The University of Memphis football team will recognize their seniors Saturday during the Tiger's final home game of the regular season.
Memphis (3-7) is slated to face fellow American Athletic Conference member, the Owls of Temple University (1-10), at 11 a.m. at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
In his weekly press conference on Monday, head U of M football coach Justin Fuente told the media the Tigers have a great challenge this week.
"We have Senior Day - our seniors' last shot at playing in the Liberty Bowl," he said. "I know it'll be special for many of them. Some of them have been here through some tough times, and some have only been here a couple of years. I'm awfully proud of them all as a group."
One Tiger senior who made headlines Monday was punter Tom Hornsey. The veteran player, who ranks No. 6 in punting nationally, was named a finalist for the Ray Guy Award. The Augusta Sports Council will announce the recipient for the top college punter award on Dec. 12.
When Hornsey and the rest of the Memphis team step onto the Liberty Bowl turf Saturday, they will face a team on a four-game losing streak. Temple's last loss was served to them by the Huskies of the University of Connecticut on Nov. 23. UConn defeated the Owls 28-21. The Tigers are scheduled to play the Huskies on Dec. 7.
So far this season, Temple and Memphis have played four of the same opponents: Southern Methodist University, the University of Houston, the University of Central Florida and the University of Cincinnati. Neither the Owls nor the Tigers collected a single win against any of these teams.
Fuente said Temple's quarterback, freshman P.J. Walker, is not only a good athlete but also someone who throws the ball with accuracy.
"He keeps plays alive and seems to always keep his eyes downfield," Fuente said. "Just watching the film, he seems to have provided a pretty good spark for those kids. He's just a freshman but he's made some huge plays."
Walker has passed for 1,756 yards this season. In 218 attempts, the freshman completed 132. In comparison, Memphis' redshirt freshman quarterback Paxton Lynch has passed for a cumulative 1,725 yards. The Tiger has thrown 283 attempts and completed 166.
In Temple's loan win of the season against the United States Military Academy on Oct. 19, Walker completed 10 of 16 pass attempts and helped the Owls grab the 33-14 win against Army.
This season, the Tigers' three wins were versus Arkansas State University, the University of Tennessee-Martin and the University of South Florida.
The Tigers will look to collect their fourth win of the season Saturday, which would tie last year's four-win season. For those unable to attend the 11 a.m. kickoff, the game will be broadcast on ESPNews and 600 WREC.
