It would be really easy to bash the Tiger football team for their 49-10 embarrassment this weekend...so I will.
What happened?
That's the big question.
Who should we fire?
The scary truth is no one, not coach Tommy West, not the players, not the cheerleaders, nobody knows how it happened.
Let this sink in...49-10. They were beaten by 39 points by a team that was demoralized by Army just two weeks earlier.
I have to admit I wasn't at the game. Unfortunately, I had to watch the full tape Sunday night.
I was at the Grizzlies game where the guy that operates the Jumbotron wouldn't put the score on the screen. He thought people might leave the game if they saw the halftime score was 35-3.
So what is there to learn from a 39-point dismantling at the hands of Cincinnati?
Memphis is not a good football team.
At least not yet they aren't.
The Tigers' Monday press conference felt like funeral wake. I guess that's only appropriate since they buried all hopes of a Conference USA championship Saturday.
Hello GMAC Bowl.
Hey Tommy what happened?
"They methodically just whipped us," West said.
At least he's honest. No cherry on top this time.
How'd that happen though?
Some guys goofing off too much, not paying attention, bad practices, getting into the hotel too late? C'mon give us something.
"I was really surprised," he said. "I didn't see anything like this coming."
Blindsided.
For the Tigers, the game sort of resembled a Pringles commercial.
"Once it got started we couldn't stop it."
I wonder what the film session Sunday was like. It must have been torture going over that game play by play - even worse than watching Kangaroo Jack.
Did they at least learn something?
"They were pretty quiet."
If they saw the same game I did then they should've learned the following.
The secondary is not the problem on defense. The defense is the problem on defense.
The offensive line is about as sturdy as a wet paper bag.
If you've got a back like DeAngelo Williams and you can only get him 56 yards something is very wrong.
"Nobody played well," said West, who did note he thought the kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, was the only player who did his job. "Outside of that, I don't think anybody really played well."
That's true. There were many other weak spots, but this is only a 500-word column.
Maybe the most telling stat is the fact that Memphis only turned the ball over one time.
They were beaten so badly that they only had one turnover and lost by almost 40. Instead of turning the ball over they turned stomachs.So what's next?The No. 1 rated passer in the nation in Stefan LeFors. The No. 2 offense in the nation and the no. 13 defense in the nation in Louisville. My prediction is that the game film from that night will have an R-rating, as in Rout.
