The Memphis Tigers football team (8-3) suffered a heartbreaking 31-27 loss against the East Carolina Pirates (7-3) on Saturday evening at Dowdy-Ficklin Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina, as their hopes of a College Football Playoff spot, were all but shattered.
The Tigers suffered their first set of back-to-back losses since 2022, with their 38-32 loss last week against Tulane and this shortcoming at ECU.
"Back-to-back losses, that's unacceptable,” said Memphis junior running back Sutton Smith after the game.
The last two meetings between these teams went into overtime, and this game lived up to the hype as there were three ties and five lead changes. The ECU crowd was also a big factor in this game for the Pirates, as attendance at the game was 37,348, compared to what Memphis was used to seeing and hearing in their last two away games, at Rice and at UAB, which only had 20,197 and 19,037, respectively.
The game began with each team taking some time to feel each other out, as it was punt, punt, before back-to-back scores by both teams. ECU’s first score came from a 1-yard touchdown from sophomore RB London Montgomery. Memphis entered the game 11/16 on 4th down conversions, and believed they could make that percentage even higher, as on the next possession they found themselves in four-down territory near the goal line, and converted it, leading to a 5-yard Memphis passing touchdown from senior QB Brendon Lewis to junior TE Matt Adcock with 12:50 left in the second quarter.
It was junior Sutton Smith who got the offense really going for Memphis, as he ran like he was shot out of cannon against the Pirates defense and scored an 84-yard touchdown with 5:43 left in the half to give Memphis their first lead of the game 14-7.
Memphis now holds the two longest rushes for the season in the American Athletic Conference, senior RB Greg Desrosiers Jr 90 yards (Sept 27th) and S. Smith in this game. Both G. Desrosiers Jr and S. Smith were named to the Doak Walker preseason watchlist for the best running back in college football, and both have received the Doak Walker Award’s National Running Back of the week during this season.
The two teams traded field goals to head into halftime with Memphis leading 17-10.
The Pirates defense battened down the hatches on the Tigers to start the second half, as they forced Memphis' first three-and-out of the game. ECU scored on their next possession from a senior QB Katin Hauser 1-yard goal line rush. It was followed by a Memphis touchdown from a 7-yard Brendon Lewis rushing score.
ECU kept their foot on the gas and scored again to tie the game 24-24 after a 23-yard touchdown run from Montgomery, for his second score of the game.
At the end of the third after a 4-yard run, Lewis was tackled, then came up pointing at his wrist then his shoulder. He went immediately into the blue medical tent. Redshirt freshman QB Arrington Maiden checked in for Memphis to finish the drive.
“B-Lew is a tough competitor, he’s a tough young man, and he loves this program, and he loves this place, he gives everything he has, he truly is in a lot of pain," Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. "I think he performed at a high enough level to find a way to win the football game. Obviously we fell short, he’ll be the first to tell you that it wasn’t good enough, but if we ever get to that point where we gotta make a change, we certainly will.”
Lewis did return on the following Memphis possession and delivered a much needed 27-yard run to get to the ECU 42 with 12:28 left in the game. Memphis continued to march down the field but was stopped by the Pirates defense after they went for it on fourth-and-1 at the ECU 17, turning it over on downs with 5:49 left in the game 24-24. The Tigers continued to fight by getting their first turnover of the game after a forced fumble by the Memphis defense. The Tigers converted this opportunity into a 30-yard field goal from G. Spetic to take the lead, 27-24.
The Pirates did not let this late Tigers lead stop their mojo though, as they marched down the field confidently and scored a 31-yard touchdown to take the late lead 31-27 with 1:08 remaining. Memphis, with the weight of all their doubters and playoff hopes on their shoulders, took the field and tried to take the lead. They fought down the field until their dreams were stopped on third-and-eight as Lewis' hail mary attempt was intercepted and Memphis’ hopes of a comeback, and the College Football Playoffs, were officially over, as Memphis walked the plank against the Pirates.
Memphis had high hopes entering the season, with a possible national championship title shot on their mind, but after three disappointing losses on the year, the team, coaches and players will have to keep looking forward to what they can do next week after settling into this new non-playoff reality.
“We had a lot of high expectations this year. Being a Memphis Tiger, you want to represent the Group of Five in the playoff, you want to go to the American championship,” Smith said. “You want to win every weekend. Being some dogs, we’re not satisfied.”
The postgame message from the leader and coach of this team, Ryan Silverfield, remained positive, as he hopes to to rally his troops next week against Navy.
“I said, ‘Listen, man. As soon as y’all go on social media or turn on your phones, there’s going to be a lot of people that try to pull us apart,'” Silverfield said. “Nobody should be happy with tonight and the performance, but let’s grow closer together.”
The Tigers will look to right the ship and stay afloat in their final game of the regular season, as they take on the Navy Midshipmen (8-2) on Thanksgiving Day, November 27th at 6:30 p.m. at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. Streaming for this game will be available on ESPN.
