Running back Darrell Henderson had a historic night during the Memphis Tigers 59-22 rout of the Georgia State Panthers.
Henderson rushed for 233 yards on 14 carries and became the second Tiger in the program’s history to have back-to-back 200 rushing yards games since Tiger legend DeAngelo Williams. He accumulated roughly 34 percent of the total Memphis offensive yards. Williams took to social media to say how impressed he was with Henderson.
“This man is an absolute monster,” Williams tweeted. “As long as coach Mike Norvell keeps feeding him, he will continue to shatter records.”
Henderson accepted the praise he received after the game but said he does not focus on nor is aware of his individual accomplishments.
“I’m not really a big guy of numbers and stats,” Henderson said. “Because like I said, our back field is very talented, and I want us all to get the ball. So when I get the ball, I just try to do my job.”
Henderson said he was honored to be mentioned by Williams on Twitter.
“I mean, he did a lot for this university, so me being mentioned with him is big time to me,” Henderson said.
Henderson may be unaware of his performance, but the numbers do not lie. His statline is getting national attention. He leads the country in rushing yards (521) and yards per carry (13.8), and seven touchdowns good for third in the FBS. He is also the second FBS player in the last 15 seasons with multiple games of 200-plus yards on 15 carries or fewer in a season, only after Khalil Tate of Arizona last season.
When Henderson is trucking opponents and getting into the end zone, he is making this offense run effortlessly. Quarterback Brady White said he is pleased when he and others are playing at an elite level because it makes things much smoother for him. He finished the night completing 19 of his 26 pass attempts for 269 yards with five touchdowns.
“I love it,” White said. “It makes my job easy. I just hand the ball off and watch him run right into the end zone.”
White said it is beneficial being the quarterback and having guys like Henderson able to rush the way he did while playing against the Panthers. From an offensive perspective, it makes the Tigers more flexible.
“We have got a crazy offense,” White said. “All the weapons we got from wide receivers to running backs, tight ends and then obviously the offensive line does a great job for us, and it allows us to showcase what we can do.”
Head coach Mike Norvell said he was pleased with the way Henderson excelled Friday night. Nevertheless, he made it clear it starts with the offensive line.
“I think he (Henderson) would be the first one to credit the offensive line upfront,” Norvell said. “We tell our backs they have to win their one-on-ones versus the safeties, but Darrell did a great job of that. But man those guys, those tight ends, those offensive linemen upfront did a wonderful job giving him some seams as well, which was impressive to see.”
Darrell Henderson pushes off on a defender as he rushes towards the end zone. Henderson had more than 200 yards rushing against Georgia State.
