The University of Memphis football team returns to action Friday night for its homecoming matchup against the University of Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
The Tigers enter the game with a 4-3 record, after a 48-10 rout over SMU Saturday in Dallas. Tulsa, who enters the game with a 1-6 record, looks get their season back on track after losing five straight games.
Though Tulsa has struggled this season, head coach Justin Fuente believes they have improved throughout the season and will be a tough challenge for his team.
“We have a tremendous challenge in front of us this week,” he said in his weekly press conference. “We've got a home game Friday night against Tulsa, a team that is obviously making huge improvements each week. They have played two very close games. They had a large lead at halftime a couple weeks ago (against USF) and played Temple very close. They're very close to being undefeated in the league, actually.”
Memphis is facing two major challenges before even stepping onto the field Friday. One of those challenges being a shorter week to prepare. Memphis only had six days to prepare for this game, rather than Tulsa who is coming off almost two full weeks of preparation because of a bye week.
Fuente knows Friday’s game will be a challenge coming off a short week, but believes his team has a good game plan going into the Halloween showdown.
“It will be a great challenge for us coming off of the win against SMU,” He said. “I was pleased with the way we handled that, coming off of our bye week. Now the shoe's on the other foot, so to speak. We have to play a team who had its bye week last week. Our kids will get ready. We've adjusted our schedule. We've got a great plan.”
The second major challenge facing the Tigers is that, due to a targeting penalty against SMU, senior linebacker Tank Jakes will miss the first half against the Golden Hurricane.
Senior linebacker Charles Harris said it is tough losing a player like Jakes, but believes his replacement is up to the challenge.
“It's going to be hard,” Harris said. “Tank is a wonderful player and a great guy. He makes a lot of plays for us and we just have to manage without him for that first half. We managed without him for the second half, but it's always tough when you are losing a starter, especially someone like Tank. It happens and it's just unfortunate that it happened to him. It will probably be freshman Noah Robinson that steps in and he knows exactly what he has to do.”
Memphis’s defense faces one of the best wide receivers in the American Athletic Conference in Tulsa’s Keevan Lucas. Lucas leads the American with 809 receiving yards on the year. He also leads the team with eight touchdown catches. Lucas can easily be considered sophomore quarterback Dane Evans’s favorite target. Lucas has racked up 64 receptions this season, which are 38 more than any other Tulsa receiver.
Senior defensive lineman Terry Redden said they just have to do what the coaches ask of them to come away with a victory.
“We have to heed what the coaches are saying and pay attention to the map that they're drawing out for us,” Redden said. “We have to stay focused on the task at hand. We have to get ready to beat Tulsa.”
One advantage the Tigers have over Tulsa is their offense. Memphis ranks 30th in the nation in points per game, averaging 35.7 points per contest through seven games. Tulsa on the other hand has struggled on the defensive end giving up 40.7 points per game.
Bret Michaels will perform at 5 p.m. before the game as part of the Tailgate Concert Series just off of Tiger Lane. The game will also be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
With all the great homecoming festivities Fuente expects for a big crowd Friday night.
“I expect with all the things the athletic department has done; Tiger Lane, Concert Series, the festivities and a big ball game on national television, the city and the community of Memphis will turn out and play an active role in us trying to win the ball game,” he said.
