Tag: Tigers

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Sports Tiger Blue

Senior Community

Senior guard Kendric Davis (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

In more than a century of University of Memphis basketball, we have never seen a team like coach Penny Hardaway’s current roster. Particularly in the era of “one-and-done” NBA-bound talent, the Tigers’ collection of seniors — essentially Hardaway’s entire rotation — is extraordinary. In Saturday’s win over Ole Miss, nine of the ten players who took the floor for the home team at FedExForum were classified as seniors. (The outlier was redshirt-freshman Johnathan Lawson.) Contrast this with the end of the 2021-22 season, when only one Tiger was saluted on Senior Day. That player (Alex Lomax) is once again a senior this season.

There are a few qualifiers to this outbreak of senioritis in the Memphis program. The pandemic restrictions of the 2020-21 campaign (one that ended with an NIT championship for Memphis) led to an extra year of eligibility for college players nationwide. Thus you see Lomax playing an unprecedented fifth full season in blue and gray. Three of his senior classmates — Kendric Davis, DeAndre Williams, and Elijah McCadden — are also enjoying that “5th-year senior” classification. And no fewer than six of the nine seniors in the Tiger rotation are transfers, having played for other programs before arriving in Memphis. Malcolm Dandridge and Jayden Hardaway (Penny’s son) will join Lomax this season as the only players to suit up four years under Hardaway. Being a senior these days is different from what you remember about high school (or college).

How is this veteran roster impacting the culture and competitive strength of the Tiger program? It’s hard to imagine the group being rattled, either by small-scale disappointment (Seton Hall’s buzzer-beating bank shot to beat them in Orlando) or larger issues like a significant injury or losing streak. This group has seen a lot. Those nine rotation seniors entered this season with a combined total of 29 college seasons under their belts. The ten Tigers who played in the loss to Gonzaga during last season’s NCAA tournament had a combined 15 full seasons behind them. Memphis may or may not have the best talent in the American Athletic Conference. But it will be hard to find another team in the entire country, let alone the AAC, to match the Tigers’ “battle-tested” metric.

“They’re definitely taking on my personality,” said Hardaway (the coach), after last week’s win over North Alabama. “They really want to win. They have chips on their shoulders because they feel like they haven’t gotten the respect they deserve. Coming together as a team, we gained some guys who know how to play and want to win. That’s what you’re seeing.”         

Penny’s personality — certainly that collective chip balanced on Tiger shoulders — will come in handy as the Tigers face three more SEC teams in eight days (December 10-17). Memphis remains unranked, a peripheral threat, at least in the minds of AP voters. A win over Auburn (currently ranked 11th) or Alabama (8th) would move the Tigers closer to the national conversation. 

Then, of course, there’s the American Athletic Conference and dreams of a first AAC title for Memphis. In the way will be the Houston Cougars, the top-ranked team in the country. The Tigers and Cougars won’t meet on the floor until February 19th (in Texas), then the regular-season finale at FedExForum (March 5th). Lots of basketball to play between now and then, games that need to be treated as building blocks toward something larger. That will require a steady, mature, game-to-game approach. The kind of intangible seniors are known for.    

If you land tickets for that Senior Day showdown in early March, be sure and get to the arena early. The ceremony will take some time.

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From My Seat Sports

Bowls and ‘Boats

Seth Henigan: Bowl-bound. (Photo: Larry Kuzniewski)

This being a week for giving thanks, we should count our blessings for the bounty of big-time sports raising the Memphis smile index to record levels. In the ever-fluctuating world of athletes and coaches — injuries (we’ll get to those) and firings around the next corner — it’s rare to find so much optimism, even confidence, throughout a single city. Count the win totals as they climb and consider: the Memphis Showboats are back.

The University of Memphis football program secured a ninth consecutive bowl berth last Saturday with a win over North Alabama. Now 6-5 with a single regular-season game left to play (this Saturday at SMU), coach Ryan Silverfield’s squad endured an ugly four-game losing streak, the kind of skid that typically kills a season. Yet it appears Memphis will play a 13th game after all.

