While Tiger fans everywhere are still celebrating the upset win over then No. 13 Ole Miss Saturday, the University of Memphis football team has moved on to its next opponent— the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
Though Memphis, which is 6-0 for the first time since 1961, might have moved on physically from Saturday’s game, the Tigers will have to deal with their newest success, being ranked in both the AP Poll (No. 18) and the Amway Coaches Poll (No. 17) for the first time ever.
Tigers’ coach Justin Fuente at his weekly media luncheon Monday said he received advice from both former Texas coach Mack Brown and current TCU coach Gary Patterson about the importance of Memphis’ win against Ole Miss for the program and the city of Memphis.
“It was interesting to hear the contrast from Gary (Patterson) and coach Brown,” Fuente said. “Coach Brown was saying ‘I’m just going to throw this out there and you think of it however you will. Let’s not mention the game after the Monday press conference. You could even go so far as to start the season over statistically.’ Gary, surprisingly, played a little bit more on the emotion of the game and what it meant to the city versus what it meant to us. I took both of them and crafted it up and hopefully it works.”
Memphis redshirt junior quarterback Paxton Lynch’s NFL draft stock and national recognition seems to grow with every completion and consequently the stock of the Tiger football program is arguably at an all-time high. He said the important thing for him and the team is to not get caught up in its previous successes and focus on the task at hand.
“Even if we had lost the game (against Ole Miss) we would’ve had to move on from it,” said Lynch, who threw for 384 yards and three touchdowns in the victory against Ole Miss. “The fact that we won it is bringing more distractions, but in the end you have to block it out and move on from it.”
Lynch also said it was nice to be ranked in both polls after barely missing out the past few weeks, and that it’s nice for the program to get the recognition it deserves after winning its last 13 games, a school record.
“We needed a big win to break us through the roof,” he said. “This week was a big week for us, and it gave us an opportunity to show what we were really made of.”
Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Anthony Miller, who had 10 receptions, 132 yards and a touchdown against Ole Miss, said in the locker room after the game everyone said, “We have to beat Tulsa.”
“I think our whole team is focused on what we have to do,” Miller said. “Because really, Tulsa is an important game because they are a part of our conference, so we can’t take them lightly. We have to play them exactly the same as we did Ole Miss.”
Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller celebrates his touchdown against Ole Miss Saturday. The former walk-on leads the Tigers in receiving yards (429) this season.
