The Memphis Tigers won their biggest nonconference game of the season to improve to 3-0. The Tigers’ defense shined, only allowing 238 yards and 12 points. The rushing game was held to 65 yards, but quarterback Seth Henigan shined and threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns.
Florida State University will pay out over 1.3 million dollars to the University of Memphis for playing the game in Tallahassee.
Florida State quickly continued their struggles, fumbling on the second play of the game. They held Memphis to a field goal and the teams traded punts for much of the first quarter.
This changed when Florida State’s DJ Uiagalelei threw an interception to Memphis defensive back Tahj Ra-El, at the end of the first quarter. Memphis took advantage of the turnover with a 7-yard touchdown throw from Seth Henigan to Roc Taylor, increasing the lead to 10-3. Each team traded field goals to make it 13-3 at the half.
Memphis kept control of the game in the second half, with Seth Henigan throwing another touchdown, this time a two-yard pass to Anthony Landphere. After this Florida State’s offense finally came alive.
They scored a touchdown in the third quarter and a field goal in the fourth to make it a one score game, 20-12. Memphis’s defense shined once again and forced Florida State to punt before stopping them again as time ran out.
While Florida State has fallen greatly from their #10 preseason ranking, and is now 0-3, this was still a huge win for the Tigers. They remain undefeated and could be ranked in the AP Poll after this weekend. They head to Annapolis next Saturday to start conference play against Navy, who started the season 2-0.
After his bounce back game against Troy last week, Tigers running back Mario Anderson had a considerable step back recording just 32 yards on 14 carries. Greg Desrosiers Jr. tacked on 30 more yards on four carries as Memphis relied heavily on the arm of Seth Henigan. With Sutton Smith ruled out for the rest of the season, the new duo of running backs will need to step up in a big way for the remainder of the season.
Henigan finished 25-38 with 272 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception (his first of the season) as he continues to inch closer to Brady White’s passing touchdown record.
Anthony Landphere led Memphis receivers with five catches on six targets for 66 yards and a touchdown. Roc Taylor and Demeer Blankumsee also added 50 and 44 yards respectively.
Linebacker Chandler Martin was everywhere on the field recording 8 tackles (2.5 for loss), a sack, and a fumble recovery. Defensive back Tahj Ra-El followed close behind, contributing 6 tackles and an interception.
While obviously being a huge statement win for Memphis, this game completely exposed the run game as the Tigers averaged a season low two yards per carry. However, the Tigers can breathe now with their headline non-conference game of the season out of the way.
Memphis will get another full week of rest before their next game, but will face the Navy Midshipmen as they come off a bye week. That showdown will start at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 21 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
