It wasn't pretty, but he's not apologizing.
It wasn't much of a game until the last few minutes, but don't expect him to be contrite.
It took an inexplicable turn of events to escape a demoralizing loss, but Tommy West isn't saying sorry.
"I'm not going to apologize for winning the game the way we won it," said West. "We won the game. We played will enough at the end to win it."
And West is right about waiting until the end. If the Tigers had waited any longer there would have been no Memphis fans left to see his team's improbable 47-35 comeback win over Arkansas State.
Most fans began leaving after Indians quarterback Nick Noce hit Levi Dejohnette for his fourth touchdown pass of the night to put ASU up 35-26, with 4:01 remaining.
As the blue sections in the stadium began to dissipate and the Indians' student section began sizing up the goalposts, Memphis quarterback Danny Wimprine led the Tigers on an 8-play, 71-yard drive. It took just 1:16 and resulted in a 9-yard touchdown pass to Tavares Gideon, which left some asking where that had offensive efficiency had bee all night.
Following that quick march downfield, Memphis (3-0) was still down 35-33 and had to quiet the Indians offense. Considering Arkansas State (0-3) had already put up over 500 yards of total offense, few thought the Tigers would stop them.
They did.
After a couple of short runs, Noce dropped back, looking to drop off a short pass for a first down. Before he could release the ball, Tigers safety Scott Vogel hit him like a Mack truck running a red light. The collision caused Noce to fumble the ball. Memphis linebacker Tim Goodwell scooped up the bouncing ball and dove into the endzone as a hush fell over the record-crowd of 30,427.
"I came across and I was surprised nobody picked me up to be honest," Vogel said. "I just tried to put the best hit on him that I could and fortunately the ball was knocked loose."
Vogel then iced the game with an interception. Following Vogel's pick, DeAngelo Williams finished the scoring with a 16-yard touchdown in the waning seconds.
In all, the Tigers managed 21 unanswered points in 1:48, which allowed them to escape.
"A couple of years ago we would\'d5ve lost a game like this and tonight we came out with a win," Wimprine said.
Wimprine did his part to save the Tigers. He was 22-of-41 passing for 356 yards and three touchdowns. Tailback DeAngelo Williams carried 31 times for 144 yards and a touchdown. The effort marked his 13th-straight 100-yard performance.
West echoed Wimprine\'d5s assessment of the comeback.
"A few years ago we weren't good enough to make enough plays at the end to win like that," West said. "We were the ones that would give up plays to lose games, but now were good enough and we believe enough that if we keep playing we'll make some things happen."
Memphis lost its No. 25 ranking perhaps due to the nature of their win, but that's likely the last thing the Tigers are concerned about.
They have to address how they gave up 507 yards of total offense, how they allowed 418 passing yards and how they gave up 35 points. However they don\'d5t have to address their character and their stubbornness to accept defeat.
"We just never gave up on it," West said. "I know I didn't see a lot of the people in blue standing up and cheering with six minutes left. I don\'d5t think our guys ever quit playing."
