On a rainy Saturday afternoon game against the No. 10 UCF Knights, the Memphis Tigers fell victim to heavy rainfall and ill-timed fumbles, costing them the game 31-30. A heartbreaking score for any Tiger fan to see was only made worse by knowing the Tigers led for much of the game, including the start of the fourth quarter when they led 30-24.
Quarterbacks: B-
In one of the more shocking turn of events during Saturday’s high-profile matchup, the Tigers were aided by the rare rushing efforts of Brady White. In the game, he had nine yards on four attempts and one rushing touchdown.
However, he was pedestrian through the air, and he made some bad decisions regarding his attempt to throw receivers open. In total, he threw for 209 yards on 17-29 passing and no touchdowns.
Running backs: A-
Running back Darrell Henderson started the game hot and maintained that momentum all game long. Coaches fed him for much of the first half, giving him 21 carries in the first half alone, which was one carry shy of his career high. To close out the game, he had an impressive 31 carries, 199 rushing yards, one touchdown and two fumbles (one recovered by UCF).
Running backs Tony Pollard and Patrick Taylor Jr. also made their presences felt, as Taylor rushed for 47 yards, and Pollard had a 19-yard rushing touchdown.
Wide receivers and tight ends: B-
Not much noise was made by the Tigers’ pass catchers in this week’s matchup, but a big reason for that was because of Memphis’ reluctance to throw the ball in the second half due to the heavy rain.
Damonte Coxie led all the pass catchers with 86 yards on four receptions, including a big 39-yard reception that set the team up for their third field goal of the game and a big 31-yard gain on the potential game-winning drive that set the team up with good field position.
Offensive line: C
The offensive line was relatively good for much of the game, but their fourth quarter gaffs are arguably the biggest reason why the Tigers lost the game.
They had a holding penalty that took a Henderson third down touchdown run off the board and then allowed a sack the following play, which forced Memphis to punt. Then, on the potential game-winning drive, they got called with a false start penalty, which resulted in the usual loss of five yards along with a 10-second runoff, hampering a team already in crunch time.
Defensive line: A-
The defensive live produced their best showing of the season and helped limit UCF to 165 rushing yards — a major difference from their 257.8 rushing average per game.
The stars of the line were defensive end Joseph Dorceus and John Tate IV, who both wreaked havoc on the Knights’ usually composed offensive line. The two were responsible for all four of the team’s sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Linebackers: B+
The linebackers continued to impress as the second level of the defense, with usual suspects Curtis Akins and Austin Hall having productive outings. The duo combined for 14 tackles and a tackle for loss.
Bryce Huff continued his dominant season, adding an impressive two pass breakups to his résumé.
Defensive backs: B
Against promising quarterback McKenzie Milton, the Tigers secondary did a suitable job limiting big passes downfield. Milton finished the game with 296 passing yards and one passing touchdown.
After a tough pass interference call against him in the first quarter, cornerback Tito Windham picked up his play and performed very well for the remainder of the game, finishing the game with three tackles and one pass deflection.
Special teams: A-
Kicker Riley Patterson had an efficient night kicking, making all three of his field goal attempts that now place him at 66.7 percent for the year.
Returners Tony Pollard and John “Pop” Williams kept things interesting when they were given the opportunity to return kicks and had returns of more than 15 yards each.
Coaching: B
After a heartbreaking loss, it’s easy to try to blame it on the coaches and suggest things they could have done differently to have a better outcome. However, head coach Mike Norvell got it right this time around. It was just a matter of poor execution. Proper play-calling put the team in a position where they should have scored or made big plays, but turnovers and penalties halted those efforts.
Darrell Henderson rushes pass UCF defenders. Henderson has rushed for over 1,100 yards and has 13 touchdowns this season.
Brady White hands the ball off to the running back. Memphis was held scoreless in the second half in the losing efforts against UCF.
Running back Darrell Henderson breaks loose from UCF defenders.
Brady White throws the ball to his target. So far, White has 15 touchdowns and one interception for over 1,700 passing yard this season.
Memphis Tigers head coach Mike Norvell runs out of the tunnel with his team.
