troy go only so far.

Last July, I asked Silverfield about facing his former boss early in the 2024 schedule. “I’m gonna treat it like any other game,” he said. “I’ll see some of my closest friends down there. I’m from Jacksonville. If I didn’t get this job, I might still be sitting next to Mike, coaching his offensive line. But once training camp starts, I won’t give that game a single thought until the Sunday [before].”

To translate, it will be an emotional game for those with fond memories of Mike Norvell in Memphis (read: anyone who saw a game from 2016 to 2019). But for Ryan Silverfield and the current Memphis Tigers, the contest has to be treated like a step — among 12 games on the schedule — toward a higher goal. And the only way to stack wins toward a conference championship (and playoff contention) is going 1-0, week after week. Thus Florida State is “any other game.” 

The Seminoles will play better than the 0-2 team they are. The Tigers will likely fall short of the standard they’ve set by outscoring two teams 78-17. But quarterback Seth Henigan is climbing the Tiger and AAC record charts with every contest and the Memphis ground game seems to be in the capable hands of Mario Anderson (125 yards on 17 carries against Troy). This Saturday’s showdown in Tallahassee will be a fun and, yes, sentimental showcase for a Memphis team still rising.

• As for the U of M basketball program, coach Penny Hardaway is once again surrounded by smoke. (Didn’t he ask for this upon taking the job six years ago?) An anonymous letter to the NCAA alleges both financial and academic misdeeds on Hardaway’s watch. You can safely ignore the padding of recruits’ wallets. (See the $20 million it has reportedly cost Ohio State to build its current football roster.) But if academic fraud involving Malcolm Dandridge can be traced to Hardaway, it will be a sad and awkward exit for a local legend. That’s a big “if,” of course. Here’s to a day we can again discuss Tiger basketball without a cloud of scrutiny growing thicker and darker. 

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Sports Tiger Blue

New Stars, Old Stars, and Playing With Bullies

Photo by Larry Kuzniewski

•When Stars Are Born. Their performances in the Tigers’ season-opening win against Nicholls were impressive, but quarterback Seth Henigan and running back Brandon Thomas needed to shine against an FBS opponent before we could anoint the duo with the kind of star quality Memphis fans have grown accustomed to seeing. Well, after last Saturday’s win at Arkansas State, let’s check that box. Henigan — a true freshman, remember, a year removed from high school football — completed 22 of 33 passes against the Red Wolves for 417 yards and five touchdowns. More impressive: He didn’t throw an interception. (Considering the Tigers won by merely five points, that last figure might be considered the game-saver.) And Thomas — a seasoned redshirt freshman — rushed for 191 yards on merely 18 carries (a 10.6-yard average) and scored a pair of touchdowns. They were dominant, one through the air, one on the ground. Nice formula for winning football games.

And it’s not like the rookies don’t have star company. Sean Dykes piled up nine more catches and 143 yards on his career records for a Tiger tight end. And Calvin Austin III hauled in six of those Henigan passes for 239 yards (the second-highest total in program history) and three touchdowns. Austin’s touchdowns covered 55, 50, and 75 yards. If the Tiger offense was guilty of anything last Saturday night, it was scoring too quickly. (Six of their eight scoring “drives” took less than two minutes.) As for weaponry, Memphis can be said to have a full arsenal.

• Legends lauded. Isaac Bruce (inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last month) and the late Danton Barto will be honored before this Saturday’s game at the Liberty Bowl. There’s a growing movement to retire the jersey of Barto, who died last month at age 50 from complications of Covid-19. As the Memphis program’s record-holder for most tackles — a standard that’s held for 28 years now — the case for honoring Barto’s number 59 is a good one. Trouble is, there’s a crowd of former Tigers now in line for this ultimate (and permanent) salute. There are two first-team All-Americans (Anthony Miller and Darrell Henderson) and a pair of quarterbacks who each topped 10,000 yards in passing as Tigers (Danny Wimprine and Brady White). To date, Memphis has retired the jersey of only six players. One man, one vote: Let’s make Danton Barto’s the seventh.

• Bully for Mississippi State. There was a time when a Tigers-Bulldogs clash on the gridiron was an annual, if one-sided, affair. The two teams played one another every season from 1974 to 2003 (Mississippi State winning 23 of those 30 meetings). But this Saturday’s game at the Liberty Bowl will be their first contest since 2011. The Bulldogs opened that season — perhaps the low point of the Memphis program, the second year under coach Larry Porter — with a 59-14 thrashing of the Tigers at the Liberty Bowl. Memphis hasn’t beaten the Bullies since 1993 (in Starkville) and hasn’t won a home game in the series since 1988. MSU will take the field with the same 2-0 record as the Tigers, having beaten Louisiana Tech (35-34) and North Carolina State (24-10). Each team will be facing its toughest test of the young season. The crowd will be large (more blue than maroon this time?), and it will have some old-school vibe. If the Tigers want to extend their 16-game winning streak at the Liberty Bowl, they’ll have to end a 12-game losing streak to their rivals from Starkville.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Memphis Tiger Football: Henigan Sparkles in Debut

Seth Henigan (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

• QB Young. It’s virtually impossible for a college football program to start two quarterbacks with a larger disparity in experience than the Memphis Tigers did in finishing the 2020 season and starting the 2021 campaign. Brady White started the 2020 Montgomery Bowl as a Ph.D.(!) candidate at the U of M, completing his sixth season as a college player. Fast forward eight months, and Seth Henigan — last Saturday night at the Liberty Bowl — became the first true freshman to start at quarterback in a Memphis season opener. Henigan, folks, was in middle school when White first suited up for Arizona State (in 2015).

