University of Memphis head football coach Tommy West said he plans to “get back to the basics” defensively at 7 p.m. Saturday night when the Tigers host Southern Mississippi at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
After a game of missed tackles and missed opportunities in a 38-21 loss to Louisville last week, West said he hopes some of his players will step up and help the defense find its old form.
“We’ve got a stretch here that we have to hit on all cylinders,” West said. “This is the time we’ll find out if we have some leaders defensively.”
The undefeated Golden Eagles (3-0, 1-0), who have won seven straight meetings against Memphis (2-2, 0-1), will be led by senior quarterback Jeff Kelly. During his three years at Southern Miss, Kelly has thrown for 5,120 yards and 38 touchdowns, numbers good for third all-time in the Golden Eagle record book.
However, after three games this season, Kelly has thrown for just 638 yards and two touchdowns, including an outing against Alabama-Birmingham last week in which he completed just 12-of-25 passes for 118 yards and no touchdowns.
In fact, it was USM’s sixth-ranked defense, which is allowing just 6.3 points per game, that led the Golden Eagles to the 3-0 shutout of UAB. For the season, the Golden Eagles have not allowed a passing touchdown and are giving up just 47 rushing yards per game.
For West, the Tigers’ success against Southern Miss Saturday may come down to who he starts at quarterback.
Junior Travis Anglin has started all four games for the Tigers, but after sustaining a shoulder injury in the Louisville game last week, Anglin has looked gimpy at times in practice.
West said redshirt freshman Danny Wimprine, who came in to throw two touchdowns in the final minutes against Louisville, could see action Saturday.
“I’ll see how things go this week,” West said. “I’m not ready to say who will be the starting quarterback this weekend.”
Last season, Southern Miss got two touchdowns in the game’s final minutes to break open what had been a 10-3 game, beating Memphis 24-3 at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg.
Memphis hasn’t scored a touchdown against the Golden Eagles in the teams’ last three meetings, scoring just 11 points. The Tigers’ last win against USM was a 20-9 victory in 1993 under former head coach Chuck Stobart.
