Junior running back Dante Brown broke two University of Memphis scoring records Saturday night against Houston, helping lift the Tigers to a 52-33 Conference USA victory over the winless Cougars before a crowd of 13,513 at Robertson Stadium.
Brown, who carried the ball 26 times for 148 yards, scored four touchdowns, the most ever by a Tiger in one game. The previous high had been three, which was accomplished most recently by Memphis’ all-time leading rusher, Gerard Arnold, against Tulane in 1999.
Brown’s 24 points also broke the Memphis record for most points scored by an individual in a single game. The stellar performance was enough to earn him Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Tulane quarterback Patrick Ramsey, who passed for 355 yards and four touchdowns--all in the first half--in a 48-22 victory over Texas Christian Saturday.
“We had some people who played really well--Danny Wimprine, Dante Brown,” head coach Tommy West said Monday during the Tigers’ media luncheon. “Our offensive line played well. We’ve made improvement there. We kind of came out of our shell offensively.”
Indeed, after leading Houston, 24-14, at halftime, the Tigers (4-2, 2-1 in C-USA), came out firing, scoring on their first four series of the second half. The Cougars (0-5, 0-3 in C-USA) proved determined, however, answering the Tigers with two touchdowns of their own.
“I knew how hard they would fight,” West said of the Cougars, who have lost eight consecutive games since beating the Tigers, 33-30, in triple overtime last season. “We’d get ahead and they would start coming back.”
In his first start as a Tiger, Wimprine, a redshirt freshman quarterback, completed a career-high 14-of-21 pass attempts for 216 yards and two TDs, including a 73-yard connection with freshman receiver Antoine Harden in the third quarter for a 38-21 Memphis lead. Wimprine also added 85 yards and a touchdown on 15 rushes.
“I thought he gave us some big plays,” West said. “I was really proud of what he did Saturday night. He looked like a quarterback that had been in there more than he really had been.”
Houston quarterback Nick Eddy completed 14-of-42 passes for 331 yards and two TDs in his first start. He also threw two interceptions.
Despite the two interceptions by Tiger defensive backs Jason Brown and Glenn Sumter, West said he was disappointed with the overall performance of the Tiger defense.
“Defensively, we were poor, and that’s being nice,” he said. “I’d like to see us at one point in time try to tackle.”
After building a 45-21 lead on Wimprine’s rushing touchdown with just over four minutes remaining in the third quarter, Memphis allowed Houston to pull within 45-27 on a Joffery Reynolds 28-yard TD run. When Dante Brown added a 31-yard TD run just minutes later, Houston answered again with a 30-yard TD pass from Eddy to Brian Robinson.
“We had so many errors,” West said. “It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen the defense.”
Memphis and its defense will have the week to improve as the Tigers travel to take on East Carolina Saturday in Greenville, N.C.
Saturday's Box Score
First downs Memphis 23 Houston 22
Rushed-yards Memphis 51-252 Houston 28-130
Passing yards Memphis 216 Houston 331
Sacked-yards lost Memphis 0-0 Houston 1-7
Return yards Memphis 128 Houston 6
Passes Memphis 14-22-0 Houston 28-42-2
Punts Memphis 3-44.0 Houston 6-41.3
Fumbles-lost Memphis 1-1 Houston 1-0
Penalties-yards Memphis 6-38 Houston 10-79
Time of possession Memphis 29:55 Houston 30:05
Individual Statistics
RUSHING:
Memphis-D Brown 26-148, Wimprine 15-85, Meadows 6-13, R Johnson 1-8. Houston-Reynolds 14-108, C Robertson 10-29.
PASSING: Memphis-Wimprine 14-21-0-216, Anglin 0-1-0-0, Houston-Eddy 28-42-2-331.
RECEIVING: Memphis-Perkins 4-92, A. Harden 3-85, D White 3-9, R Johnson 2-18, J Cameron 1-9, D Brown 1-3. Houston-Iglesias 8-101, Reynolds 5-50, Ross 4-28, B Middleton 2-73, B Robinson 2-33, Baldwin 2-25.