“I don’t even know if Seth shaves yet,” said Tiger coach Ryan Silverfield after Henigan completed 19 of 32 passes for 265 yards in the win over Nicholls. “He did a fantastic job. He had plenty of reps with the first team [during training camp] and the team rallied behind him. We’re pleased with his effort. He’s a winner, and he’s so smart. He’s a coach’s son. All those intangibles … he’s a smooth character.” With Arizona transfer Grant Gunnell undergoing further evaluation for an injury, Henigan will be the man for Memphis this Saturday at Arkansas State and for the foreseeable future.

• Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma … and Memphis. These are the only five FBS programs to currently own seven straight seasons with at least eight wins. Read that group again. Four programs that are annually in the hunt for the College Football Playoff (which began after the 2014 season, when the Tigers’ current streak started), and the University of Memphis, a program that won a total of five games over three seasons from 2009 to 2011.

Yes, there are qualifiers. Memphis doesn’t compete in the SEC (or the ACC, or the Big 12). Ohio State would have a problem with the stat, as the Buckeyes only played eight games last year (and went 7-1, losing only to Alabama in the national championship game). But numbers don’t lie, and all the Tigers can do is beat the opponents on their schedule, primarily those in the American Athletic Conference. It’s an unprecedented stretch of winning football in these parts and has taken place under the direction now of three head coaches. Dare we suggest a winning culture has grown in and around the Liberty Bowl and the Murphy Athletic Complex? Going on eight years, the answer is a resounding yes.

• Realignment reconsidered. It’s easy to be discouraged by the news from the Big 12, college football’s latest “Power 5” league to ignore Memphis in its plans to expand. (The Big 12 is losing Texas and Oklahoma, and hopes to grab BYU and three programs from the American Athletic Conference: Cincinnati, UCF, and Houston.) An AAC of leftovers after realignment would leave the U of M in a league no stronger, really, than Conference USA as it existed from 1996 to 2012. It’s hard to see that as generational growth for a program enjoying its most successful period with seven straight winning seasons and three Top-25 finishes.

But I’m not convinced realignment will be over with the Big 12 transformation. The league will go from 10 teams currently to 12 (imagine that!). But consider: The Big 10 has 14 teams (two divisions) and the SEC will inflate to 16 teams when the Longhorns and Sooners hop aboard. The ACC has 14 teams (two divisions). So why should Memphis athletic director Laird Veatch delete his Big 12 contacts? If the Big 12 expands to 14 (or 16) teams, Memphis would fit nicely. (Keep your eye on the Tiger basketball program and its growing national impact under Penny Hardaway. The Tigers would add shine to a league top-heavy with Kansas and Baylor.)

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Cover Feature News

Tiger Trials: Coach Ryan Silverfield on the Next Era of Tiger Football

Coach Ryan Silverfield (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)

No college football coach has begun his career in quite the way Ryan Silverfield has at the University of Memphis. His very first experience in command on the Tiger sideline occurred on December 28, 2019, in what happens to be the biggest game in the program’s history. Having been promoted from an assistant’s position to succeed Mike Norvell (who left for Florida State after Memphis won the American Athletic Conference championship game), Silverfield — then 39 years old — led the 15th-ranked Tigers against Penn State in the Cotton Bowl, one of the four most prestigious postseason games in the land. Memphis came up short (53-39) in an exciting game, but Silverfield had his platform for the next era of the program’s growth.

Not quite three months later, Silverfield’s program essentially shut down as the coronavirus pandemic took hold of organized sports all over the globe. The young head coach would learn the ropes under conditions unlike any of his predecessors — or any of his competition — had experienced before.

“Who would ever have thought my first three months on the job would be the easiest,” wonders Silverfield. “It became a totally different deal [during the pandemic] than when I took the job. It was a new era for Memphis football, and I felt like we had some momentum going in. Our kids left for spring break, and we ended up having about a three-month spring break. Anytime you’re trying to get a staff together, to learn from each other and build relationships, it’s never easy. Doing it via Zoom, not being able to be around [the players] … so much of college football is about relationships. You’re dealing with 125 17- to 22-year-olds. We need to be there for them in everything we do. Our administration handled it the right way, and our kids persevered. It was a trying season, in more ways than one. The opt-outs [players choosing not to play under the pandemic restrictions], not knowing your schedule, getting tested [for Covid-19]. I’m proud of those who persevered and came out on top. Credit to all those around me. You want to forget, but I’ll always remember a season that was unique to me and everyone else.”

Senior Calvin Austin III led the Tigers in 2020 with 63 receptions for 1,063 yards (Photo: U of M Athletics)

Even with the stifling restrictions, Silverfield’s first season was a success. The Tigers went 8-3 and won the program’s first bowl game since 2014 (a victory over Florida Atlantic University in the Montgomery Bowl). But Memphis missed out on the AAC championship game for the first time in four seasons, so there’s ground to gain (or regain) in 2021.

Entering his second season, Silverfield has a closer-to-normal football atmosphere around him. (As camp opened in August, players who had not been vaccinated against the coronavirus were required to be tested for Covid-19. Near the end of the month, Silverfield said more than 80 percent of the Tiger roster has been vaccinated, with the goal being 100 percent.) And part of “normal” for college football coaches every summer is the task of addressing significant departures. Former quarterback Brady White leaves the most significant void, having won the most games (28) and passed for the most yardage (10,690) and touchdowns (90) among all signal-callers in Tiger history. Also gone are placekicker Riley Patterson (second in career scoring for the U of M with 432 points) and a trio of impact-making transfers: offensive lineman Obinna Eze (to TCU), wide receiver Tahj Washington (to USC), and defensive back T.J. Carter (to TCU).

