DeAngelo Williams emerged from the Tigers' locker-room Saturday night sporting a Superman shirt. After his mammoth game, you could argue no one deserved to wear it more.
Williams was one of the lone bright spots early for The University of Memphis. The Tigers were finally able to get on track in the second half and put away 1-AA UT-Chattanooga 52-21.
"Offensively, number 20 is the one who made his plays in the first half," said Memphis head coach Tommy West of Williams' performance. "The rest of us really didn't."
The junior tailback scored a career-high four times, scoring three rushing touchdowns and one receiving.
Williams also accounted for 136 rushing yards on 22 carries and had two catches for 87 yards. He totaled 251 yards in offense, representing the second highest yardage output of his career.
The game also marked his 12th straight 100-yard rushing performance.
Despite his individual success, Williams said he could see the team wasn't playing like they could.
"We didn't play a very good ballgame in the first half," he said. "Everything that could've gone wrong went wrong."
The Tigers (2-0) held a slim 10-point after one quarter and quarterback Danny Wimprine was off to a slow start, with 5 0f 16 competed passes and an interception.
"We had difficulty finding a groove with receivers making plays and me making throws," Wimrpine said of the early errors. "That's just something that we have to improve on."
West said he had hoped the Tigersà offense would be steadier and more reliable as well.
"We've got to get more consistent and I think that's obvious," West said. "We couldn't get in a rhythm and I was disappointed in that in the first half.î
"It's not that we're not playing hard and it's not that we're not in the right frame of mind, it's that something is not in a good rhythm and we need to get it solved.î
The Tigers found their rhythm quickly in the second half.
Wimprine rebounded early in the third quarter. The Louisiana native was 4 of 5 for 165 yards and a touchdown after the break, finishing with 9-for-21 for 263 yards which earned him two touchdowns and a spot on the bench for the fourth quarter.
During the decisive third frame, Memphis scored 28 points and opened a 45-14 lead.
One area that never recovered was the Tigersà shaky secondary. They were dissected by Mocs quarterback Cedric Miller for 213 yards on 17-of-31 passing and two touchdowns.
When asked about his team's mood following the less-than-dominant performance, West said the Tigers weren't low on effort, but they weren't content with their execution.
"I don't think they're disappointed," West said. "I think they're glad to get win number two. I don't think they're satisfied though. I think they know there is something better out there for us."
A minute later West stopped and thought about the line of questioning and laughed.
"We scored 52 points and we're talking about how we weren't in a very good rhythm," he said. "Man, we've come a long way haven't we? (Fifty-two points) used to be a season."
And about Williams' Superman shirt, offensive lineman Gene Fredric also noticed the superhero garb.
"I kind of like that," Fredric said to Williams. "After 2,000 yards I think we need to get some too."
Williams laughed.
"If I get 2,000 yards you can have a superman shirt, you can have one in whatever size you want."
