Memphis Roar

Tulsa and Memphis have a long history in athletics.  This dates back to the 60’s when both programs where in the Missouri Valley Conference.  In fact Tulsa and the Tigers have faced off 23 times with the Tigers holding a 14-9 advantage.  The Golden Hurricane have won the last two including 2005’s sensational overtime match up in Tulsa with DeAngelo’s leaping attempt on 4^th down.  Prior to that meeting the Tigers and Tulsa hadn’t met since 1995 when the Tigers posted a 13-10 come from behind win in Tulsa.

On Friday the Tigers and the Golden Hurricane are set to face off in the season finale for both teams at 2:30 PM.  Somebody’s losing streak will end as Memphis enters the game at 2-9 having lost their last 5 in row including last week’s 55-14 loss at nationally ranked Houston.  Tulsa enters the game at 4-7 including losing their last 6 games in a row including last week’s 44-34 loss to Southern Mississippi.

Tommy West’s final Game

Saturday will be Tommy West’s last game as the Tigers’ head coach.  His career record of 49-60 ranks 3^rd overall in the history of Tiger football behind Spook Murphy and Ralph Hatley

Fun Facts:

The Golden Hurricane are one of only 12 schools whose mascot’s name does not end in an S.  See if you can name the others (note one mascot is used twice by two schools).

The Tigers have never played any OTHER school from the state of Oklahoma in football.

Preview:

The Tigers offense enters the game having topped 400 yards of total offense in 3 of their last 4 games.  This includes two games of more than 200 yards rushing and two games of more than 300 yards passing.  Unfortunately none of these have occurred simultaneously forcing the Tigers to become one dimensional in these contests.  Last weeks loss included a stellar performance by senior tailback Curtis Steele, but senior quarterback Will Hudgens struggled leading Houston’s defense to focus on Steele and the ground game in the second half leading to the offense being shut out in the 2^nd half.

Friday will represent a true finale of sorts for the Tigers skilled personnel, as almost every significant offensive star will be playing their final game.  Seniors quarterback Will Hudgens, tailbacks Curtis Steele and T.J. Pitts, and wide outs Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton will all complete their eligibility.  All are in the top 10 in their respective positions for their careers in almost all significant categories.  Steele moved into the 5^th spot in career yardage and needs 109 yards to pass Joe Doss for 4^th.  Steele’s performance last week was significant for another reason as he became on the 2^nd Tiger tailback to post two career 1,000 yard rushing seasons.

Sixth year senior quarterback Will Hudgens ranks in the top 10 in almost every significant category despite only having 10 career starts.  This includes yardage (7^th), completions (6^th), and touchdowns (9^th).

Senior wide outs Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton are numbers 1 and 2 statistically in every major category including receptions, yardage and touchdowns.  Calhoun, with a big day, could surpass Isaac Bruce’s single season yardage record and single season receptions record.  Singleton will probably want to catch a touchdown pass to hold off Calhoun as the career leader in touchdown receptions.

Tulsa has a few record setters of their own.  Sophomore Demarris Johnson recently topped 1,000 yards receiving.  This gives the Golden Hurricane 3-1,000 yard receivers on their roster as Juniors Trae Johnson and Charles Clay had previously topped the 1,000 yard plateau.  No other Tulsa team has ever had three receivers who have posted 1,000 yards at any point in their careers.  For his part, Johnson has also moved into 6^th place in CUSA in career all-purpose yardage with 4,997.  His average of almost 230 all purpose yards per game leads the nation.  Unfortunately he will need two more record setting years to catch CUSA and NCAA all-purpose yardage leader former Memphis Tiger DeAngelo Williams at 7,573.

Sophomore GJ Kinne started his Tulsa career as a wide receiver but was moved into the quarterback position in the off season with stellar results.  Kinne is a true dual threat quarterback completing almost 60% of his passes for over 2,400 yards and 19 touchdowns.  He has also rushed for almost 350 yards and 5 touchdowns.  He will present a stiff challenge to the Tigers defense.

Currently Tulsa’s offense ranks 3^rd overall in scoring and 5^th in total yards in CUSA.  Their rushing attack is 4^th overall in the conference and is paced by tailback Jamad Williams and quarterback Kinne.  In fact their rushing attack is a bit of a team effort as they get their wide receivers and all purpose ace Demarris Johnson involved as well.

Memphis’ defense has been fairly vulnerable the second half of the season having given up at least 30 points in every game since the win over UTEP including more than 50 in two of their last 3.  Overall Memphis’ defense ranks dead last in the conference allowing over 460 yards per game including almost 175/game on the ground and over 280/game in the air.  This kind of effort will be lethal against a good Tulsa offense.

While 2 of the last 3 games have been against nationally ranked Houston and SEC power Tennessee, the defensive efforts against UAB and East Carolina haven’t been much better.  A Tiger victory will have to include a defensive effort that is not consistent with their recent performances.

Aside from the amazing statistics Houston’s offense has put up, one of the more amazing stats coming out of conference USA is that Tulsa’s defense has only allowed 5 rushing touchdowns on the season.  Considering the high powered offenses in the CUSA and the fact that Tulsa has played 3 nationally ranked teams in Oklahoma, Boise State, and Houston, this is nothing short of phenomenal and almost defies logic.  The Golden Hurricane rank 5^th in total defense in CUSA giving up just a tad over 400 yards per game.  This includes the 4^th ranked rushing defense at just 136 per game.  However, they rank 9^th in passing allowing over 260 yards/game through the air.  Hudgens and company will have to take advantage of this if they are to have a chance.

Memphis’ special teams this season started bad and never really improved.  Matt Reagan as punter has been a lone bright spot as he has been named a finalist for the Ray Guy award for the country’s best collegiate punter.  He continues to lead the conference in punting average and net yards per punt.  Aside from that the teams have been below average, as the kickoff coverage team ranks 8^th, kickoff return and Reagan’s field goal average both rank 10^th out of 12.  While the defense bears a lot of the brunt for this season’s downward spiral, the special teams must have some responsibility as well.

Tulsa on the other hand has return specialist Demarris Johnson to lean on, as well as sophomore placekicker Kevin Fitzpatrick have paced the special teams to considerable success.  Johnson and company currently rank 3^rd in punt return average and 5^th in kickoff return average including returning 1 punt for a touchdown.  Fitzpatrick has connected on 90% of his field goals and 39-41 pats (both misses where mishandled by the holder)  Tulsa’s special teams consistently give them a short field to work with creating scoring opportunities.

Intangibles:

For the first time in 4 games the Tigers will face a team with a negative turnover margin, unfortunately the Tigers turnover margin of –10 is considerably higher than Tulsa’s of –1.  Memphis is currently tied for 11^th in this statistic, with Tulsa at 6^th.  Additionally Memphis’ red zone defense is dead last in the conference, while Tulsa’s is 7^th.  Neither bodes well.

Summary:

While neither team will go bowling, expect lots of emotion from the Tigers early as the seniors and outgoing coach Tommy West try to make a final memory for themselves.  This match up will be interesting at least since Tulsa has lots of offensive weapons who are trying to end their own losing streak.  Sometimes you save the best for last, but sometimes the end is just the end.