Safety Quindell Johnson intercepted three passes in 2020 and led the AAC with 60 solo tackles (Photo: U of M Athletics)

But there is returning star power for Memphis. If you enjoy “watch lists” — those preseason projections of which players will contend for which postseason awards — you’ll need a deep breath before reciting the Tigers’ candidates: Calvin Austin III (Biletnikoff Award for outstanding receiver and Maxwell Award for most outstanding player), Sean Dykes (John Mackey Award for best tight end), Quindell Johnson (Jim Thorpe Award for best defensive back and Chuck Bednarik Award for outstanding defensive player), and Dylan Parham (Outland Trophy for best interior lineman).

These kinds of preseason nods tend to go to programs that have enjoyed seven straight winning seasons, a pair of AAC titles, and three Top-25 finishes (in 2014, ’17, and ’19). The Tigers enter the 2021 campaign on a 15-game home winning streak (fifth in the nation), the kind of utter dominance expected of blue bloods in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or Columbus, Ohio. Since 2014, the Tigers are 41-5 at the Liberty Bowl. (For perspective, Memphis has won more home games over the last seven seasons than the program did the previous 14.) So yes, expectations are high. Again.

Sean Dykes holds the Tiger career record for receptions (80) and yards (1,169) by a tight end. (Photo: U of M Athletics)

Just Watch!

There’s some irony to the watch lists, as you won’t find a Tiger among candidates for the Davey O’Brien Award, given annually to the country’s top quarterback. Having suited up Paxton Lynch (2013-15), Riley Ferguson (2016-17), and White (2018-20) over the last eight years, Memphis has found not just stability behind center, but profound, record-breaking success. Silverfield opened camp in August by declaring any one of four quarterbacks capable of continuing this unprecedented stretch: Keilon Brown (a dual-threat redshirt freshman from Zachary, Louisiana), Grant Gunnell (a junior transfer from the University of Arizona), Seth Henigan (a freshman from Denton, Texas), and Peter Parrish (a sophomore transfer from LSU).

Despite nursing an injury through much of training camp, Gunnell fits the picture — and brings the most experience — for Saturday’s opener at the Liberty Bowl. [Editor’s note: Silverfield had not named the starter at press time.] Based on his size (6’6”, 228 lbs.), Gunnell fits the prototype for a drop-back gunslinger, the kind Memphis has gotten used to over the last decade. As for credentials, Gunnell shattered state records as a high school player in Houston, passing for 16,108 yards and 195 touchdowns over four years. In his two seasons at Arizona, Gunnell played in 12 games, completed 66 percent of his passes and connected for 15 touchdowns (with only three interceptions).

“First and foremost, it’s intelligence and accuracy,” says Silverfield, in emphasizing the qualities he wants to see from his quarterback on a weekly basis. “He needs to display leadership and arm strength and be athletic enough to get you out of trouble. Can he handle the offense? Is he a quick thinker, able to process information?”

Silverfield chuckles when asked if the Tiger offense will remain a run-first attack. “I’m an offensive-line guy,” he says. “We’ll base it on personnel. Brady White was a great drop-back passer, so there were times when we had to lean on the pass. We’ve also had NFL-caliber running backs recently, so it made sense to run first. A lot of it is what the defense gives us.”

In Austin and Dykes, the Memphis quarterback — whoever he might be — will have a pair of veteran game-breakers to target. A former walk-on from Harding Academy of Memphis, Austin caught 63 passes for 1,063 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2020, filling the void left by Damonte Coxie, who opted out early in the season. Dykes hauled in 47 passes for 581 yards and seven touchdowns and already owns the Tiger career records for catches (80) and receiving yards (1,169) by a tight end. The top returning ball-carrier is Rodrigues “Dreke” Clark (561 yards last year), but Marquavius Weaver (from Bartlett High School), Kylan Watkins (Whitehaven), Cameron Fleming, and Brandon Thomas give the running back position every bit as much depth — or question marks — as quarterback. “We started seven different running backs last year,” notes Silverfield. “Probably not where you want to be, but our bell cow [Kenneth Gainwell] opted out five days before the first game. We’ve got to figure out who that guy is [this season].”

High Expectations for Tiger Talent

The Tigers have become one of the top-scoring programs in the country, with averages (points per game) the last five seasons of 38.8, 45.5, 42.9, 40.4, and 31.0. Conversely, the Memphis defense has allowed its share of points, with averages (since 2016) of 28.8, 32.5, 31.9, 26.4, and 27.9 last season under first-year defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre. A pair of ugly losses at Cincinnati (49-10) and Tulane (35-21) exposed the Tiger defense in ways that even a prolific offense couldn’t hide. This year’s defense will be led by a pair of preseason all-conference selections, first-team lineman Morris Joseph (seven quarterback sacks in 2020) and second-team safety Quindell Johnson. As a sophomore last season, Johnson led the AAC with 60 solo tackles, pulled down three interceptions, forced two fumbles, and recovered another.

“Quindell is an extremely smart football player,” says MacIntyre. “He can cap the defense and see what’s going on with the offenses [we face]. Not only does he have the ability to make plays on interceptions, but running the alley, making checks, and just his great football savvy.”

As high as the expectations have become for the Tigers here in the Mid-South, the program has drifted back into a middle tier when measured nationally. Only one AAC team (Cincinnati) cracked the AP’s preseason Top 25, Memphis not so much as receiving a vote. As for their conference standing, the Tigers are projected to finish fifth in the AAC by media pollsters, behind the Bearcats, UCF, SMU, and Houston.

