The University of Memphis football team can top last season’s win total this weekend, and what game would be better to do it at than homecoming?
The Tigers, 4-3 (2-2), face UAB, 3-4 (2-2), at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium at 1 p.m. in what will be a pivotal game for Memphis who will travel to Tennessee next week before finishing up its conference schedule.
The Blazers won their homecoming over Tulane 34-27 last week and will look to ruin Homecoming for the Tigers. Last season UAB beat the Tigers 13-9 at Legion Field in Birmingham though Memphis leads the series 2-1.
Memphis head coach Tommy West said his team will have to have a total team effort to make sure Homecoming isn’t a bust for Tiger fans.
“I expect one of the best efforts of the year,” West said. “It will have to be judging from what I’ve seen from UAB.”
West focused most of his concern on the Blazer’s defense and said his team will have to find a rhythm offensively to combat the UAB defense.
“They probably have the best team defense we’ll see all year,” West said. “Nobody has run the ball on them. They’re front seven is really good. They get everybody one dimensional.”
West was referring to UAB’s “Steel Shield” defense. The name started as a nickname UAB head coach Watson Brown gave to his front four, seniors defensive end Bryan Thomas, defensive tackle Eddie Freeman, nose guard Rodney Jones and defensive end Marlon Jones at the beginning of the season.
The name soon spread to represent the entire defense that has held Conference USA opponents to average a meager 49.5 rushing yards against the Blazers this season.
“They’re good all the way across the board,” West said. “I don’t see any weakness with them.”
West, a coach who usually preaches sticking to the game plan, said he actually plans to improvise this week.
“We’re not going to throw the ball 65 to 70 times, but there’s no question that we will have to throw well to win the game,” West said.
Throwing well may not be an impossible task for the Tigers, who are averaging almost 179 yards per game through the air.
West also admitted the Memphis passing game is much stronger with red-shirt freshman Danny Wimprine at quarterback.
Wimprine stepped in off the bench verses Louisville in the fourth game of the season to throw for 100 yards on 11-24 passing. From there he has been the No. 1 signal caller for the Tigers and West said there will be no major personnel changes for this week’s game, which means Wimprine gets his third consecutive start.
West said he’s comfortable with Wimprine throwing the long ball. West was also emphatic about the urgency of the Tigers having a great passing game Saturday.
“Being a defensive coach by trade, I know you can take the run away from a team,” West said. “You’ve got to be able to throw effectively. If you can’t throw you’ll have a hard time getting the six in today’s game.”
As for his team as a whole, West said he simply wants improvement.
“We have to improve ourselves individually,” West said. “Playing at home, we have to be good and defend the home turf.”
