For a second straight season, the Memphis Tigers are 9-3 and bowl-bound. And, as of this writing at least, Justin Fuente remains the Tiger head coach. Throughout the U of M’s blowout of the Mustangs at a rain-soaked (and near-empty) Liberty Bowl, social media swelled with speculation (and a few unsourced announcements) that Fuente has agreed to take the head job at Virginia Tech. Following the game, Fuente called such discussion “premature” and said “there’s a time to address those things.”
Larry Kuzniewski
Justin Fuente
“I’m going home to relax,” said Fuente, “put a smile on my face, and watch someone else sweat out third-and-five.”
As for the regular-season finale, records fell like raindrops at the Liberty Bowl. A summary:
• Junior quarterback Paxton Lynch — presumably bound for the NFL next year — completed only nine of 14 passes, but seven of them went for touchdowns, a Memphis single-game record. Lynch completed the scoring tosses to seven different players (deep breath: Phil Mayhue, Doroland Dorceus, Frank Wims, Daniel Montiel, Anthony Miller, Daniel Hurd, and Mose Frazier) and all before halftime. Lynch didn’t take the field in the second half.
• With a bowl game still to play, Lynch has thrown 28 touchdown passes this season, a new Tiger record. He has also become the first Memphis quarterback to throw for more than 3,500 yards (3,670) in a season.
• The Tigers broke the season scoring record (set last year) and are the first Memphis team to top 500 points in a season (512).
• The U of M offense compiled 483 yards against the Mustangs, giving it 6,125 for the season, the first time a Tiger team has topped the 6,000-yard mark.
• The soggy conditions reduced the crowd considerably, but 30,075 tickets were sold for the game, taking the season total to 262,811 a record for a season with six home games. The attendance average of 43,802 broke the previous mark of 41,175, set in 2004.
• The Tigers have won more games over the last two seasons (19) than any other two-year period in Memphis football history. It’s only the second time Tiger teams have won nine games in consecutive seasons (1949-50).
“There were a lot of distractions this week,” acknowledged guard Micah Simmons, one of 14 seniors saluted before kickoff. “This game showed the maturity of our team. All those external distractions, we put them aside.”
“I was concerned about our kids,” admitted Fuente. “They had three tough games. Houston was really hard to handle. I think people see now how really good the league is. [The win] is a big relief; they feel really good, and they should. It was hard, emotionally and physically, to get back on course.”
When asked if the season, as a whole, met his expectations, Fuente had a mixed reaction. “I try not to put a number on it,” he said. “I thought we had a chance to compete for the conference championship, and we didn’t win it. We’re not in the championship game, but we were competitive in the league certainly. Our nonconference schedule . . . we probably over-achieved in that area. We played some really good teams. We accounted for ourselves pretty well. At times, I was more pleased than others, regardless of whether it was a win or a loss. I like the way we continued to battle. Winning nine ball games is pretty good.”
Frazier described his final regular-season game as “bittersweet.” The former walk-on has caught at least one pass in 25 consecutive games. He was effusive in praising Fuente, and said he still considers him the team’s coach. “I appreciate everything he’s done for this program and this city, everything he’s done for me. He gave me the opportunity, a shot to be on the field. You don’t have to be a scholarship player to be big for the team.” Frazier smiled when asked if any of the 19 wins these last two seasons stands out: “Ole Miss.”
Larry Kuzniewski
Paxton Lynch
Lynch declined to comment on his own future, emphasizing he has a bowl game to play, that he’ll consider options after that. He confessed that he had never thrown seven touchdowns in a game, let alone a single half. “My first year, I barely through seven touchdowns,” he said. (Lynch had nine TD passes as a redshirt freshman in 2013.) “Temple kind of stuffed us, so this was a great way to send the seniors out.”
“Coach Fuente did a good job of keeping us focused,” said Lynch when asked about the off-field speculation. “Enjoy it. We haven’t had two seasons like this in a long time. Now we have a bowl game. Other decisions will come after that.”
Like Frazier, Lynch acknowledged his coach’s impact, which may land him in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. “I owe it all to him,” he said. “When I got here, he was a real tough guy, up in your face. But that’s how my high-school coach was. I enjoy it. I developed a relationship with him. He had my back in rough times; I’d do anything for Coach Fuente.”
An announcement regarding Fuente’s job status could come before the team’s bowl destination is determined. With December a big month for recruiting, it’s unlikely Fuente would coach the Tigers in, say, the Birmingham Bowl on December 30th.
If this was the end of a coaching era at the University of Memphis, it was emphatic and thorough. Fuente would be a rarity indeed: A coach who leaves Memphis a winner.
