Tigers desperate for win against Austin Peay

By Adam Douglas

 Sports Editor

   

Jerald Holiday

Junior kicker Paulo Henriques scored the only points in a 47-3 loss last Saturday against Arkansas State. The Tigers hope to put up more points on Saturday against Austin Peay.

 

When The University of Memphis Tigers football team takes the field on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the atmosphere will be noticeably different from most games. Sure the Liberty Bowl will probably be more than half empty, but the pressure surrounding this football program, its coaches and players is rising at an alarming rate. Earlier this week, after another humiliating loss, there were questions about the job security of head coach Larry Porter. But after the weekly press luncheon on Monday, athletic director R.C. Johnson quieted the rumors by saying that no changes were imminent.

On Wednesday, however, that proved untrue, as second-year defensive coordinator Jay Hopson was relieved of his duties. Defensive line coach and former head coach of Alabama, Mike Dubose, along with linebackers coach Galen Scott will resume Hopson's duties as co-defensive coordinators. Needless to say, if there is a must-win game in the Bluff City, it is this weekend's game against Austin Peay.

The Tigers go into Saturday's matchup on an 11-game losing streak dating back to last season, with Porter losing 13 out of 14 games to start his head-coaching career at Memphis. The Tigers are led on offense by true freshman quarterback Taylor Reed, who is 36-out-of-64 in completions, 56.3 percent, for 236 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the young season. At running back, freshman Artaves Gibson leads the ground attack with 127 yards on 31 carries. Through the air, junior wide receiver Marcus Rucker, who has 11 catches totaling 107 yards with one touchdown so far on the season, looks to rebound from a disappointing game against Arkansas State where he had 4 catches for 34 yards.

Defensively is where the Tigers need the most help, and the Tigers offense is doing them no favors. By scoring just two touchdowns in two games and failing to sustain lengthy drives, the Tigers defense has spent 71 minutes on the field during the contests, as compared to the offense's 49 minutes.

Fatigue notwithstanding, the Tigers have given up record-setting yardage on defense, allowing 645 yards of offense against MSU and 611 yards of offense against ASU. The Tigers are ranked 118 out of 120 football bowl division (FBS) teams defensively, and if they want to start showing people that they can be competitive on the FBS level, it has to start Saturday against an APSU team who comes into this game on a 9-game losing streak and lost its season-opener to Cincinnati 72-10.

This will be the seventh overall meeting between the two schools, with Memphis leading the all-time series 6-0. Memphis has a 56-31-10 record against current football championship schools (FCS) and a 35-19-9 all-time record against member of the Ohio Valley Conference.