No. 25 Memphis improved to 8-1 with a 38-14 win over Rice on a cool, Friday Halloween night in Houston, Texas.
The Tigers outscored Rice 31-7 in the first half, powered by three Frank Peasant rushing touchdowns.
“I think when you can win a game by 24 points and not be pleased by the execution, especially in the second half, that’s a good thing,” Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield said.
Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis had another strong performance, going 18 for 22 passing for 225 yards. He was also the team’s leading rusher with 87 yards along with a rushing touchdown. Lewis went down with an injury during the fourth quarter and did not return.
“We’re going to see,” Silverfield said on Lewis’ status going forward. “We’ll monitor him day-to-day like we do with any of our guys.”
Memphis was in full control of the ground game as they rushed for over 130 yards and scored five rushing touchdowns, thanks to a hat trick from senior RB Frank Peasant.
“Any way I can help the team out, any way I can get on the field, just put me out there, coach. I’m ready,” Peasant said on his emerging role as the goal line back.
But it was the Tigers’ defense that was the real terror for most of the night, as they held Rice from getting a singular first down until 6:27 left in the second quarter. They held Rice to only 212 total yards for the game.
This tough Tigers defense is only allowing 20 points per game this season, making them one of the best in the American Conference, and 25th in points allowed per game this season in all of college football.
“The standard is the standard,” Memphis defensive back Kamari Wilson said. “How we view things here: it’s 0-0. Every possession is a new game.”
The Tigers got off to a scary start as they opened the game up 7-0 on their first drive, led by a 30-yard catch from redshirt senior WR Cortez Branham Jr., to give him over 600 yards on the season. Brendon Lewis capped off the drive with an 18-yard rushing touchdown.
Memphis continued to remain dominant in the first half as they scored on 5/6 of their next drives after that early touchdown from Brendon Lewis.
Rice did manage to score late in the first half behind a 12-yard pass completion from sophomore QB Chase Jenkins to senior WR Aaron Turner, to bring the game to 28-7, before a Tiger field goal from junior K Gianni Spetic pushed it to 31-7 at the half.
The Tigers would not score again until there were 49 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, when a 2-yard touchdown run from senior RB Greg Desrosiers Jr. made the game 38-7 for the last Tigers' score of the game.
The Owls scored the final points of the game on a 1-yard touchdown run from freshman RB Tyvonn Byars to set the final game score at 38-14, ending an impressive Memphis win.
“Tomorrow morning we’ll turn the page,” Silverfield said. “We’ll learn from this and focus on our next opponent.”
Memphis will look to defend their home field against their conference rival, the 6-2 Tulane Green Wave, next Friday at 8 p.m. at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.
