For a moment Saturday, it looked as if the Tigers were going to send off their seniors with an enthralling comeback win in their final home game.
But after two thrilling plays that seemed to set Memphis up with a last-second win, the Houston Cougars snatched away a 23-20 overtime win at the Liberty Bowl.
Leading 20-13 with just over two minutes left, Houston set up for a seemingly easy field goal that would have sealed the game. But senior Brandon McDonald had other ideas.
He tore through the line and blocked the kick, sending it rolling into the hands of sophomore linebacker Greg Jackson, who took it 80 yards for a touchdown that sent the few thousand fans that remained into a frenzy.
And on the ensuing Houston (9-3 overall, 7-1 Conference USA) possession, defensive back Jake Kasser recovered a fumble to give the offense the ball inside the Cougar 40 with under a minute left. But two penalties took the Tigers out of field goal range and sent the game into overtime.
"After all that I thought we were gonna win after the blocked field goal and the fumble return," Kasser said.
What was a loud and excited sideline just minutes earlier became quiet after freshman Matt Reagan missed a kick in overtime. The Cougars powered the ball to the 1-yard line before Ben Bell ended the game with a 17-yard field goal, giving Houston home-field advantage in the C-USA championship game.
"This was a lot closer today to what we're going to be," head coach Tommy West said after the game. "I'm really proud of my football team ... my goal was to get this football team better every week (for the future)."
The Tigers (1-10, 0-7) had by far their best defensive game of the season, and it came against the sixth-best offense in the nation. Memphis managed seven sacks and held preseason player of the year Kevin Kolb to 166 passing yards.
"Nobody had blitzed him all year," West said. "Today we got great pressure and covered him really well. We came close to taking (Kolb) out of the game."
The passing game for Memphis was once again inconsistent. Patrick Byrne got the second start of his career on senior day, but threw an interception on the first drive. Junior Martin Hankins took over and completed 12-of-23 passes for 100 yards and one pick.
West has obviously been displeased with that side of the offense lately, as he said after the game he wasn't going to "take up for players who don't make their plays."
Junior running back Joe Doss finished with a career-high 133 yards on 28 carries and one score, but was disappointed the team didn't give the seniors a win.
"(Senior day) gave us all an extra push out there," he said. "After the blocked kick I thought if that can happen we'll win. We've got one more game to get it done (for the seniors)."
The Tigers had trailed 20-6 with 11:32 left in the game before an 11 play, 80-yard drive ended with Doss scoring on a 1-yard rush.
Reagan had given Memphis a 6-0 lead early in the second quarter after both drives stalled. His second field goal was a career-high 41 yards.
Corey Mills, a sophomore defensive lineman, finished the game with a sack, a forced fumble and five total tackles as one of many players on the defensive side that had career days.
"This is the best team I've ever been around as far as not quitting (on a season)," he said.
After last week's loss to UCF at home, senior defensive lineman Rubio Phillips talked of how the 19 seniors must contribute to the future of the program with their leadership.
Greg Terrell, a freshman defensive end, showed a glimpse of what the future of the team could be. He racked up 2.5 sacks and seven total tackles in a breakout performance.
"It was really disappointing for us overall, but these next three years I've got to get my weight up, and we need to all keep working to get better," he said.
And while many were downtrodden after losing a senior day game that seemed so winnable down the stretch, Doss shook his head when asked about the loss.
"We've still got one more game to get it done," he said.
