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Memphis football prepares for conference matchup at SMU

The Memphis Tigers (5-4, 2-3 American Athletic Conference) will be facing the Southern Methodist Mustangs (5-5, 4-2 AAC), with hopes to finish out the year strong and continue their current two-game winning streak. 

The Tigers defeated the Tulsa Golden Hurricane 47-21 last week to reach .500 in conference play for the first time this season. The Mustangs defeated the UConn Huskies 62-50 in a shootout. The last time the Tigers and Mustangs faced one another, the Tigers won 66-45. 

 

Memphis Tigers 

 

Against Tulsa, Memphis’ run game led the charge and accounted for 297 of the team’s 499 yards. Running backs Darrell Henderson and Patrick Taylor Jr. had more than 20 carries  each and combined for 262 rushing yards. 

The game was memorable for Henderson, as he rushed for 166 yards, scored two touchdowns and etched his name further into Memphis football history. He became the second player in Memphis history to get more than 3,000 rushing yards in his career. The first and only other player to do that was running back DeAngelo Williams. 

Wide Receiver Damonte Coxie also had a big game, catching six passes for 110 yards, giving him his third-straight 100-yard receiving game and fifth of the season.  

Defensively, the team seemed reinvigorated and had one of its best performances of the season. They allowed 252 total yards to a Tulsa team that was averaging 379.1 in their previous nine contests.  

The Tigers came away with five sacks, led by defensive lineman Jonathan Wilson, who had two. Wilson now has three sacks this season, putting him in a tie for the third-leading sacker on the team. 

However, the biggest surprise of the game was the 72-yard punt return for a touchdown by wide receiver John “Pop” Williams in the fourth quarter. This was Williams’ first career punt return for a touchdown and Memphis’ first once since 2015. The play earned Williams the title of being the AAC’s Special Teams Player of the Week. 

 

 SMU Mustangs 

 

The Mustangs ran their offense effectively in their game against UConn this past weekend. For the game, they rushed for 315 yards. Running backs Xavier Jones and Ke’Mon Freeman led the charge, both rushing for more than 100 yards and combining for five touchdowns.  

Quarterback Ben Hicks had a serviceable game through the air, throwing for 276 yards and one touchdown. His top target was wide receiver James Proche, who had six receptions for 101 yards and his third 100-yard game of the season. 

On defense though, the team had a difficult time stopping UConn’s typically mundane offense and allowed a season-high 50 points. They were unable to stop quarterback David Pindell on the ground or through the air, and it showed with him accounting for 399 yards of offense and six touchdowns.  

To their credit, they were able to come up with three sacks and one interception, but head coach Sonny Dykes was ultimately disappointed in their performance. 

“We had a hard time stopping the quarterback,” Dykes said to reporters in Dallas. “They did a good job running the zone. We had a hard time getting it all fit up, and the quarterback made a bunch of good plays, and he’s a good football player, but obviously, we’ve got to play better, and [I’m] just disappointed in the way we played. But [it’s] good to get a road win.”  

 

Opinion: Game prediction 

 

SMU may sit atop the AAC West division standings, but they’re in for a tough matchup against this surging Tigers team. Their defense had a tough time stopping UConn, and with the weapons that Memphis has, things are only going to get tougher.  

SMU’s defense is ranked 106th in the nation at stopping the run, and going up against Memphis’ seventh-ranked rushing offense means things are going to get out of hand.  

It won’t be surprising if Memphis has more than 50 rushing attempts for the second week in a row, and SMU struggles to find a way to stop their high-powered offense. 

Final sore prediction: Memphis 55, SMU 27


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