On the hardwood, coach Penny Hardaway has somehow built a Tiger roster that could exceed its preseason hype. A trio of veteran transfers led by Kendric Davis lends a “grown-up” feel to a Memphis team already stocked with a pair of “seasoned” leaders in Alex Lomax and DeAndre Williams. Davis outscored the entire VCU team in the first half of Sunday’s win at FedExForum. He’s a legitimate All-America candidate.

And, of course, we have the Grizzlies. After Sunday’s loss at Brooklyn, the Griz are 10-7, good for sixth in the Western Conference. This despite playing 17 games (all of them) without once suiting up every member of their big-three: Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. As Jackson plays his way toward full strength, and with Bane’s presumed return in a couple of weeks, it’s hard to find a team in the entire NBA, let alone the Western Conference, capable of slowing the Grizzlies’ rise. Until, that is, we watch Morant helped off the court with another lower-body (this time, his left ankle) injury.

The NBA season is a slog, friends. Even if Morant misses a month, he’ll have more than three to play before the postseason begins. The defending champion Golden State Warriors are under .500 (8-9). The longtime face of the league (LeBron James) takes the floor for a 5-10 L.A. Lakers outfit. Optimism? If the Grizzlies can reach the playoffs at full strength, another second-round exit in 2023 would be a disappointment.

And then we have the Showboats! Those of us who remember the brief (1984-85) stint of the original ’Boats know USFL action at the Liberty Bowl was about as much fun as a fan could have with his clothes on. I attended a sold-out battle with the Birmingham Stallions in June 1984 during a visit to see my grandmother. It remains one of the most exciting sporting events of my life. The new operation is going with new colors and a new logo, but I’ll be the first in line if the Showboats sell retro gear on game days. Will Memphis have an appetite for spring football? During a Grizzlies playoff run and the start of baseball season? It’s hard to tell. But there’s something to be said for a positive vibe in sports. And the Memphis Showboats’ vibe has long outlived their presence in this town. Again with the optimism.

In addition to the Tigers and Mustangs on the gridiron, the holiday weekend will feature three Tiger basketball games (Penny’s squad will play at the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando), and a pair of Grizzly contests (New Orleans at home Friday, then at New York Sunday). Thanksgiving sports is more, in fact, than the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. Relish every moment, and pass the gravy.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts: Punting Prowess

(Credit: Larry Kuzniewski)

• A remarkable streak will come to an end this season for the University of Memphis football program. Every season since 2016 (so six straight, through the 2021 campaign), the Tigers featured either a 1,000-yard rusher or a receiver with 1,000 yards through the air. The streak began with Anthony Miller hauling in 1,434 yards worth of receptions in 2016, and will end with Calvin Austin’s total (1,149 yards) last year. Even more astounding, in three of these seasons (2017-19), the Tigers had both a runner and receiver top 1,000 yards. Prior to this epic statistical era, the program record for such a streak was three (DeAngelo Williams’ three 1,000-yard rushing seasons from 2003 to 2005). Before the streak began, Memphis had only had a single 1,000-yard season by a receiver (Isaac Bruce in 1993).

Entering this Saturday’s game against North Alabama, Asa Martin leads Memphis with 331 rushing yards. Tight end Caden Prieskorn tops Tiger receivers with 480 yards. The Memphis offense has become “committee” oriented, among the explanations for the team’s 5-5 record. Stars win football games. They also draw fans.

• It’s hard to celebrate punters. In 2013, Tom Hornsey won the Ray Guy Award and first-team All-America honors as he shattered punting records for Memphis, but the team finished 3-9 for a sixth consecutive losing season. Fans don’t stand up and cheer when their punter trots onto the field. (They actually do the opposite.) A punter’s “success” is dripping with irony.

But it’s time we acknowledge the season Memphis punter Joe Doyle is having. The senior is second in the entire country with an average of 47.3 yards per punt, a figure that would break (barely) the Tiger record of 47.2, set by Spencer Smith in 2015. Better yet, 12 of Doyle’s 40 punts have pinned the Tigers’ opponent inside their own 20-yard line. And that’s where punters earn their trophies. A booming leg is one thing, and a cloud-seeking football can be fun to watch in flight. But can a punter “flip the field” when a team’s offense stalls? Joe Doyle can.