Silverfield takes the stance of a coach with many more years behind him when it comes to such prognosticating, or circling games on the Tiger schedule. No one has won (or lost) a game yet, so paper standings in August mean zilch. And yes, he’s circled a game on the Memphis schedule: the opener this Saturday against Nicholls State. (September 18th might be highlighted on a few Memphis refrigerators. Mississippi State visits the Liberty Bowl for the first time since 2011. The Tigers haven’t beaten the Bulldogs since 1993 and not since 1988 on their home turf.)

“This is a winning program now,” stresses Silverfield. “The city embraces Memphis Tiger football. The love for the players grows, year in and year out. It’s what makes this place unique. Our players appreciate the support they get from the city. We know what a home-field advantage we have.”

Silverfield learned much about himself over his rookie year — that unique rookie year — as a head coach. “As a first-year coach, you want to control everything,” he says. “Nothing kicked me in the teeth like the pandemic telling me, ‘Hey, you have very little control over everything.’ I control what I can. But every day there is going to be something, and I have to deal with it the right way, to have patience but act swiftly. I’m still gonna coach hard and hold people accountable. But when issues arise, I better be level-headed in order to figure things out.”

2021 TIGER FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
• September 4 (6 p.m.) — Nicholls State
• September 11 (6 p.m.) — at Arkansas State
• September 18 (3 p.m.) — Mississippi State
• September 25 — UTSA
• October 2 (11 a.m.) — at Temple
• October 9 — at Tulsa
• October 14 (Thursday, 6:30 p.m.) — Navy
• October 22 (Friday, 6 p.m.) — at UCF
• November 6 — SMU
• November 13 — East Carolina
• November 19 (Friday, 8 p.m.) — at Houston
• November 26 (Friday) or Nov. 27 — Tulane

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From My Seat Sports

The Ghosting of Memphis Sports (Part 3)

CREDIT: Sean Locke Photography/Dreamstime.com

“Just as every restaurant, company, and organization across the country has had to change the way they operate to keep their customers safe, we’re having to do the same thing. . . . You can be assured, we’ll manage it appropriately.”
— University of Memphis Athletic Director Laird Veatch (June 11th)

Picture the Liberty Bowl packed with 59,000 fans for the home team’s epic win over SMU last November, ESPN’s cameras broadcasting that sold-out football frenzy for the entire country to enjoy. Picture it now, because you won’t see it again — a football stadium packed to capacity — anytime soon. The University of Memphis has already disclosed the likelihood of limited seating — perhaps only season-ticket holders — if football games are played this fall. The aim, of course, is to practice a form of social distancing in an environment built for the precise opposite.
Sean Locke Photography/Dreamstime.com

No human being on the planet had knowledgeable experience with a pandemic before the current crisis hit. The global shutdown has stretched the thinking capacity of the world’s smartest scientists, to say nothing of what it’s done mentally to the rest of us. So what can be expected of leaders like Veatch in the realm of sports, where just about every instinct — starting with the gathering of people to, you know, watch — feels counterintuitive?

For longtime followers of the Tiger football program, the jokes write themselves:

“Social distance? Did you attend a game during the Larry Porter years?”

“Masks at a football game? Have you eaten French fries at the Liberty Bowl?”

The Tigers have played more than 50 years in a stadium about 20,000 seats too large. Until they started winning conference championships, that is. That oversized bowl may turn into a blessing if pandemic conditions persist. Arkansas State and UT-Martin — to name two opponents Memphis is scheduled to host this year — are unlikely to draw a crowd much larger than 30,000. Smallish groups (10 people? 20?) may be asked to sit together, and visits to the restroom, as uncomfortable as it sounds, will likely be regimented and monitored. (Even a crowd as small as 10,000 would make, say, “two visitors at a time” all but impossible in a public restroom.)

Here’s the thing: We have to try. Carefully and intelligently, but we have to try to play games again. Major League Baseball is scheduled to return later this month, a 60-game season of regional play that will, hopefully, be followed by a postseason and World Series in October. (It will be a cruel tease for fans of the Memphis Redbirds, as minor-league teams will not be stocked with players this year.) The World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational has been rescheduled for July 30-August 2 at TPC Southwind. Golf is among the few sports made for a pandemic, where the view on television can be a better experience than hiking a course with a gallery of fellow fans. If the players and tournament officials can be properly monitored and cared for, the WGC could be an unforgettable — and singular — highlight of the Memphis sports summer.

There’s a reason beyond cheering and championships to find our way back to spectator sports. Games we play move dollars we spend. “If things play out as we’re currently projecting, it will be a seven-figure impact — to the negative — for the [athletic] department,” says Veatch in describing the financial hit the U of M will take in a reduced-seating world for football and men’s basketball. “We’re trying to get our heads around how to manage that appropriately.”

