After a long bye week, Memphis Tiger football is back this weekend as they return to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to play the MTSU Blue Raiders.
The Tigers, despite starting the season 1-1, have brought the interest of Tiger football back to Memphis with a 63-0 home thumping of Austin Peay and a narrow loss to the then, No. 11 UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Coming off the bye week, head coach Justin Fuente said they tried to limit the mileage on the players, but he is satisfied with the work the players put in.
“We had great work from our young kids,” Fuente said. “We tried to limit the mileage a little bit on the older kids over the week but still got good work done with them. I think our kids have approached it really well.”
The Tigers, who are 12-point favorites, will have to improve on their recent performances against MTSU (2-1). The Blue and Gray have lost four out of five against the Blue Raiders, dating back to 2010.
One of the Tigers that will have to lead the charge is sophomore quarterback Paxton Lynch. He has thrown for 547 yards in two games and three touchdowns as well as rushing for three more. Lynch won the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week for his performance against the Bruins, completing 27-of-41 passes for 305 yards.
Fuente said that winning the turnover battle against an MTSU defense that has dominated the turnover margin will be crucial to winning the game.
“We have got to continue that,” the third-year coach said. “That's what will give us a chance; taking ball away on defense and not giving it back offensively. They will try to limit the big plays. They seem to do a great job of keeping the ball in front of them by and large, and forcing you to be patient or make a mistake."
Fuente said he has noticed an appreciation for the Tigers’ start to the season, but he may not be the best to ask about the attitude of the fans.
The Tigers defense will have to be ready to stop MTSU quarterback Andy Grammer and the Blue Raiders rushing attack. MTSU is averaging 247 yards on the ground per game so far this season.
Tigers’ senior cornerback Bakari Hollier said the defense will have to get after the MTSU offense which scored 50 points in a triple-overtime win against Western Kentucky University last weekend.
“It's definitely important to get after them,” Hollier said. “In that aspect, we have to take away part of their game; either their running game or passing game. We believe in our secondary so we really just want to focus on taking away part of their game and making them one-dimensional.”
Senior defensive lineman Terry Redden said it will be important to not let Grammer get out of the pocket and run.
“From my aspect of the game, as far as the defensive line, we have to keep the quarterback in the pocket,” Redden said. “We can't let him run the ball. That's what he is good at."
The Tigers will also hope that senior linebacker Tank Jakes continues his strong start to the season, Janks has 16 tackles and six tackles for loss this season. He also won defensive player of the week by the Tennessee Sportswriters Association following his performance against UCLA.
Memphis will hope for the return of defensive end Martin Ifeidi, who missed the game against UCLA due to injury. Fuente said he is feeling better, but he did not say if he would come back to play against the Blue Raiders.
Kickoff against MTSU is Saturday at 6 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, and the game will be broadcast online on ESPN3.