• The late Danton Barto will be saluted Saturday when his jersey number (59) becomes the seventh to be retired by the Memphis program. Barto’s Tiger record for career tackles (273) hasn’t been approached since he played his last game in 1993. He’ll join John Bramlett and Charles Greenhill as the only defensive players to receive the program’s ultimate honor, and he’s only the third Tiger to have played since 1990 and get his jersey retired (along with Isaac Bruce and DeAngelo Williams).

The Tigers will also salute a departing group of seniors, players who have enjoyed a level of success Barto didn’t. How many fans will be at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium to applaud these past and present Tiger heroes? A visit from an FCS opponent (North Alabama) the week before Thanksgiving is not a recipe for a large crowd, and Memphis has yet to see 30,000 fans in the stadium this season. Perhaps a 1 p.m. kickoff will help, but it will be chilly (forecast: low-40s), and won’t impact the standings in the American Athletic Conference. A sixth win, though, would clinch a ninth straight season of bowl eligibility for Memphis, an unprecedented run in these parts. It would be the kind of day that would fill Danton Barto with pride.

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Sports Tiger Blue

“Spiritual Momentum”

Lester Quinones (photo by Larry Kuzniewski)

Sunday at FedExForum felt like big-time college basketball. Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery were courtside to describe the Memphis-Houston game for a national television audience, the same CBS tandem we’ll see for the national championship on April 4th. The 14th-ranked Cougars stormed out of the visitors’ locker room, eager to avenge their only home loss of the season (to the Memphis Tigers on February 12th). Best of all, the arena was near capacity, fans almost entirely dressed in white, cheers raining down from the upper deck. It felt a lot like 2009, or at least a lot like 2019.

The Tigers won the game, and it was never close. Said senior guard Alex Lomax after his team had secured a program-record 13th win in the American Athletic Conference, “The crowd is like a sixth man, and some teams can’t handle it.” A Memphis team that would have been described as maligned — at best — a dozen games ago, completed its regular season with a record of 19-9, having won 10 of its last 11 contests. Regardless of what happens at this week’s AAC tournament in Fort Worth, Memphis should end an eight-year drought with a return to the NCAA tournament, where big-time college basketball is played for three glorious weekends.

“I feel blessed,” said Memphis coach Penny Hardaway, a man who appeared in the NCAA tournament twice as a Tiger player but seeks his first dance ticket in his fourth year at the helm of the program. “To showcase who we are against one of the best teams in the country, to the entire nation … It’s a great day to be a Tiger. The guys came together at the right time. I call it spiritual momentum. An understanding of where we want to be, leaving egos at the door, and the entire building coming together as one.”

With the postseason here, the Tigers’ first order of business is the AAC tourney, where they’ll open with a quarterfinal game Friday night. The Tigers have only reached the AAC final once (they lost in 2016), and they’ll likely have to face nemesis SMU in the semifinals. But the two wins over Houston and the upset of 6th-ranked Alabama in December should be enough for Memphis to play on even if it comes up short in Texas. 

Three proverbial “intangibles” to consider for a lengthy Tiger march toward glory:

• Health. Landers Nolley, DeAndre Williams, Jalen Duren, and Alex Lomax each missed multiple games with injuries this season. All four players are now healthy, and the same goes for the other five members of Hardaway’s rotation. It’s no coincidence that winning ways were discovered when players emerged from the trainer’s room. Nolley himself has said, “it’s on us” if the Tigers fall short this month. No excuses, least of all injuries.

• Experience. The Tigers have no NCAA tournament experience, but this is a veteran bunch. Lomax and Harris are playing as seniors and Williams is 25 years old, for crying out loud. (For some perspective, Williams is three years older than Ja Morant.) Junior guard Lester Quinones has started 76 games in a Tiger uniform. Perhaps most significantly, each of these players knows how hard it is to reach the NCAA tournament. Nary a minute of playing time will be taken for granted, should Memphis make the field of 68. And pressure? These young men have spent their college days trying to live up to Memphis Tigers history (including that of their head coach), and under pandemic conditions. The lights will not be too bright for them.

