Ole Miss, Houston, UCLA and now Navy, the Tigers upset another top 25 team at the Liberty Bowl. The Midshipmen out-rushed the Tigers 314-118 but were undone by Riley Ferguson’s 279 yards and three touchdowns.
“I have never been so happy to hold a team to 314 yards rushing,” Head coach, Mike Norvell said after Memphis’s win over Navy. “To hold them 100 yards less than their average with some of the challenges that we faced, hats off to our defensive players and coaches and everybody involved. They went out and competed for 60 minutes and they knew it would take that.”
Despite an early fumble from return man Darrell Henderson, Memphis jumped out to an early 7-3 first quarter lead after Anthony Miller’s eighth touchdown reception of the year.
The Tigers quickly lost the lead after Navy Zach Abey scored at the end of a 70-yard drive.
Navy’s offense was on the field for the majority of the first half. They dominated the Tigers in time of possession with 20:06 minutes while the Tigers spent Memphis’s less than 10 minutes on the field.
The Tigers defense gave up 10 first quarter points, but held the Midshipmen to 68 total yards and zero points in the second quarter. Memphis defensive-back, Austin Hall, had eight first half tackles which helped keep quarterback, Abey, and the Midshipmen’s running game in check.
The Tigers’ defense forced two turnovers in the first half but failed to capitalize on the next drive. A fourth down penalty for roughing the kicker gave the Tigers another break, but the drive ended in a game tying field goal from Riley Patterson.
Navy tried to catch the Tiger defense off guard right out of the half and attempted two passes doubling their first-half pass attempts. Austin Hall jumped the route on the third pass of the game and intercepted Abey’s throw.
The Tigers finally capitalized off of a turnover, on the third Navy turnover of the game. Ferguson connected with Darrell Henderson for 10 yards and a touchdown as the Tigers took a 17-10 lead, early in the third quarter. Henderson finished the game with 94 yards from 12 rushes.
Navy’s defense responded on the Tigers’ next drive. Ferguson rolled into his own end zone and was forced to fling the ball away. The referee ruled intentional grounding, and gave Navy two points for a safety.
Navy capitalized from good field position following the safety-punt. Abey led his offense down the field and capped off the drive with his second touchdown of the day and 11th of the season. Abey’s rushing touchdown gave Navy a 19-17 lead.
On the next drive, Ferguson led the Tigers down the field to take a 20-19 lead after a 42-yard field goal from Riley Patterson.
Ferguson and the Tiger’s offense went 99 yards on their next drive. Ferguson connected with Miller for his third passing touchdown and Miller’s second touchdown reception of the game. The reception marked Miller’s eighth game with 10 or more receptions as a Tiger.
“The 99-yard drive was huge to show our offense we can go the whole field and get a little momentum on our side,” Ferguson said after the game.
Patterson converted his third field goal out of four tries on the day, to extend the Tiger lead to 11, but the Midshipmen refused to sink.
Navy took advantage after Henderson’s second fumble. Abey broke 1,000 yards for the season and converted a fourth down on the following drive. The rushing quarterback capped off a 10 play 82-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown. Darryl Bonner converted the two-point conversion and the Midshipmen pulled within three points.
Hall finished his career night with his second interception on Abey. That marked his fifth turnover of the day. Hall finished the game with two interceptions, one fumble recovery and 10 tackles.
“He threw it right to me,” Hall said. “I had it in my hands and I had a feeling that it was all over. Offense came out here took a knee and it was over.”
