The American Athletic Conference champion University of Memphis Tigers have been one of the most surprising teams of the 2014 college football season, and the turnaround was due in large part to the dramatically improved quarterback play of sophomore Paxton Lynch.
After a subpar freshman campaign in which Lynch threw more interceptions than touchdowns, the Memphis quarterback has bounced back to throw for 18 touchdowns to six interceptions in the 2014 season, quieting the critics who questioned Memphis coach Justin Fuente’s faith in the young quarterback.
“Paxton is continuing to get better. I’m proud of him,” Fuente said. “The kid works hard. He really does, and he’s learned some lessons. He still has a lot of work to do physically and mentally and maturity-wise. He’s coming along though, and I think he feels better every time out there.”
While Lynch has improved in every statistical category through the air as a sophomore, his improvement carrying the football has been equally important. The sophomore has rushed for 10 touchdowns after recording only two in 2013, and those scoring runs have helped him set the all-time Memphis record for touchdowns responsible for in a season with 28.
Lynch has also shown improvement within the year as well. All six of his interceptions were thrown during the first six games of the season. Since throwing three in a home loss against Houston, Lynch has tossed nine touchdowns without an interception and the Tigers are a perfect 6-0 in that stretch.
Lynch said he has never played as good a stretch of football as he played during the Tigers’ 6-0 close to the season.
“I feel like I’ve been taking care of the ball more after Houston,” Lynch said after a recent victory against USF. “I really struggled and forced a lot of passes, and then coaches came to me and challenged me to make the plays when they’re there and when they’re not don’t hurt the team.”
Lynch’s hard work culminated in Memphis’ 41-10 thrashing of Connecticut that clinched the Tigers’ first conference championship since 1971. He threw for 194 yards and career-high four touchdowns in the win, and also logged 40 yards in nine rushing attempts on the ground.
The sophomore’s efforts have not gone unnoticed, as the quarterback received the DeAngelo Williams MVP Award at the team’s awards banquet Sunday. And on Monday, Lynch was named the American Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Lynch and the Tigers still have one more opportunity to display how much they’ve improved this season. On Sunday, the team will find out where they’re headed to play the program’s first bowl game since the 2008 season.
