It’s time for the sweet aroma of barbecue to flow through the Memphis skies. The Tigers need some home cooking.
Memphis (1-2, 0-1 in Conference USA) is ready to get back on track with familiar surroundings and friendly faces, after dropping two games in the Magnolia state.
Freshman back-up quarterback Maurice Avery said playing at home and not dealing with the distractions of road crowds will provide a lift for the Tigers following the 33-14 loss to Southern Miss Saturday.
Head coach Tommy West agrees. He said a game in the Liberty Bowl could be the medicine his team needs to start winning.
“We need to get back home,” West said. “We have spent a lot of energy in these two games. We can play in front of our home crowd and see if we could do better.”
Doing better will require more than rushing for 130 yards and passing for 153 yards as the Tigers did Saturday.
Freshman running back DeAngelo Williams gained 105 of those 130 yards on the ground and cracked the hundred-yard barrier for the second time this season before leaving the game with a toe injury.
He hurt the toe next to the big toe on his left foot. At West’s weekly press conference Monday, the coach said Williams should recover fine.
Memphis gained only 283 yards on offense while the Golden Eagles racked up 524 yards in front of 28,419 fans.
Golden Eagle quarterback Micky D’Angelo had a typically solid performance against the Tigers’ defense.
D’Angelo completed 68 percent of his passes and threw one touchdown without an interception on 168 yards passing.
The bulk of the Southern Miss offense came from the legs of senior running back Derrick Nix.
Nix gained 204 yards of the Golden Eagles offense. He took the ball 21 times darting and dashing his way to 196 yards. He also caught an eight-yard pass.
Other Southern Miss runners picked up 160 yards on the ground. Freshman back Anthony Harris joined Nix going over the century mark with 121 yards.
Defensive end Tony Brown said he was surprised how the Tigers defended the Southern Miss (3-0, 1-0 in C-USA) rushing attack.
“I’m kind of shocked,” Brown said. “We prepared all week for it. Their offensive line did a great job. It was small things that threw us off.”
The inability to gain first downs also knocked Memphis off course. The Tigers could only manage eight first downs while Southern Miss converted 25.
The first downs allowed Southern Miss to hold the ball for more than 25 minutes.
The ball control of the Golden Eagles was evident early with a 13-play, 96-yard drive that ate up 5 minutes, 20 seconds.
Nix scored the first of his two touchdowns from two yards out on that drive.
After Southern Miss took a 10-0 lead on a 30-yard field goal from Curt Jones, the Tigers struck quickly with a Danny Wimprine to Antoine Harden 72-yard touchdown pass that only took 12 seconds off the clock.
With Memphis within three at 10-7, Nix captured back the seven points in a flash. He took the ball down the sideline for a 70-yard touchdown just two plays later.
Then, the Tigers found themselves down 33-7 after a safety and two Southern Miss touchdowns.
On a drive late in the third quarter, three Golden Eagles defenders smashed Wimprine after a five-yard gain.
Wimprine blacked out on the field, left for the locker room and did not return. West said Wimprine will not practice Monday, but is expected back Tuesday.
After the game Wimprine said he was all right and plans to return for next week.
Avery was brought in to try and score a touchdown from 10 yards away. He was able to cross the goal line from two yards out after three plays.
West said he brought in Avery in that situation because he has designed goal line plays for him.
“We worked hard getting a package ready for him,” West said. “We felt, at that position on the field, he was the guy to go with.”
Avery said he was nervous heading on the field, making his premier and trying to give the Tigers a fighting chance.
“I felt great for it being my first time,” Avery said. “I really was excited and ready to go and try to make something happen.”
The Avery touchdown cut the deficit to 33-14, and neither team was able to score in the fourth.
While West was pleased with Avery’s performance, he wasn’t pleased with the total team effort. He said his team’s performance was substandard to him and the Tiger faithful.
“I’m disappointed and I’m embarrassed,” West said. “We had a lot of people come down here to watch that.
“We got to tackle and hold on to the ball,” West said. “We have to do the little things.”
On a brighter note, West said there is still plenty of time left in the season for his team to regroup.
“We got nine games left,” West said. “It is not time to beat a team down. It is time to get their attention. We have to play better.”
