The case could be made that the greatest day in the history of the Memphis Tiger football program was November 2, 2019. With ESPN’s College GameDay crew on Beale Street that morning, and the Liberty Bowl packed to its rim that night, the Tigers beat SMU, 54-48, on their way to an American Athletic Conference championship and a berth in the prestigious Cotton Bowl.
With memories of that night still alive in these parts, it was painful to learn last week that SMU — and not Memphis — will depart the AAC for the more renowned (and more lucrative) Atlantic Coast Conference. Already with this year’s departures (Cincinnati, Houston, and UCF), the AAC has become a collection of nerds in shoulder pads, without a date to the prom. Memphis is among those nerds, with what appears like less and less hope for a dance partner anytime soon.
Under this atmospheric gloom arrived the Tigers’ 2023 season Saturday night at what’s now called Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. And on the opposite sideline to face the Tigers? Bethune-Cookman, an overmatched FCS opponent that couldn’t stir excitement beyond a tank of gas from the Wildcats’ campus in Daytona Beach. Memphis, as expected, dominated the glorified exhibition game. Final score: 56-14. Somehow, the Wildcats pulled off the play of the game, the first-quarter block/interception of a Seth Henigan pass by Amarie Jones that the lineman returned 69 yards for a touchdown. It was scintillating, even as it closed the Tiger lead to just three points (10-7). From that point, though, it was entirely Memphis. The Tigers racked up 551 yards of offense and held Bethune-Cookman to 91 (only 39 via pass).
Memphis players enjoyed some early season stat-padding. Junior quarterback Henigan completed 27 of 36 passes for 334 yards and a pair of touchdowns. (He also tossed two interceptions, including the Jones pick-six.) Sutton Smith ran for 115 yards on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns, complementing Blake Watson’s three-TD performance (75 yards on 10 carries). Eight different Tigers caught Henigan passes and eight different Tigers made at least two solo tackles on defense. It was the kind of game that accentuates hope for the 11 regular-season contests that remain. The kind of game that suggests these Tigers might be better than the six-loss teams of 2022 and 2021.
As I looked at the half-filled stadium, though, I kept thinking of SMU, and the 58,325 people who made that night in November 2019 unforgettable in the Mid-South. (It remains the largest home crowd to watch the Tigers play an opponent other than Ole Miss or Tennessee.) If anything, the 26,632 fans who purchased tickets for The Bethune-Cookman Game should be saluted for their devotion to the cause of Memphis football. It’s easy to fork over your cash for the kind of clash that attracts College GameDay. To watch the first meeting between Memphis and an FCS bunch from Florida’s east coast? That requires blue and gray in the blood.
The Tigers will hop a bus to Jonesboro later this week and face Arkansas State Saturday. (The Red Wolves aim to recover from a 73-0 undressing at Oklahoma.) Then comes a short week and a Thursday-night home tilt against Navy to open AAC play. Never have those AAC games felt more important to the Memphis program. Still on the outside of that dance hall, the Tigers simply must contend — annually — for a conference title, as long as they remain in a second-tier league like the AAC. There’s too much other football — the SEC is expanding — to distract the casual fan. It’s too easy to make one’s den the “GameDay” venue. Memphis enjoyed a convincing win to open an important season for its program. The hard truth: Every week this season will demand more convincing.