The absence of sports — locally and worldwide — has been traumatic, but hardly tragic. Not when the COVID-19 death toll worldwide has climbed above half a million. Not when the United States has become the global test case for how not to manage a killer contagion. No, the absence of sports has been merely a painful casualty of a global crisis.
More patience required. More determination. We’ll remember 2020 as the year we learned it’s not so much our right to cheer our favorite teams, but a privilege.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

There was a time, not that long ago, when attendance at a Memphis Tiger football game could have been counted with a pair of binoculars and a tally sheet. Thankfully, tabulating a Liberty Bowl crowd is a bigger challenge today, third-year coach Mike Norvell’s team having grown into one of the most prolific scoring clubs in the country.
Larry Kuzniewski

But something was amiss at last Saturday’s season opener. Announced attendance was 33,697 which would mean a stadium with a capacity of 58,318 was 57 percent full. The crowd was larger than that, and by more than a tally sheet or two. At least 40,000 human beings were in the stands when Tony Pollard set up to receive the season’s opening kickoff. (Here’s a tip: Look at the back corners of each end zone. Let your eyes draw a line from those points to the edge of the stadium. If fans fill those seats, the crowd is larger than 40,000.) The counting glitch is pleasantly ironic, as the University of Memphis has had its problems of late — particularly on basketball nights at FedExForum — with inflated attendance numbers. Last weekend, you had a sizable crowd on hand to see an FCS visitor get turned inside out by halftime. It felt like the welcome-back party a Top 25 team deserves. So don’t believe that announced number. And expect attendance to grow as the temperature drops, conference foes come to town, and a star-studded Tiger team tries to, once again, attract Top 25 votes.

• An FCS blowout is an analyst’s worst nightmare. What are we to take from the Tigers’ evisceration of Mercer? What a fearsome Tiger defense (174 yards allowed)!
What a diverse Tiger offense (eight offensive touchdowns scored by six different players)! Tom Brady plus Danny White equals Brady White (358 yards and five touchdowns in a single half)!

Throw all the highlights out as this Saturday’s Navy game approaches. Mercer looked like a team that will be gazing up at the rest of the Southern Conference come November. The Tigers played three quarterbacks, and not one of them hit the turf via sack. Conversely, the Tiger defense manhandled the Mercer offensive line, sacking the two Bear quarterbacks a combined four times and allowing merely 2.5 yards per carry when Mercer ran the ball. College football isn’t this easy, not at the American Athletic Conference level. I wonder how Norvell and his staff even utilize the game film to teach Tiger players for games to come. (“See how Calvin Austin ran around and past every last Bear defender on that 83-yard run? Do that, fellas. As often as you can.”) It’s great that Memphis is no longer on the wrong end of 66-14 blowouts. But if game film is nourishment for a football team, last Saturday’s opener is the equivalent of cotton candy. The pink kind.

• Navy’s triple-option attack is vexing. (Stick to your man, boys. Stray toward the ball and you’re doomed.) But the Midshipmen are giving as much as they’re taking if you count the 59 points Hawaii put up in their season-opening loss on the islands last weekend. Navy gained 326 yards on the ground . . . but allowed 436 through the air. (Cole McDonald completed 30 of 41 passes and tossed six touchdowns for the Rainbow Warriors.) The Tigers squeaked by Navy last season (30-27), a critical win on their way to the AAC West Division title. Can Memphis capture a win on just its second visit to Annapolis?

It may have been just one half, and he may have been carving up FCS fodder, but I’m a believer in Brady White. By some measures, he’s a rookie quarterback. By others, he’s starting his fourth season in and around FBS football. He looked poised both in the pocket and at the podium after Saturday’s win. California cool, you might say. (White hails from Newhall in the Golden State.) I don’t see him getting rattled at Navy, particularly if he watches and absorbs McDonald’s performance against the Midshipmen. Twice during last weekend’s press conference, White emphasized his duty to get the ball in the hands of the “studs” who make plays in blue and gray. With proper decision-making from White, the Tigers should still be undefeated this time next week.

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Cover Feature News

Tiger Football 2017: Air Raid!

University of Memphis quarterback Riley Ferguson has not one, but two artistic arms. The senior from Charlotte has adorned himself — shoulder to mid-forearm — with ink in various symbols, shapes, and swirls. But he has a favorite on his left (non-throwing) biceps. It’s an ornate cross, surrounded by six words: “May your light shine over me.” The art tugs at Ferguson’s heart, as it pays tribute to a cousin he lost in 2016, shortly before his first season behind center for the Tigers. But there’s a message, too, that Ferguson’s school of choice — and its football team’s growing fan base — might appreciate, for Ferguson himself has shone brightly since arriving on the U of M campus.

Tasked with a challenge no previous Tiger quarterback has faced — replacing a first-round NFL draft pick — Ferguson managed to break that quarterback’s single-season touchdown record (he tossed 32), complete 63 percent of his passes, and compile 3,698 yards through the air (a figure topped only by Paxton Lynch, now a member of the Denver Broncos). Playing for a rookie coach (Mike Norvell), Ferguson turned a transition year into an 8-5 season, enough to give Memphis its most wins (27) over any three-year period in the program’s history. For only the second time (the first being 2015), Memphis scored more than 500 points. All Ferguson has to do now is follow that success . . . and improve.

“We’ve been working on our chemistry,” says Ferguson. “Everybody in the offense is way more comfortable than we were at this time last year. We were out there thinking last year, learning. Just like anything, the more you practice something, the better you get. It will be a huge advantage for us.”

A quarterback is relentless in his work on mechanics: footwork, arm angle, release point, follow-through. But as his senior season approaches, Ferguson has focused more on the tool between his ears. “There’s always room for improvement,” he says. “Last year I was in the film room, but I need to get in there even more, to pick up anything I can from an opponent. Learning defenses, identifying keys.”

When it comes to shining that fabled light, Ferguson emphasizes how comfortable he’s become representing Memphis, both the school and community. “It’s kind of a smaller Charlotte [his hometown] to me,” says Ferguson. “The people here are great, and my teammates. I truly believe [coming here] is the best decision I’ve made in my life.”

“If you look at the last month of [last] season,” notes Norvell, “Riley was playing at a really high level. He needs to continue to progress from that. If he can go out and command this offense, make the right decisions, he’s got some good playmakers around him.”