• Confidence. Lomax, Harris, and Nolley appeared together for the postgame press conference after Sunday’s win over the Cougars. And what sticks with me from their appearance are the smiles. The levity. The joy from finishing the regular season on a high, and all the hopes for postseason success that kind of high delivers. There’s so much yet to gain for the University of Memphis program in 2022, but there’s also some big-time college basketball yet to be played.

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News News Blog

Rudd to Step Down at University of Memphis in 2022

CREDIT: University of Memphis

University of Memphis

U of M President M. David Rudd

The University of Memphis has announced that President M. David Rudd will be leaving his position in May 2022. He plans to transition to faculty in 2023 for research and teaching. Here’s the official announcement from the U of M:

Dr. M. David Rudd, the 12th president of the University of Memphis, will be leaving his position in May 2022. He will transition to faculty in 2023 to continue his research, after a year sabbatical abroad.

“We are deeply grateful for the tireless service and dedicated leadership President Rudd has given to the University of Memphis, the City of Memphis, the UofM Lambuth campus and all of West Tennessee,” said Doug Edwards, chair of the University of Memphis Board of Trustees. “His innovative efforts have advanced the University educationally and financially, positioning the UofM to compete at the highest levels nationally. The UofM will continue its commitment to research and attaining Carnegie 1 status; development of a diverse and inclusive campus community within faculty, staff and student populations; a comprehensive, successful athletic program; and fiscal responsibility.”

The Board of Trustees will have a special-called meeting today at noon to discuss the presidential search process which may include the search committee composition and the use of an executive search firm. Additional information on the meeting can be found at https://www.memphis.edu/bot/meetings/. The successful candidate will be named before May 2022; therefore no interim will be appointed.

Rudd is completing his seventh year as President of the University of Memphis, a position he has held since May 2014. He came to the UofM the previous year and held the position of Provost. As a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, he also continues funded research and maintains his affiliation with the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah as co-founder and scientific director.

Student success, research growth and community partnerships have been critical goals during his tenure in Memphis, with record-breaking improvements in student retention and graduation rates coupled with significant growth in research expenditures, along with community partnerships to support students. He spearheaded efforts to create a new division of Student Success; developed the University’s first integrated enrollment, retention and graduation plan; created a one-stop admissions center; launched UofM Global, developed targeted degree pathways for all majors; implemented an Academic Coaching for Excellence initiative; and offered need-based funding for the first time in UofM history.

Efforts to grow community partnerships and engagement have been successful during his tenure. Initiatives include corporate partnerships with UofM Global and FedEx (LiFE: Learning inspired by FedEx), Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MAAP) and the City of Memphis (COMPETE and RISE). These unique programs allow employees to overcome academic and financial barriers to receive their degrees. Additionally, the UMRF Research Park and the launching of UMRF Ventures, a private company held by the UofM Research Foundation, has led to many new partnerships with companies. Ventures hosts several FedEx Call Centers, a data analytic center and an IT Command Center. It employs more than 450 students and gross revenue approached $5.3 million in only its third year. Other innovative partnerships include the City of Memphis, Tennis Memphis and the UofM Leftwich Tennis Center expansion and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra in Residence at the UofM, which offers a series of world-class symphonic music on campus.

A total of more than $660 million in new University resources has been generated over the last seven years, including $260 million in fundraising, $55 million in new maintenance funds, $249 million in new capital investment and improvements and operational increases of more than $100 million. From an operational perspective, the UofM currently contributes nearly $1.1 billion in economic activity annually, supports nearly $500 million in wages and salary payments for local workers and is directly or indirectly responsible for roughly 9,900 Memphis-area jobs.

More than $500 million is being invested on campus and in the University Neighborhood District, with more than $140 million in private funds. Under Rudd’s leadership, the campus has been enhanced significantly while expanding rapidly. The Laurie-Walton Family Basketball Center and the Indoor Football Practice Facility have provided Tiger Athletics with two of the top facilities in the country. The Hunter Harrison Memorial Pedestrian Cable Bridge, parking garage, plaza and Alumni Mall Amphitheater have greatly improved the campus both functionally and aesthetically. Further, the forthcoming Scheidt Family Music Center, R. Brad Martin Student Wellness Center and Plaza, and Mike Rose Natatorium will provide students with state-of-the-art facilities to further support their growth. A new STEM building is currently in the planning phase and was funded this past year by the Tennessee legislature and set to break ground in 2022.

