UAB Replay
After back to back wins in the series against UAB (5-5, 4-2), the Tigers (2-8, 1-5) fall back into a rut allowing turnovers and mistakes to prevent a happy ending on senior day. In what had become the identity of this team, mistakes negated any positive momentum in Saturday’s game.
UAB’s Joe Webb put on a brilliant performance rushing for 78 yards and a score and having a season high passing day throwing for 378 yards and three scores. He constantly eluded Tiger tacklers and escaped pressure. The UAB offense took advantage of the Memphis secondary as Webb continually found time to move away from pressure to make plays with his feet and arms.
The Tiger offense performed well at times and Curtis Steele had a productive senior day rushing for 107 yards and two scores. Senior standout receivers Carlos Singleton and Duke Calhoun combined for 10 catches and 155 yards but failed to find the endzone. The Tigers only had two turnovers but they were crucial as both happened as Tiger players were about to cross the goal line for a score only to fumble before the endzone to be recovered by UAB. It seemed to epitomize the type of the season the Tigers have suffered through, with mistakes coming at some of the most inopportune times.
The Tigers recognized 25 seniors at their last home game of 2009. Jada Brown, Duke Calhoun, Paul Edwards, DajLeon Farr, Arkelon Hall, Brian Hall, Kellen Heard, Chris Hobbs, Kevin Hubbard, Will Hudgens, Greg Jackson, Steven Joachim, Deante’ Lamar, T.J. Pitts, Malcom Rawls, Matt Reagan, Jeremy Rockette, Carlos Singleton, Alton Starr, Curtis Steele, Greg Terrell, Roger Terry, Brett Toney, Steven Turner and Josh Weaver were all recognized before Saturday’s game.
Previewing the Cougars
Now the Tigers face a top 25 Houston Cougar (8-2, 4-2) team that boasts C-USA’s top scoring offense and top passing offense on TV at 12:00 noon on CSS. That does not bode well for a Memphis team reeling from injuries and overall poor play on the defensive side of the ball. Houston’s QB, Case Keenum has already passed for over 4100 yards and has an incredible QB rating of 155.76. Keenum has an array of weapons, especially Junior WR James Cleveland who has already amassed 941 yards on 82 receptions and 11 touchdowns. Cleveland is joined by a duo of receiving threats in sophomores Tyron Carrier and Patrick Edwards. Carrier and Edwards have combined for 133 receptions and over 1600 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Cougars rushing game is paced by two solid performers in sophomore Bryce Beall and freshman Charles Sims. The two have combined for 1041 yards on the ground and 11 touchdowns.
On defense the Cougars are not nearly as impressive. In fact they rank 10th in C-USA in total defense. The Cougars do possess two playmakers at linebacker with both sophomore Marcus McGraw and senior C.J. Cavness both ranking in the top 10 nationally and both being top 4 in C-USA in total tackles.
The Tigers face a monumental test going on the road to face a Houston team set to make amends for their late collapse at UCF last week which dropped the Cougars into second place in the C-USA west. Look for the Cougars to try and make a statement against the Tigers and try and stay in the hunt for a divisional title. The Tigers will need to play well on both sides of the ball to have any chance to beat one of college football’s best offenses.
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