Mike Norvell

Speaking of playmakers …

Ferguson would not have compiled his gaudy numbers without one Anthony Miller. As a junior, the former walk-on (and graduate of Christian Brothers High School) broke single-season receiving records that had been held for more than two decades by Isaac Bruce, a man now on the cusp of election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Miller’s 95 receptions shattered Bruce’s 1993 standard of 74. His 1,434 receiving yards was 40 percent better than Bruce’s mark of 1,054 (also in ’93). He set a new Tiger record for receiving yards in one October game (250), then a new record for receptions in a November game (15). With 71 catches and 854 yards this season, Miller would break the Tiger career marks in only three seasons. (Miller missed his freshman season with a shoulder injury.)

“I look at those numbers [now],” says Miller, “and they look good. But when I look at the film, I had plenty of opportunities where I could have made those numbers grow. Dropped balls. Missed assignments. The wrong route. Things we can clean up this season.”

Miller is now a focal point for any defense preparing to face the Tigers, this despite his name being left off the American Athletic Conference’s all-league team after the 2016 season. He embraces the extra attention and doesn’t shy from goal-setting standards beyond the reach of most human receivers. “Riley and I have this connection,” stresses Miller. “He knows when it’s crunch time, I’m the one to throw the ball to. But I’m not the only one on offense; we’re full of weapons.”

As for individual goals, take a deep breath: “Twenty touchdowns and 2,000 yards,” says Miller. “We’re just going to continue to work. We’ve got depth everywhere. People think they know the firepower we have, but I don’t think they really understand.”

Riley Ferguson

When Miller speaks of weapons, he means a collection of skill-position players as adept and deep as any Memphis team has seen in years. Senior tailback Doroland Dorceus led the Tigers with 810 rushing yards last season and with a similar campaign this fall would move into second place on the Tigers’ career chart, behind only DeAngelo Williams. But when Dorceus isn’t carrying the ball, Ferguson may be handing it or tossing it to any of a trio of sophomores: Patrick Taylor (546 yards in ’16), Darrell Henderson (482), or sophomore Tony Pollard, a graduate of Melrose High School who earned AAC Special Teams Player of the Year honors last year for his kick-return prowess.

The Tiger receiving corps is no less deep, with senior Phil Mayhue (677 receiving yards as a junior) supporting Miller as a downfield threat. Sophomore John “Pop” Williams and freshman Damonte Coxie impressed during training camp and hope to climb the depth chart as the season unfolds. (The unit took a hit during preseason camp when senior Sam Craft was lost for the year with a torn ACL in his left knee. Craft had been granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA after missing most of the 2016 season with a back injury.)

“Our skill-position players are as good as I’ve had,” says Norvell, who spent four seasons in the high-flying Pac-12 Conference as an assistant with Arizona State before taking the Memphis job. “Guys who understand this offense know they can get the ball on any play; you have to do your job to get open. If the defense does its job and takes someone away, it will leave one-on-one matchups for others. We’re versatile and we create opportunities.”

Can Miller actually improve on his record-breaking numbers from 2016? “Everyone can improve,” says Norvell. “No one here is a finished product.”

Anthony Miller

When asked about the offensive line entrusted with protecting Ferguson and opening holes for Dorceus, Taylor, and friends, Norvell says he’s enjoyed watching the competition in camp. Despite the offensive production last season, the line graded out as serviceable, at best. Veterans like center Drew Kyser and right guard Gabe Kuhn are back, and in freshman Obinna Eze from Nashville, the Tigers have 283 of the highest-rated pounds in recent recruiting history.

(Norvell notes offensive linemen have the most challenging leap from high school to college football, so patience is urged on the Eze watch.) Norvell says another newcomer, massive juco transfer Roger Joseph (6’5″, 317 lbs.), has a chance to make an impact up front.

The Tigers may have won eight games by averaging 38.8 points last season, but they lost five because they allowed 28.8 points per game (and a staggering 49.8 in the five defeats).

A completely revamped secondary will back a group of veterans at linebacker, the hope being measurable improvement in slowing opposing offenses. Senior linebacker Genard Avery — a first-team All-AAC honoree last fall — will be the face of the defense. Avery led the Tigers with 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage (including five sacks) and finished second on the team with 63 solo tackles.

Patrick Taylor

It’s the defensive backfield that proved most vulnerable for Memphis a year ago, and the unit has new blood. “I’ve been really impressed with the young guys in our secondary,” says Norvell. “[Safeties] John Cook and Shaun Rupert have done a great job of providing leadership. [Freshman cornerback] T. J. Carter came in as a highly rated young man, and my favorite thing about him is his work ethic. He’s come in to earn his position; he brings the right mentality every day at practice.”

The return of pass-rusher Jackson Dillon, who missed the 2016 season with a knee injury, is the college equivalent of a major trade acquisition. The Oklahoma native had 20.5 career tackles for a loss in three seasons prior to his injury.

“He’s a great leader,” says Norvell, “and we have some guys on our defensive front who have played a good deal of football.” Senior end Ernest Suttles and sophomore end Jonathan Wilson (three sacks last season) will lead the push on the line of scrimmage. Look for sophomore Austin Hall to be a playmaker at the STAR position (a hybrid linebacker/safety role). Hall started 11 games as a redshirt-freshman and had 7.5 tackles for loss. “We want to attack the football,” emphasizes Norvell. “Whether we’re playing a base defense or pressuring, we want to be impactful and make sure we’re communicating.”

The good news on special teams is that Pollard is back to return kicks along with all-AAC punter Spencer Smith. But the Tigers must replace placekicker Jake Elliott, a two-time AAC Special Teams Player of the Year and now a member of the NFL’s Cincinnati Bengals. Freshman Riley Patterson will be staring down uprights this season. (Patterson connected on a 54-yard field goal as a junior at Edwardsville High School in Illinois.)

