Following the Tigers’ two-game road trip, Memphis was triumphant in its return to the Liberty Bowl as they walked away with the 47-17 victory to reach 6-1 on the season.
Led by Brady White’s quick decision making and a resilient defense, the Tigers have ended their one-game losing streak and are now 2-1 in American Athletic Conference play.
When asked about the win by the media, Mike Norvell said that this was nearly a complete game from his offense.
“It was pretty close,” Norvell said. “We knew that we wanted to be able to control the game and that was something that we did by having the ball for over 34 minutes. Our guys executed and believed in the game plan that we had.”
After having three turnovers last week, White had a clean game with no turnovers. Instead, he had five passing touchdowns and completed 21 of his 29 pass attempts for 358 yards in three and a half quarters of action.
Wide receiver Calvin Austin III had his best game of his sophomore season with two receptions, 57 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. All season highs for the two-sport athlete.
Kenneth Gainwell continued to show why he is the Tigers’ MVP after posting his first game of the season with over 300 yards from scrimmage.
However, unlike most games, Gainwell had his best efforts catching the ball out of the backfield and led the team in receptions with nine for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 104 yards and one rushing touchdown.
He is the first NCAA player since Louisiana Tech’s, Troy Edwards, to have 100+ rushing yards and 200+ receiving yards in a game. That was back in 1997.
When asked about his historic game, Gainwell said that he was surprised by his performance.
“I just try to come to work every day,” Gainwell said. “I just try to put my best out there and in everything I do, I want to do it the best.”
His impact as a receiving back started early when he caught a 32-yard touchdown on fourth down to give the Tigers’ their first score of the game and helped to establish the team’s 7-3 lead.
Defensively, it was not the group’s best performance, but they did enough to incapacitate Tulane’s offense on more drives than not.
They were able to hold Tulane below their season average of 286 rushing yards per game but had 146 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown against Memphis.
Tulane was led in rushing by quarterback, Justin McMillan, who had 15 rushes for 89 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.
Though it was an improvement from the 318 rushing yards that Tulane had against the unit last year, Thomas Pickens told the media that it felt great to avenge their performance.
“It’s different coaches and different schemes,” Pickens said. “But it means a lot for us to be able to bounce back and not allow all of those yards.”
Their pass defense, on the other hand, was stellar and held McMillan to just 187 passing yards, one passing touchdown and three interceptions. Two of those interceptions came in the first half alone.
The first two came from linebackers, Austin Hall and Thomas Pickens. The third was by safety, Quindell Johnson, when Tulane was in Memphis territory.
The team also was able to get their pass rush going in the second half and ended up getting two sacks in the second half, as opposed to none in the first half.
This win was a much-needed bounce-back after suffering a loss last weekend keeps them in the race for the AAC West crown.
Next week, they take on fellow AAC West team, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, and with a win, they remain in control of their own destiny.
Kenneth Gainwell reaches for more yardage. Gainwell had a historic game against Tulane where he was the first player since 1997 to have 100+ rushing yards and 200+ receiving yards in a game.