Rudd has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton and master’s and PhD degrees in psychology from the University of Texas.

The University of Memphis Board of Trustees extends their sincere gratitude to President M. David Rudd for his exemplary leadership and his varied and lengthy list of extraordinary accomplishments.

Rudd also shared a personal message to the UoM campus on his Twitter page.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Who Are These Memphis Tigers?

CREDIT: Joe Murphy

Ten games into a bizarre, rhythm-free basketball season, the Memphis Tigers have raised as many questions as they’ve answered. Here are four, with attempts at defogging the view.

Who is the Tigers’ Alpha?
In Penny Hardaway’s first year as head coach, Jeremiah Martin became only the fifth Tiger to score 700 points in a single season. (Hardaway himself was the second.) Last season, freshman Precious Achiuwa filled the void left by James Wiseman and earned American Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors. But this year? Who is the man? A basketball team with four or five go-to players is a team without a go-to player.
Joe Murphy

Five players have led the Tigers in scoring in at least one game, with sophomores D.J. Jeffries and Landers Nolley each leading in three. Another sophomore, Boogie Ellis, scored 24 points in the Tigers’ opening game — the team’s second highest total of the season — but doesn’t even start. Jeffries may be the most talented player on the roster, and Nolley has ACC credentials (from his season at Virginia Tech). But based on a tiny sample size of three games, DeAndre Williams may end up the face of this team. (The Evansville transfer missed the first seven games awaiting NCAA clearance.) An Alpha must want the ball not just in a game’s closing seconds, but every minute he’s on the floor. Williams appears to have a fire in his belly this program desperately needs.

What does Tiger Nation think of this team?
Related question: Would a FedExForum crowd ever boo a Hardaway-coached team? We won’t find out this winter, not with the Tigers’ home barn virtually empty for pandemic reasons. But looking back at the team’s collapse over the final four minutes against Tulsa on December 21st, it’s not hard to imagine that being an uncomfortable walk off the court for Hardaway and his players if 15,000 fans had paid for a seat to watch. It’s one thing to lose two out of three games in South Dakota. Quite another to cough up a win against a team that utterly embarrassed you (by 40 points) last February.

Judging by social media, Memphis fans are getting restless. The choppy, low-scoring games, the myriad lineups Hardaway incorporates (as he must, still searching for a rotation that won’t cough up games like the one against Tulsa), the feeling a Top-25 ranking is becoming a pipe dream under the watch of a man who has been vocal about top-five aspirations. None of these worries will survive a nice, lengthy winning streak. Five games, maybe six or seven. The day will come when FedExForum is again packed on game night. If Hardaway’s team is going to suffer growing pains, this may be the season for it.

Is there a must-see game remaining on the Tigers’ schedule?
Circle February 14th and March 6th (or 7th) on your calendar. An upset of Houston — currently the AAC’s gold standard — would be a significant notch on Hardaway’s belt. The teams meet in Texas on Valentine’s Day, then in Memphis for the season finale. (The date hasn’t been finalized yet.)

What should expectations be for this team?
This question is related to the structure of the 2021 NCAA tournament, presuming there is one. (If you think you know the format — in the time of coronavirus — take a breath. March is a long way from now.) Will the field be expanded? Will the field be contracted for “bubble play” in a single location? Will conference tournaments be a factor?

It would seem a top-three finish in the AAC would be a reasonable bar for this team to reach. They were picked by the coaches to finish second (behind only Houston) after back-to-back fifth-place finishes in Hardaway’s first two seasons on the bench. The Cougars have separated themselves, rising to fifth in the national rankings, though Tulsa also proved to be thorny for the league favorites. SMU won its first six games before falling to Houston Sunday night. Wichita State? Memphis needs to be better than two or three of these programs, and in year three of the Hardaway era, that’s not a big ask. With a new year upon us, perhaps the Tigers can turn that proverbial corner and make hopes for madness in March a little less questionable.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Carolyn Andros

