The Memphis Tigers (6-1) are heading back on the road to face the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-5). The last time the teams met each other was last year when the Tigers got the better of the Golden Hurricane, 47-21.
Led by their impressive running game, the Tigers dominated in their efforts to reach a .500 record. That win was a part of the four-game winning streak that Memphis ended their season on to earn a spot in the AAC Championship game.
This season, the Tigers hope to regain control of their own destiny as they sit a half game behind Navy and a whole game behind No. 16 SMU. Tulsa sits at the bottom of the conference standings with only two wins, none of which are in conference. Tulsa looks to keep their bowl game hopes alive as a loss would make a winning season impossible.
Memphis Tigers
The Tigers’ got back on the winning side of things after they defeated Tulane at home Saturday, 47-17.
Led by running back Kenneth Gainwell’s historic day, the Tigers road their own wave to a dominating victory.
Gainwell led the team in both rushing and receiving as he posted 104 rushing yards and 203 receiving yards. Tigers football has not seen numbers like that since 1997 and what made it better was that no one knew how good his game was until it was all over.
Mike Norvell talked about the game during the postgame news conference and said he was proud of his star freshman, but also gave credit to the team for their help in making it happen.
“It’s a heck of a milestone that he’s accomplished,” Norvell said. “I’m happy for him, but there’s a lot of guys in that room who helped contribute to that. It’s special when you see somebody that’s humble on his field and with that work ethic be successful on the field.”
In addition to Gainwell’s big game, Brady White had quite the bounce-back performance from his three-turnover performance against Temple.
He had five passing touchdowns, 358 passing yards and completed 72% of his passes, his highest completion percentage since the team’s second game of the season.
The defense had an admirable performance, forcing three interceptions and held the nation’s previously fourth-ranked rushing offense to 146 rushing yards, a big improvement from the 318 rushing yards they allowed against them last year.
Norvell talked about the unit’s improved performance and said it all came down to the aggressiveness of the unit.
“Our guys did a great job of executing the game plan,” Norvell said. “We were very aggressive up front, and we challenged our guys on the defensive front to step up.”
Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Tulsa is currently on a three-game losing streak, with their most recent loss being to the #18 Cincinnati, 24-13.
Despite out-gaining the Bearcats’ offense 377 to 317, they were unable to score points when it mattered and committed two turnovers while forcing none of their own.
Quarterback Zach Smith completed 48.8% of his passes for 243 yards, threw two interceptions and was sacked five times.
The team’s run game was a bit better and had 134 rushing yards on 43 carries and scored the offense’s only touchdown.
Defensively, they got two sacks and did a nice job of hemming in Desmond Ridder, who completed 12 of his 22 passes for 172 yards, his third-lowest total of the season.
Linebacker Zaven Collins leads the team with nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack. Senior defensive end Trevis Gipson also had a sack and a forced fumble.
Game Prediction
Lately, the games between these two teams have not been close, and I do not think that this game is going to change that.
With Kenneth Gainwell at the forefront and Patrick Taylor possibly being able to return for the first time since Week One, this could be the team’s best running performance of the week.
It also will not hurt that the defense is consistently doing a nice job of containing the team’s passing attacks. They have done a fine job of limiting offenses to menial performances.
Score Prediction: Memphis 48-17 Tulsa
