It’s been an eventful first two weeks of the regular season for head football coach Mike Norvell.
On the Friday before Norvell was to coach his first game not only as the head coach of the University of Memphis, but as a head coach period, a report from ESPN’s Brett McMurphy took all the attention off the game against Southeast Missouri State and redirected it to the reality show that Big 12 expansion has become.
McMurphy reported Memphis, once considered by some as a favorite to get into the Big 12, was not on the list of schools still under consideration. Or, as I like to think of it, the Big 12 did not give Memphis a rose.
Seriously, ABC could not have scripted a better reality TV series than what this Big 12 expansion fiasco has turned into. I envision Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby consulting with Gregory L. Fenves, president of the University of Texas, on which schools to keep or eliminate much like the way the bachelor or bachelorette consults with Chris Harrison before each rose ceremony.
However, that did not discourage Tiger fans.
The newly renovated Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium saw 42,876 people pour in to watch Norvell, new quarterback Riley Ferguson and the 2016 edition of the Memphis Tigers defeat SEMO 35-17.
The Tigers have a Week 2 bye, giving them extra time to prepare for the Kansas Jayhawks, a team that Memphis used as a launching pad into national relevance last season after defeating them 55-23 on the road.
Here are five thoughts and observations about the new Memphis football after defeating SEMO, and as they head into an early bye week.
Big 12
Too much precious time, effort and space has already been allocated to the Big 12, so I’ll allow junior running back Doroland Dorceus to wrap it up for me.
“Of course fans were disappointed, but we’re going to play in any conference they put us in,” he said. “Most of the people on the team didn’t even know we weren’t a candidate anymore (before the game against SEMO). It is what it is. We knew it could happen. We like the American [Athletic Conference]; there’s nothing wrong with the American.”
That’s the type of attitude Norvell has instilled in his team.
Riley Ferguson
Of course nearly everyone who entered the Liberty Bowl last Saturday wanted to see what Paxton Lynch’s successor would look like in his first Division I college football game.
Ferguson, who finished the game with 295 yards passing, three touchdowns and two interceptions, was praised for his performance by his head coach, but Norvell did admit he still has plenty of growing to do.
“I thought he did some good things,” Norvell said. “It looked like a first game for him. He made a couple of poor decisions – threw the ball into coverage, had the two interceptions. With the fumbled handoff, Patrick (Taylor) and him were in, and we had just a little bit of a missed exchange. That’s something we’ve got to do a better job of – making sure those guys get enough reps together. I thought Riley played solid, but we need him to play much better moving forward.”
Ferguson made a few awe-inspiring throws, but like Norvell said, he looked like a quarterback playing in a season opener.
“I would say it was average,” Ferguson said of his first game at Memphis. “We went out and executed pretty good at the beginning. I went out and made some mistakes – some throws I shouldn’t have thrown, just roll out the pocket and throw it away. There were a couple of times I couldn’t see because the defender was actually in the way of the other guy. I just need to go out and play smarter football.”
Offense
One thing to keep an eye on as the season progresses is the number of times Ferguson throws the ball.
Back when Norvell was hired in December, I locked myself in a room and consumed everything I could that showed the way Norvell coached offense. One thing I discovered was Norvell’s offenses at Arizona State operated differently based on who was playing quarterback.
When Norvell had a running quarterback, his offense threw the ball just under 28 times a game, but in his final season, when he had more of a pro-style, pass-first quarterback, that number jumped to nearly 40 pass attempts per game.
On Saturday, Ferguson threw the ball exactly 40 times.
I asked Ferguson if he expects to throw the ball that many times every game.
“Who knows,” he said. “We’ll see how the season goes, how each game goes. Whatever is working is what we’re going to do. I believe we’re going to be a little bit more balanced than we were tonight.”
The running game struggled to get going against SEMO, especially between the tackles, but there is a way to counteract a defense that’s committed to stopping the run by putting extra men in the box.
“It’s like an extended running game – that’s what we like to call it,” Ferguson said of the short passes Memphis’ offense uses as a way to supplement a struggling running game. “It’s hard for defenses to cover the perimeter, so if they’re giving that to us, we’re going to take it.”
Offensive Line Struggles
Norvell spent an extensive amount of time in his postgame press conference talking about the offensive line.
“That group has got to continue to come along,” he said. “I know everybody says, ‘you’ve got four guys that are returning starters.’ We have four guys that have started games before. That’s a big difference. For us, we’ve got to find what that best five is.”
Norvell is right; the line has to get better for the offense to continue to progress. For Memphis to be able to hold onto, or even extend, leads, they’ve got to run the ball better.
“Would I say it was shocking to me some of the struggles we had at times? No,” Norvell said. “Those things, you see them from time to time in first games. I’ve got a pretty good sense of where we are, and I know we’re going to continue to get better. We’ve got the right guys coaching them; we’ve got the right players to be able to develop.”
Early Bye Week
Bye weeks are a hot-button topic whenever a team’s schedule is initially released. Ideally, most teams would like to have byes after the first few weeks of the season to rehab nagging injuries and have an extra week to make any necessary adjustments.
Other teams like to have them before pivotal games on their schedule to give them ample time to prepare.
A Week 2 bye week right before playing a team you beat by nearly five touchdowns last season doesn’t seem ideal, but I believe it’s still a good thing for Memphis.
Norvell now has game film to evaluate a roster that he’d never seen play a game before Saturday, giving him time to make any adjustments he needs.
It will also give the Tigers time to get some guys back from injury that they could use, specifically junior offensive lineman Zach Collins, who missed the SEMO game because of an injury. Norvell said in his press conference that Collins is a projected starter, and I’m sure at this point, any help along the offensive line is welcomed.
The Tigers will host Kansas Saturday, September 17. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and the game will be televised on ESPNU.
Patrick Taylor led the Tigers with 87 yards rushing against SEMO, including a 51-yard run in the fourth quarter