• The Memphis defense can win a game. You have to go back a quarter-century — October 28, 1995 — to find a game the Tigers won without scoring more than 10 points as they did last Saturday at Navy. In Rip Scherer’s first season as coach at the U of M, the Tigers edged Tulsa, 10-7, at the Liberty Bowl. The win improved that team to only 3-5, though, and it would not win another game that year.
Carolyn Andros

The 2020 Tigers are not Rip Scherer’s defense. Even after shutting down Navy, Memphis ranks 106th in the country (out of 127 teams), allowing 457 yards per game. But Saturday night in Annapolis, that defense rose when it had to, in particular sophomore safety Quindell Johnson. The New Orleans native delivered a fumble-causing hit behind the Navy line of scrimmage on fourth down to end one second-quarter drive with the game tied at 7. Then on the next Midshipman drive, Johnson stepped in front of a Tyger Goslin pass for an interception with Navy already in field-goal range. Rare is the defensive playmaker in modern college football. But Johnson, Morris Joseph (two tackles for loss), and Sanchez Blake (forced a Navy fumble) made key plays last weekend to earn Memphis a third straight victory.

“It isn’t easy coming to Navy’s home field and beating them,” said Johnson after the win. “We all had fun, flying around, just playing together, communicating. We lead as a defense when we play like that.”


• Seven is a lucky number . . . and well earned. Should the Tigers beat Tulane this weekend, it will mark seven straight seasons with at least seven wins for the Memphis program. It would extend an already unprecedented stretch, as the longest streak of seven-win seasons before the current one was four years (from 1960 to ’63 and 1973 to ’76). Better yet, two more wins would make it seven seasons in a row with eight victories for the Tigers. (If COVID testing allows, the Tigers should play three more games, including a bowl contest.) The University of Memphis has a history with more valleys than peaks, but we are witnessing a golden era, one that now stretches across three head-coaching administrations. Fans tend to get lost either in the past or with what’s to come (recruiting is everything, remember). If you wear blue and gray in these parts, you’d do well to pause, raise a glass, and salute the now of Memphis Tiger football.

• Ten thousand is a big number . . . also well earned. With 88 passing yards at Tulane, Brady White will become only the second Memphis quarterback to top 10,000 yards for his career. (Danny Wimprine’s record is 10,215.) White’s 2,602 yards this season are eighth in the country and his 24 touchdown passes this year are tied for fourth. The superlatives will keep coming a few more weeks for the Ph.D. candidate, now with a record 26 wins to his credit as Tiger quarterback. It will be interesting to see how NFL  scouts view White’s credentials. His two predecessors — Paxton Lynch and Riley Ferguson — also put up big numbers, but fell short of signal-calling duty on Sundays, even with Lynch having been drafted (by Denver) in the first round. White is blessed with physical tools, but not the size or arm strength of most men you see winning Super Bowls. He’s also skilled between the ears and, simply put, knows how to win. Here’s hoping he gets the chance to compete for an NFL job in 2021. He won’t be intimidated by the challenge.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Joe Murphy/Memphis Athletics

• Ryan Silverfield is a balanced coach. It should be no surprise that the Memphis offense is putting up 40 points regularly, even in this disjointed season, under a new head coach. Silverfield served as Mike Norvell’s right hand for four seasons, so no man on the planet knows more about what’s worked at Memphis than the rookie now calling the shots. Particularly with a familiar quarterback (Brady White) climbing the program’s passing charts, Silverfield’s prime task has been to maximize his “skill position” players across the depth chart. Through four games, Memphis has run the ball 172 times and passed 164. The only game with a discrepancy of more than five between run and pass plays was the season-opening blowout of Arkansas State (48 runs, 36 passes).