The feeling around the Tiger program is one of general comfort and confidence, not what you’d necessarily expect under the command of a second-year head coach who turns 36 in October. Whether or not the U of M has become a “football school” remains debatable, but don’t doubt a collective buy-in when it comes to the Norvell mission.

“Coach Norvell has continued the culture Justin Fuente started,” says Miller, who spent his first three seasons (including a redshirt year) under Norvell’s predecessor. “There were players here not willing to work, and [Fuente] got rid of those guys. Those of us who stayed, when you work hard, it doesn’t go unnoticed. I’ve tried to continue that. We were brought in as soon as [Norvell] got here. When coaches come in, it can be hard for players to adjust. But his offense is effective, and he’s one of the greatest football masterminds I’ve been around.”

Merely five seasons removed from a two-season train wreck during which the Tigers won three of 24 games, Memphis is favored to win the American Athletic Conference’s West Division. The Tigers even received votes in the Top 25 Amway Coaches Poll. “Nothing changes for us,” says Norvell. “It’s about staying focused on today, the steps in front of us. Preseason recognition is a great compliment, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to get it done. It shows a level of respect for our program, not just where we are but where we’re going. But we gotta go out there and get it.”

Riley Ferguson

The 2017 SCHEDULE

The Tigers have a favorable schedule, one without the likes of USF (favored in the media poll to win the league crown), Temple, or Cincinnati. Their three East Division foes are UCF and a pair of teams expected to finish near the bottom of the standings (East Carolina and UConn). A September 16th visit from UCLA and one of the country’s top quarterbacks, sophomore Josh Rosen, will highlight the home schedule. (*AAC game)

August 31 (Thursday) — LOUISIANA-MONROE

September 9 — at UCF*

September 16 — UCLA

September 23 — SOUTHERN ILLINOIS

September 30 — at Georgia State

October 6 (Friday) — at UConn*

October 14 — NAVY*

October 19 (Thursday) — at Houston*

October 27 (Friday) — TULANE*

November 3 (Friday) — at Tulsa*

November 18 — SMU*

November 25 — EAST CAROLINA*

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Protect the People

CREDIT: Susan Ellis

At 3 p.m. on Saturday, about 250 people gathered in Health Sciences Park around the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue.

“Whose city? Whose park?” went one chant.

“The people united will never be defeated,” went another.

Those in support of the statue weren’t overtly present, though there were some reported sightings. Perhaps it was the heat (heat index 105) that kept them at bay.

Protesters tried to drape the statue in a giant cloth banner and made some headway before the action was quashed by police.

One man yelled for the speakers to stop cussing. The response? “We’re here to take the motherfucking statue down!”

A second attempt at draping the statue led to arrests. Protesters surrounded the cop car to keep them from leaving. The car backed up, bumping into some people, which brought a brief but scary flash of Heather Heyer’s murder in Charlottesville. One woman began to sob.

And then another chant: “Protect the people, not the statue.”

At some point during the event, a call was put out for elected officials to come and speak. There was no response.

Meanwhile at the Crosstown Concourse, both Mayor Luttrell and Mayor Strickland were there for the grand opening of the $200 million project that Todd Richardson, one of the masterminds behind Crosstown, called a miracle.

That event drew between 10,000 and 13,000 people. There were two balloon drops. The balloons were green, black, and white.

The protesters at Health Sciences Park want the statues down, yes, but they also demanded equality across the board — in education, in transportation, in how they are treated by the cops.

Protect the people, not the statue.

• It appears as of now that Strickland is determined to follow the letter of the law in regards to the removal of the statues of Forrest and Jefferson Davis, but wouldn’t it be cool if tomorrow when when we woke up, the statues — poof! — were gone? Now, that would be miraculous.

On Sunday, Strickland issued a statement on Facebook after being chastised for “leaning closer and closer toward white supremacist apologetics” by a pastor in The Commercial Appeal. Strickland’s response was testy, to say the least, and read in part, “I want every Memphian to see the divisive, empty rhetoric that the media chooses to highlight. I want every Memphian to see the absurdity of someone accusing the mayor who is actually working on removing Confederate statues as being an apologist for white supremacists.”

This worked out really well for him because now people are calling him Trump.

• This week’s cover story is about the University of Memphis’ football team and primarily their quarterback Riley Ferguson. Last season, Ferguson emerged from under the shadow of Paxton Lynch and did a pretty good job of it.

My takeaway from the story is that the team will win it all.

• One last thing, this Friday, August 25th, is the last day to vote in this year’s Best of Memphis. I may have mentioned before that I will not say if you don’t vote you can’t complain. Complain all you want.

The 2017 Best of Memphis issue will be on the stands September 27th.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

On Frank Murtaugh’s Tiger Blue post “The Tigers’ Five Biggest Wins at the Liberty Bowl” …

That 1996 W over the Vols is without a doubt the most incredible, satisfying game I’ve ever attended. Memories of that day will keep me warm and fuzzy the rest of my life. After the game, the 18,000 UT fans left in total silence without saying a word. You talk about surreal. …

Midtown Mark

Memphis hasn’t had a kickoff return for a touchdown since the Tennessee game in 1996. I’ve read multiple sources online indicating that could be the longest such drought for any DI football program ever, or at least going back to DI’s creation as we know it in 1950.

AlonsoWDC

On Toby Sells’ post “Sammons: Lipscomb Allegations ‘Sickening,’ City to Offer Free Counseling” …

So Sammons is convicting on words only? I smell a rat here, and you all are falling for it. Shame on you all!

