Jared Birmingham Bowl Game Grades
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons defeat the Memphis Tigers 37-34 in overtime to win the Jared Birmingham Bowl. The Tigers were unable to get a handle on Wake Forest’s run game and their offense was in the second and third quarters. The Tigers’ are now 5-7 in bowl games and have not won a bowl game since 2014.
Quarterbacks: C
Despite the team not playing a game in three weeks, head coach Mike Norvell’s offense didn’t undergo any drastic changes, which meant that Brady White wasn’t asked to do too much through the air. For the game, he completed 15 of his 27 passes for 171 yards and threw one touchdown and one interception.
Running Backs: B
With Darrell Henderson sitting out the game to focus on the upcoming NFL Draft, Patrick Taylor Jr. and Tony Pollard took lead in the team’s rushing attack.
Taylor Jr. had 30 carries for 110 yards and one rushing touchdown and added a receiving touchdown to his impressive season. Pollard added 109 rushing yards and had a rushing touchdown of his own.
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends: C-
Per usual, the offense was led by it’s run game, but even when the offense tried to pass the ball, not much came of it. Wide receiver Damonte Coxie led the team in receptions and yards with six catches for 70 yards, but no other pass catcher had over 50 yards.
Tight end Joe Magnifico made a huge 44-yard catch on the Tigers’ final drive of the game to help put the team in scoring position to score the game tying field goal, but unfortunately, they missed the kick.
Offensive Line: C
The offensive line did a lackluster job of protecting White today, allowing three sacks, but one of them was a result of White holding the ball too long rather than their bad play.
As far as run blocking, the unit was much more inconsistent, and it was difficult for running backs Taylor Jr. and Pollard to burst off big runs at their usual pace especially in the second half.
Defensive Line: C-
It was clear that the team’s defensive line was going to struggle with three of their starters battling injury: O’Bryan Goodson, Jonathan Wilson and Emmanuel Cooper. However, there were some instances where the line seemed to be unable to stop anyone, especially Wake Forest mobile quarterback, Jamie Newman. Newman accounted for 91 of the Demon Deacon’s 201 total rushing yards and had three rushing touchdowns.
Joseph Dorceus saw a lot of action as a result of the injuries and finished the game with six tackles, which set him up as the defensive line’s leading tackler. Jackson Dillon was a presence when it came to rushing the passer, with a quarterback hurry and a sack.
Linebackers: B
With all of the injuries to the defensive line, more of the responsibility to stop the run fell to the linebackers, who did a good job, considering the other responsibilities they had to perform.
Linebacker Curtis Akins led the team in tackles with nine. While fellow linebackers, Austin Hall and Bryce Huff supplied the pass rush, each with a quarterback hurry and Hall getting a sack.
Defensive Backs: C
Excluding three passes of over 30 yards, the Tigers’ secondary held their own in today’s match up. They only allowed Jamie Newman to complete 22 of his 40 passes and came up with an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the second quarter.
Chris Claybrooks was the recipient of the pick-six and finished the game with four tackles. Safeties Tyrez Lindsey and Josh Perry were all over the field for their defense and combined for 13 tackles.
Special Teams: B
Special teams produced the play of the game when stud return man, Tony Pollard ran for a 97-yard kickoff return. This was Pollard’s first return touchdown of the season and has given him seven in his career, tied for the NCAA record.
Kicker Riley Patterson converted four of his four point after kicks but missed a crucial 43-yard field goal which would have allowed Memphis to tie the game and go into overtime.
Coaching: C+
The result of this game echoed Memphis’ biggest problem this season, an inability to finish off opponents. Whether it had been play-calling or lack of execution, the Tigers’ just could not put Wake Forest away.
To Norvell’s credit he was able to rally his team on the final drive to potentially win or at least tie the game but deciding to settle for a tie rather than going for the win completely goes against what the offense is known for, which is their aggression.
The UofM announced a one-year extension for Mike Norvell’s contract. Norvell is now locked in as the leader of the program through 2023.
