The Memphis Tigers football team are 3-2 and will be facing the UConn Huskies, who are 1-4, for their annual homecoming game. The Tigers’ last contest was a shocking 40-24 loss to Tulane last Friday, putting the Tigers in an unfamiliar “must-win” headspace. The Huskies’ last game also resulted in a 49-7 defeat at the hands of Cincinnati. These conference opponents squared off last season in a game Memphis won 70-31, tied for their highest-scoring game of the season.
Memphis Tigers
To say that Memphis’ offensive performance was lackluster is an understatement. They gained a season-low of 277 total yards and had a difficult time driving the ball downfield. The most shocking thing of all was that star running back Darrell Henderson only received seven carries for the whole game when he’d previously been averaging 14.5 a contest. They also didn’t try to incorporate other rushers such as Tony Pollard or Patrick Taylor Jr. in the second half.
Quarterback Brady White had a tough time passing the ball, and he only completed 14 of his 30 passes, resulting in a disappointing 35.3 Quarterback Rating for him. However, it’s difficult to completely fault him for his performance when his offensive line allowed a season-high seven sacks, including a strip-sack that resulted in a safety.
Still, no matter how badly the offense performed, it’s safe to say the defense performed worse. They couldn’t consistently generate pressure, couldn’t stop Tulane on third down and, most noticeably, could not stop the run. During the game, Tulane rushed for a soul-crushing 318 yards and accounted for four of the team’s five touchdowns. To put into perspective how strong the Green Wave’s run game was, they had four rushers who had runs of 15 yards or better.
Even with the unit’s overall performance being painfully bad, they gave two strong performances. Linebacker Bryce Huff continued his impressive season and finished the game with nine tackles (with five being for losses) and two sacks. He’s the team’s leading sacker with 5 so far this season. Defensive lineman Joseph Dorceus also had a solid game with six tackles (one for loss) and a sack.
UConn Huskies
The Huskies offense was unable to get anything going against Cincinnati and only gained 266 total yards and turned the ball over once. Even though they had 28 rushing attempts, they were only able to gain 85 yards, averaging out to be 3.03 yards per carry.
Their passing offense wasn’t much help aside from supplying their only touchdown of the game — a five-yard touchdown pass from quarterback David Pindell to wide receiver Kyle Buss on the team’s first offensive drive. In the fourth quarter, Pindell was taken out in favor of backup quarterback Marvin Washington who threw an interception in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, UConn was horrendous and allowed an astonishing 659 total yards, including more than 300 on the ground and through the air. Cincinnati had their way with the Huskies, and safety Tyler Coyle recognized how badly the team played.
“Last week we did have a couple steps forward,” Coyle said. “This week was five steps back.”
Game prediction
This season, it’s difficult to know which Tiger team is going to show up each week. Some games, they’re an offensive powerhouse, and it seems like they can compete with anyone. Then other games, they seem pedestrian. It’s frustrating to watch the team because they clearly have a lot of talent, but it’s rare that they all have their business together at the same time.
Head coach Mike Norvell is aware of his team’s poor performance, but he said he believes his team is more than capable of getting it together.
“Everyone is owning where we are and what we’ve done to this point,” Norvell said. “We’ve got to continue to get better. I can tell you we know how to respond to adversity. We know how to right the ship. It comes down to hard work and great focus. I know our football team is going to do that.”
This game should be the perfect opportunity for the Tigers to begin righting this ship because the road only gets rougher. Following this game, they take on No. 12 UCF next weekend at home, then will be traveling to Columbia, Missouri, to face SEC opponent Mizzou. I expect running back Darrell Henderson and defensive back T.J Carter to have bounce-back games after disappointing performances last week.
Score prediction:
Memphis 56, UConn 28
Brady White (3) clutches onto the ball after being sacked. White was sacked a total of seven times against Tulane.
