Three takeaways from the Tigers win over Tulane

            After Memphis jumped out to a 35-0 start, Tulane could only cut the lead down to 16. Although the Tigers dominated the scoreboard and box score, they disappeared for much of the game. Here are three takeaways from the win.

The offense seems unstoppable when hot

            With 11:20 left in the second quarter, The Memphis offense had accumulated 418 yards and 35 points. The offense was clicking and they were making big plays at will. Four of the five touchdowns were over 30 yards, two coming from more than 50 yards out.

            Ferguson spread the ball around, throwing three touchdowns to three receivers. The quarterback threw for 238 out of his 298 yards in that time. He hit Miller for a 16-yard touchdown for his first touchdown.

            Sean Dykes caught Ferguson’s second from 38-yards out on a broken coverage by Tulane. Two drives later, Ferguson hit Kedarian Jones over the top for the 37-yard score.

            Rushing the ball, Memphis gained 180 yards and two scores through the first 19 minutes of the game. Tony Pollard started the scoring, taking a reverse for 58 yards into the end zone, the longest rushing touchdown of his career.

            Darrell Henderson topped that with an 82-yard touchdown run. He took the handoff off the left tackle, then bounced to the outside before outrunning the defense to the end zone.

Memphis did not play consistently

            After gaining the 35-0 lead, Memphis was outscored 26-21 for the rest of the game and 19-0 in a 16-minute stretch of the game in the second and third quarters. In that time, the offense threw an interception and had three punts, two after three-and-outs.

            During the time that the Green Wave went on a 19-0 run, the offensive line broke down. They stopped creating running lanes, and Ferguson was pressured into poor throws and decisions. The offense gained 45 yards on those four drives.

            Defensively, the Tigers gave up big plays and had defensive breakdowns that led to scores. Tulane quarterback Jonathan Banks scrambled for 22 yards to convert a third down and keep the first scoring drive alive.

            On their second scoring drive, Banks ran for 18 yards on a third and 10 to keep the drive moving. Then he hit an open receiver for 28 yards on a third and nine on their next scoring drive. The defense failed to get stops when the Memphis offense struggled to move the ball.

The defense finally got after the quarterback

            Through the first seven games of the season, the Tigers only had nine sacks. They racked up seven against Tulane. Memphis forced the Green Wave quarterback to throw under pressure or scramble out of the pocket for the entire game.

            The leader of the sack party was Genard Avery. He had 1.5 sacks heading into the game and left with five. His 3.5 accounted for half of the team’s sacks, and he managed to get two more tackles for loss.

            Jonathan Wilson and Bryce Huff had one sack each, and Christian Johnson had 1.5. The seven sacks set Tulane’s offense back a total of 52 yards. The team also managed to take down runners 13 times for a loss.

            Memphis improved to 7-1 (4-1 AAC) and moved one game closer to an AAC Championship Game appearance. They will travel to Oklahoma November 3 to take on Tulsa before finishing the season with two home games. 

Tim Hart makes a tackle on the Tulane running back. Hart collected four tackles during the game.