Minutes after his Tiger football team had lost its fourth straight, this one 13-10 to Cincinnati in overtime Saturday before 21,862 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, University of Memphis head coach Rip Scherer entered the media room with eyes fixed to the floor.
Scherer's wife, Michele, stood proudly opposite him, although obviously hurting for her husband as a security guard consoled her with an arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders.
The coach answered the questions of reporters in a dull tone, almost a whisper.
"It was a gut-wrenching loss that hurts a lot of people," Scherer said. "There's some broken-hearted guys in there, a broken hearted No. 12, I know that."
Scherer was referring to his son, Scott, whose interception in overtime had just cost Memphis (4-6, 2-4 in Conference USA) a shot at its first winning season since 1994 and a possible post-season bowl appearance.
With the Tigers trailing 13-10, Scherer's screen pass was picked off by Bearcat defensive lineman Kirk Thompson to give Cincinnati (6-4, 5-2) its first road victory of the season. Earlier in overtime, the Bearcats had taken the lead on a 37-yard field goal by Jonathan Ruffin, who set a single-season conference record with his 24th field goal of the season.
"That field goal was enough to get the job done," Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter said.
Despite holding the Bearcats to just 190 total yards and rolling up a season-high 355 for themselves, the Tigers couldn't recover from seven turnovers, including two inside the Cincinnati 20-yard line. The first, a Sugar Sanders fumble with just under 11 minutes remaining in the first quarter, was returned 82 yards for a touchdown by Bearcat cornerback Ivan Fields for a 7-0 Cincinnati lead.
Fields added another fumble recovery minutes later when Sanders, who rushed for 122 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown, fumbled at the Bearcats' 1-yard line. Scherer said the squandered scoring opportunities in the first quarter hurt the Tigers.
"That's why yardage and all that stuff is not nearly as important as the turnover-takeaway battle," he said. "We've been really good all year, but not today."
The Tigers' only score in the first half came on a Ryan White, 46-yard field goal with 4:49 remaining. On the other side of the ball though, Memphis's No. 2-ranked defense held Cincinnati to just 14 total yards on 23 plays in the first half.
The Tigers took a 10-7 advantage late in the third quarter on Sanders' 1-yard TD run, which was set up by an 82-yard punt return to the UC 1-yard line by Tiger receiver Ryan Johnson. Johnson, who also had six catches for 73 yards, finished the day with 195 all-purpose yards.
But the Bearcats answered quickly with a 12-play, 62-yard drive to the Tiger 12-yard line capped by a Ruffin 30-yard field goal that locked the game at 10-10 and set up overtime.
The loss ensured Memphis of its sixth consecutive losing season under Scherer.
"I don't know about the future beyond next week," Scherer said when asked about his coaching future, which may now be in jeopardy after starting the season 4-2. "We've got one game left. We play for pride. We play for character. We have to. It's all we've got left."
The Tigers travel to Tulane Saturday for their season finale.
