When Memphis redshirt junior quarterback Paxton Lynch arrived at the University of Memphis in 2012, his main concerns were passing yards, completions and touchdowns.
Lynch said while it obviously helps to play well, he realized it was about ultimately helping your team win ballgames.
“When you realize that, you got something special and that’s when you start winning games,” Lynch said. “That’s what we’ve done.”
Since Lynch’s debut 2013 season, which saw him throw more interceptions (10) than touchdowns (9) and saw Memphis finish 3-9, the Tigers are 14-3 in their last 17 games with Lynch at the helm.
That includes Memphis’ current 11-game winning streak, the longest in program history. Only TCU (12) and Ohio State (17) have longer winning streaks than the Tigers in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
In that span, Lynch has thrown for 4261 yards, 30 touchdowns and nine interceptions, and has rushed for 13 touchdowns, albeit all of those came in the 2014 season. Most importantly, Lynch hasn’t committed a single turnover through four games this season.
Though last season’s success was due to a combination of Lynch, a solid running game and a top-11 defense in the nation, the same can’t be said through four games in the 2015 season. The rushing attack led by Doroland Dorceus, Sam Craft and Jarvis Cooper has been solid to this point as Memphis has averaged nearly 228 yards per game on the ground on 4.7 yards per carry with 16 rushing touchdowns.
However, the defense, one that lost eight starters due to graduation, has been a completely different story, especially in recent weeks. In wins against Missouri State and Kansas, the Memphis defense gave up just 30 points, but had not been truly challenged. The last two weeks have shown how much the team misses the likes of last year’s seniors Tank Jakes, Bobby McCain and Martin Ifeidi. The Tigers’ defense gave up 87 points to Bowling Green and Cincinnati, yet still won both games.
It’s taken the high-scoring Tigers’ offense in any four-game stretch in team history (215 points) to preserve the team’s undefeated record, even if the defense got the stops required to seal both wins against the Falcons and Bearcats. The leader of that offense for the past three weeks, Lynch, has set a new career high in passing yards most recently with 412 yards in the wild 53-46 win against Cincinnati at the Liberty Bowl Thursday night. After Thursday’s 53-point performance, Memphis extended its’ nation-longest of consecutive 40-plus point games with six.
Nevertheless, Memphis has had to come from behind in each of their past three games, including overcoming double-digit deficits on the road against the Jayhawks and Falcons. Lynch said this is the best offense he’s been on in his time with Blue and Gray, and it’s only helped the offense grow more confident amongst one another.
“Last week, we were down by 10 points to Kansas and this week we were down by 10 points again,” Lynch said at a weekly media luncheon following the Bowling Green victory. “That’s what I was telling the offensive guys in the locker room. There’s nothing to stress about we’ve been down 10 points before. Let’s just rally together and go win the game.”
Leadership is one aspect Lynch said he’s improved in this season, because when he first arrived on campus he didn’t know anybody. However, slowly but surely he gained the respect of his teammates, by winning ballgames of course.
Memphis coach Justin Fuente now has the upmost confidence in Lynch. Before the Tigers successfully completed the two-minute drill to take a 53-46 lead against Cincinnati, a nationally televised game on ESPN, with less than a minute to go, Fuente said they had to let Lynch win the game.
“Obviously I feel good about him (in late-game situations),” Fuente said. “I said over the headset (in the two-minute drill) in my opinion just let him go try and win the game for us right now. Whether that’s throwing it or running it and he did (just that).”
Unless the defense shows substantial improvement, Lynch and the Tigers will probably have to win many more shootouts this season to achieve their goals and have a chance to defend their American Athletic Conference Championship, but Memphis to this point has shown a similar resiliency which helped them claim a tri-share of the AAC Championship last season.
If Lynch continues to play at an elite level, a dream season for the Tigers’ may not be that far away after all.
Paxton Lynch has had a lot to smile about over the past two seasons. The redshirt junior has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the nation, while leading Memphis to a 14-3 record in that span.