Offensive coordinator Kevin Johns is in a luxurious position, knowing his team can attack both on the ground and through the air. Would departed tailback Kenneth Gainwell have rushed for 650 yards through four games? Perhaps. But Dreke Clark and Kylan Watkins have combined for that total, each averaging more than five yards per carry. More than enough to balance the Tigers’ passing attack, which brings me to my second thought.
Joe Murphy/Memphis Athletics

Tahj Washington

• Damonte who? In pure “next man up” fashion, Memphis claims one of the finest pass-catching trios in the country. I was convinced the Tiger offense would suffer when senior Damonte Coxie announced before the UCF game that he was stepping aside to prepare for the NFL draft. That’s because I hadn’t seen Calvin Austin’s speed split a secondary, or Tahj Washington’s hands in traffic. I wasn’t sure tight end Sean Dykes could be a weekly threat. Well, Austin has topped 150 yards receiving in each of the last two games and is on pace for a 1,000-yard season (424 through four games). Washington is averaging 15.1 yards per catch and stands the most to gain from Coxie’s departure. And Dykes is second on the team with four touchdowns despite only one reception in the win over Temple.

For the Tigers to have so many skilled receivers within target range of a veteran quarterback, all they really need is some time in the pocket for White, and smart decisions by White to avoid turnovers. If the above-mentioned run-pass balance can be retained, gaps down field will be exploited by the Tiger passing game. And one glaring absence on the roster won’t be nearly as glaring.

• When the Tigers take the field at 7th-ranked Cincinnati, they’ll be seeking only the fourth upset of a Top-10 team in the history of the program. Memphis fans of a certain age vividly remember the stunning win over 6th-ranked Tennessee (quarterbacked by Peyton Manning) at the Liberty Bowl in 1996. The Tigers knocked off 7th-ranked Auburn in 1975 and 10th-ranked Mississippi State in 1965. And that’s it. Memphis has played 30 other games against Top-10 opponents and the best the Tigers can claim are ties against 2nd-ranked Ole Miss (a 0-0 affair in 1963) and 6th-ranked Florida State (in 1984). Saturday’s game will be only the Tigers’ seventh against a Top-10 team since the upset of UT 24 years ago, and only the second such program they’ll face from the American Athletic Conference (the Tigers fell twice against UCF in 2018). History is there to be made, against a team Memphis beat twice a year ago (including the AAC championship game at the Liberty Bowl). Better yet, the Bearcats and Tigers go back well before the formation of the AAC, having played 36 times since first meeting in 1966. (Memphis leads the series, 23-13.) Halloween is gonna be some scary fun for a pair of teams still in the running for a conference title.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

• Just how big is this week’s Memphis-SMU showdown?
I’m calling it the biggest Tiger game in the 55-year history of the Liberty Bowl. We’ve had big upsets (i.e. Tigers over Tennessee in 1996), but has there ever been a game at the Liberty Bowl between two teams in such lofty positions — nationally — and with so much at stake? This is only the fifth time since 1965 (when the Liberty Bowl hosted its first game) that Memphis has reached November with no more than one loss. The first two occasions (1966 and ’67) get the asterisk treatment, as the season began later and the Tigers were merely 5-1 each time. In 2015, Navy came to town sporting a 6-1 record, the only other time — before this Saturday — a game was played this late in the season at the Liberty Bowl between teams with no more than one loss each (the Tigers were 8-0 and lost that game to the Midshipmen).

Larry Kuzniewski

Navy was not ranked, though, four years ago. Both SMU (15th) and Memphis (24th) will take the field Saturday night among the AP Top 25. As for what’s at stake, let’s see: first place in the American Athletic Conference’s West Division and, with it, “control your destiny” privileges for a berth in the AAC championship game and the possibility of a — big gulp — New Year’s Six bowl invitation. The game will be played in front of ABC’s cameras for an entire country to see what this “American” league is all about. The league’s top quarterback (SMU’s Shane Buechele) against the league’s top freshman (Tiger tailback Kenneth Gainwell). One team averaging 43 points per game (SMU), the other just under 40 (39.5). Three days before the basketball Tigers open their season, Memphis will be a distinctly — and historically significant — football town.

• The Tigers’ path to a New Year’s Six bowl game is (somewhat) clear.
Only one team from a “Group of Five” conference gets to play in one of the six most prestigious bowl games. There are currently four such schools ahead of Memphis in the AP poll, with two of them (15th-ranked SMU and 17th-ranked Cincinnati) still on the Tigers’ schedule. If Memphis can handle the Mustangs and Bearcats, that would leave 20th-ranked Appalachian State and 21st-ranked Boise State among current contenders, and neither of them have two “Group of Five” rivals to beat for bonus points among bowl voters. (Memphis could theoretically play Cincinnati twice, should the teams each win their division of the AAC.) It’s hard to envision a two-loss team earning this prestigious bowl nod. It’s also hard to envision Memphis not getting the call should the Tigers run the table and win the AAC championship.