Earnestine Taylor

That was a pretty strong statement by Jack, wasn’t it? Apparently, what he heard he believes sounds a bit odd … but he knows more than I.

Scott

On the editorial “The Lipscomb Bombshell” …

For the second time in two days (the other being Jackson Baker’s blog on the matter yesterday) the Flyer, which is held out a progressive voice in this community, has felt the need to mention Mr. Lipscomb’s sexual orientation as though it has anything to do with the crimes he is accused of. Would the Flyer have noted his orientation if Lipscomb had been accused of abusing under age girls? How exactly has he “benefited” from people not caring if he is gay? Are you implying that people should have suspected something like this was going on because he is gay? It sure seems like it. I am in no way supporting Mr. Lipscomb, but I expect better from the Flyer.

Evil

On Les Smith’s “A View from Afar” …

I have found Les Smith’s column both enlightening and refreshing. That is why when I read his last column “A View From Afar,” I felt compelled to clarify a point made regarding the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission statistics. The Crime Commission uses the year 2006 as a basis of our reporting for a strategic reason. In 2005 our community came together to create a plan of action to reduce crime. The plan, Operation: Safe Community (OSC), is a strategic initiative to reduce crime in Memphis and Shelby County, spearheaded by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission. The underlying philosophy of this plan was best stated by John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address: “United, there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided, there is little we can do — for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.”

The crime-reduction initiative, chaired by Attorney General Amy Weirich now has 26 strategies, 45 accountable partners, and more than 100 public and private agencies engaged in its implementation. The goal is to make Memphis-Shelby County one of the safest communities of its size in the nation — a truly powerful challenge.

Yes, we have a long way to go, but we are making progress and holding ourselves accountable, as Mr. Smith recommended in his article. Each month, we compare where we are in the crime rate now to where we were when we started on this endeavor. So far, the news in good but not great. As of the last reporting period, violent crime rate is down 19 percent, and property crime is down 35 percent.

But as Mr. Smith stated, those statistics are of little comfort to a victim of crime, so let me put those statistics in real terms. There were over 1,600 fewer victims of violent crime in the first seven months of 2015 than there were in the first seven months of the year our plan began, 2006, including 24 fewer murder victims. President Kennedy’s words are as true today as they were in 1960, and we’re out to prove it.

Rick Masson

Interim Executive Director

Memphis Shelby Crime Commission

Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

• Saturday night was a wholesome welcome back to football season at the Liberty Bowl, and for a team gaining traction (finally) with a population of local sports fans accustomed to looking forward to basketball season in September. Excluding games involving Ole Miss or Tennessee, the crowd of 41,730 was the 12th-largest in 50 years (and one game) of football at the Liberty Bowl. It was the third time since Justin Fuente’s arrival in 2012 that the Tigers have drawn more than 40,000 fans to a cavernous stadium that seats more than 60,000. (For some perspective, in last season’s opener — against an FCS foe — the crowd topped out at 27,361.)

Over the three seasons before Fuente arrived (2009-11), the Tigers averaged 23,263 for home games. The empty seats were a direct reflection of miserable play on the field, the collective sense being a program could be dying right before the (precious few) eyes of its most devoted fans. Now, you’d be surprised if the Tigers don’t have 40,000 in the seats on September 24th when a rival for the American Athletic Conference championship (Cincinnati) comes to town for a Thursday-night tilt. In a half-century of football at the Liberty Bowl, Memphis has averaged 40,000 fans only three times: 1976, 2003, and 2004. (The latter two were at the height of DeAngelo Williams’s college career, and the average his senior year — 39,991 in 2005 — fell just short of the mark.) Football season has arrived for the University of Memphis.

• Considering the shortcomings of the Tigers’ opponent Saturday night, I’ll refrain from measuring individual performance until Memphis takes the field this Saturday at Kansas. (If Missouri State had 63 players in uniform — the limit for FCS programs — the Tigers had 130.) But the most inspiring sight in the lopsided Tiger win was actually multiple sightings of tailbacks landing in the end zone. Doroland Dorceus and Jarvis Cooper each scored a pair of touchdowns, the latter gaining 102 yards on just 18 carries. Add Sam Craft to the mix (72 yards on 12 carries) and freshman Jamarius Henderson (73 yards on 15 carries), and the Memphis offense has four sturdy wheels for an offensive machine set up more for lengthy strikes than the quick variety. With holes carved by a veteran offensive line and multiple targets downfield for a veteran quarterback (freeing up space beyond the line of scrimmage), I don’t see a ceiling for the Tiger ground game.

• This Saturday’s game at Kansas will be just the fourth in Tiger history against teams currently in the Big 12. (Memphis beat TCU in 2002 and has gone 1-2 against Kansas State.) And the Jayhawks — losers to South Dakota State last weekend — may finish tenth in the Big 12 this season (that would be last). But the Tigers need to play motivated, to treat this game like one of two they’ll play against “Power Five” competition. (Kansas would likely finish in the bottom half of the AAC.) 

Should the Big 12 expand in the near future to 12 teams (imagine that), Memphis wants to be on the radar. The Tigers’ performance in Lawrence could help create a blinking red dot that grows into something larger than mere distraction on that radar screen. How best to motivate a heavily favored team? If I were Justin Fuente, I’d find time to run a clip of a certain basketball game played on April 7, 2008. Most of the current Tigers were in middle-school (or younger) when Mario Chalmers broke a region’s heart. They play for that region now, though, and aim to become the first Memphis team in 11 years to open a season 2-0. Gloves off.