Memphis suffered their first loss of the season, 41-28, on the road against No. 16 Ole Miss.
The Tigers found offensive success, but they could not keep up with the Rebels’ face-paced attack as Chad Kelly and the Ole Miss offense totaled 624 yards of offense during the 20-point win.
Ole Miss also found ways to get the Tigers to turn the ball over. They pressured Riley Ferguson and forced him to throw three interceptions and lose a fumble.
Memphis’ offense gained 474 yards, 355 through the air. Ferguson threw for 343 yards, and Anthony Miller, who had 10 catches for 132 yards, continued to be his top target.
Defensively, Memphis missed a few opportunities to get turnovers in the first half that led to points for Ole Miss.
The Rebels started the game with a touchdown on their first drive. Jason Pellerin found the end zone from a yard out and put Ole Miss up 7-0.
After trading punts, Zederick Woods intercepted Ferguson and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Gary Wunderlichmade the extra point to put the Rebels up 14-0.
Memphis responded on the next drive with a touchdown. Miller caught a pass from Ferguson for 41 yards, and a few plays later, he took a handoff seven yards for the score. Jake Elliot brought the score to 14-7 with the PAT.
The Rebels then had three straight scores to go up 27-7. Wunderlich made field goals of 32 and 23 yards, and Pellerin rushed for his second touchdown.
Memphis fought their way within a score after two straight touchdowns brought the game to 27-21. Doroland Dorceus ran in from 11 yards out, and Ferguson pushed his way into the end zone on a one-yard run. Elliot made both extra points.
After the Memphis run, the Rebels put the game out of reach scoring two touchdowns in a row. Evan Engram caught a 12-yard pass from Kelly, and Eugene Brazley ran for a six-yard touchdown. Wunderlich made both extra points to go up 41-21.
The Tigers scored midway through the fourth quarter, and brought the score to 41-28 on Ferguson’s second rushing touchdown of the game.
The Rebels extended their lead late in the game with five minutes left in the game when Brazley rushed for his second touchdown, this time from 32 yards.
Head coach Mike Norvell took some positives out of the loss. “I loved the way our guys competed,” Norvell said. “I loved the way that they rallied back in the third quarter.”
Norvell also saw a few things that the Tigers need to improve on.
"We turned the ball over, had some communication issues, penalties, missed tackles and all those things,” Norvell said. "All those things will cost you when you play a quality opponent.”
Memphis will host Temple on Thursday on a short week, and the Tigers have now moved their focus to that game. “All we can do is move forward,” said Miller. “We have conference play up next, so we have to get ready for Temple.”