• Tigers ranked here, there, everywhere.
On the subject of “Group of Five” institutions, Memphis is the only one that can currently claim a spot in the AP Top 25 for both football and basketball. (Penny Hardaway’s Tigers are 14th in the preseason rankings.) And the truth is, football or men’s basketball may not be the top team on campus right now. The U of M women’s soccer team is 15-1-1 and ranked 11th in the country. (The Tiger men’s soccer team is just outside the Top 25.) I can’t remember a time when University of Memphis athletics were so thoroughly infused with positive vibes. These are the days we bottle and shelve in the memory bank, there for soothing when (if?) tough times arrive. For now, sport your blue and gray proudly.

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Sports Tiger Blue

Three (Early) Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

Larry Kuzniewski


• How big is the Ole Miss game? The Tigers can stack up wins in September and October, but whatever chances they have of cracking the Top 25 require beating the Rebels this Saturday at the Liberty Bowl.

Their three biggest tests in conference play will be the last three games of the season: at Houston (November 16th), at USF (November 23rd), and a home tilt against Cincinnati (November 29th). This weekend’s opener will have the largest crowd of the season, an early-afternoon (actually late-morning) television audience, and the opportunity for the Tigers to earn their first win over an SEC foe since the upset of 13th-ranked Ole Miss in 2015 (part of an 8-0 start that season).

There was a time — not that long ago — when SEC competition was senseless for the Memphis program. Not anymore. Mike Norvell’s vision of taking the Tigers new places includes trading blows, now and then, with the big boys. A win Saturday sets a tone for the 11 games to follow. A loss would be a scar come bowl season. (A win Saturday would mark the first time the Memphis program has won six straight season-openers.)

1995 Tiger Football Preview

• I really miss Dennis Freeland this time of year. The former editor of the Flyer wrote on a variety of subjects — always with depth and a sense of connection — but he most loved his “side gig” of covering Memphis Tiger football. Dennis died much too young (at age 45, of brain cancer) in January 2002, eight months before DeAngelo Williams first carried a football at the Liberty Bowl. That’s a cruel twist to Dennis’s passing, but I’ve long felt he had a view of the NFL-bound tailback unique to the rest of us merely gawking in the stands (or press box). Dennis would be gawking, indeed, if he had lived to see the current Tigers, their offense having averaged more than 40 points a game two seasons in a row.

We first devoted a cover story to previewing the Tiger football season in 1995, the year Rip Scherer arrived to “chart a new course.” Oh, well. Some courses lead to 40 points per game, and some don’t. This week’s issue will be the 16th year in a row Tiger football has landed on our cover. It’s a partnership, of sorts, that we feel connects our readers to a special hometown team, one we — and in particular, Dennis Freeland — were covering when it wasn’t very cool.

• Why is attendance at Tiger games declining? The U of M averaged 43,802 tickets sold over six games in 2015, not coincidentally the last time the Tigers hosted an SEC opponent. Over the three ensuing seasons — all of them successful, one that finished with the Tigers ranked in the Top 25 — Memphis has averaged 37,346 . . . 33,307 . . . and 30,178. As Mike Norvell has built the most potent offense in the program’s history, fewer fans have chosen to see the records fall in person.

I have a theory — beyond Ole Miss visiting this season — that might contribute to the sagging attendance numbers: one too many games. Memphis hosted seven games each of the last three years. Even spread over three months, this gives fans a chance to say, “I’ll catch the next game” a bit too casually. With only six home games on the schedule this season, if you want to see Patrick Taylor climb the Tiger rushing chart one last time…you might want to make it this week’s game. And it’s a funky schedule, with only one home game in October and the two in November separated by 27 days. The Tiger players like to preach that the next game is the most important on the schedule. Same goes for Tiger attendance figures.

A quick fourth thought: The Tigers will go 10-4 this season. They’ll win the AAC West, lose the conference championship game (to Cincinnati), and win their first bowl game in five years.