The Memphis Tigers (3-1) will face the Tulane Green Wave (1-3) in their second American Athletic Conference game of the season, hoping to rise above their fifth place standing in the AAC West. After a 52-35 win over the South Alabama Jaguars, Memphis will now seek to repeat the same success when they travel to New Orleans on Friday. Last week, Tulane faced off against the No. 4 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, and lost 49-6. Last season, Memphis managed to win against Tulane 56-26, courtesy of a big game through the air.
Memphis Tigers
The Tigers currently have the seventh-ranked offense nationally, averaging 540 yards of offense per game. The Tigers’ offense continued that success and combined for 563 total yards and an impressive 52 points, giving them their third 50-point game of the season. Quarterback Brady White was solid through the air, throwing for 292 yards and two touchdowns. Memphis rushers Darrell Henderson, Patrick Taylor Jr. and Tony Pollard all combined for 271 rushing yards and five touchdowns.
However, the Tigers’ defense definitely did not have their best performance, especially when it came to defending passing plays. South Alabama had 360 passing yards against the Tigers, and most of those yards were gained by big-bodied wide receiver Jamarius Way. During the game, he caught 185 receiving yards on 10 catches and one touchdown. The Tigers started off slow when it came to stopping the run, but they pulled themselves together following halftime.
One player who was disappointed in the team’s defensive performance was cornerback TJ Carter, who was frequently targeted during the game, and he didn’t pull any punches describing the unit’s performance.
“This game wasn’t one of our best games for our secondary,” Carter said. “We gave up too many passing yards. We came in thinking we were going to blow them out, but this shows that you can’t underestimate any team.”
Tulane Green Wave
Tulane’s offense had a rough go of it against Ohio State, finishing the game with only 256 yards of total offense and six points. To their credit, they did a good job of maintaining good ball security and not committing any turnovers. Quarterback Jonathan Banks threw for 141 passing yards on eight completions for an overall solid performance. Their leading rusher was running back Corey Dauphine, who had six attempts for 53 yards and was the second-highest rusher in the game.
Tulane’s defense got slashed through the air and allowed a whopping 419 passing yards and five touchdowns. Similar to Memphis, many of the big passing plays came from one receiver, and their Achilles heel was Parris Campbell, who had 147 receiving yards on eight catches and a touchdown.
To the defense’s credit, they did a solid job of containing the run, allowing Ohio State’s leading rusher only 55 rushing yards. They also managed to create some pressure, making three sacks and forcing a fumble that they were unable to recover.
Game prediction
The Tigers currently hold an 11-game win streak against the Green Wave, dating back to 2002. I expect this game to add one more to the streak with an impressive win. However, for that to happen, Memphis has to clean up their pass defense. Tito Windham and head coach Mike Norvell can argue all they want, but a big part of why South Alabama had so many big plays is that Memphis’ defensive backs couldn’t handle South Alabama’s receivers size. Memphis’ defensive backs are very talented, but they’re not going to be effective if they can’t prevent big plays.
In this game, I expect wide receiver Tony Pollard and outside linebacker Austin Hall to have monster games. Pollard is often recognized for his masterful special team plays made over his last two years with the team, but he’s also a versatile component of the offense. In only the first four games of the season, Pollard has both a rushing touchdown and multiple receiving touchdowns to go along with 135 yards from scrimmage. Meanwhile, Hall is the team’s leader in tackles for loss, and I expect him to add more to his total Friday.
O'Bryan Goodson and Shareef White combine for a tackle in the 2017 football season.
