Tigers fall to Rice Owls 28-6 in road matchup

By Adam Douglas

 Sports Editor

 

 

 

 

After beginning the half with 107 yards of total offense, compared to their opponent's 245 yards, The University of Memphis Tigers football team (1-5, 0-2 in Conference USA) ended the game on somewhat a positive note – they moved the ball to the tune of 307 yards.

But, they were scoreless in the process.

Rice University (2-3, 1-1 in C-USA) finished the game with just 350 total yards of offense, but still managed to defeat the Tigers 28-6 in Houston.

"First and foremost, I take my hat off to Coach (David) Bailiff and his team," said Memphis head coach Larry Porter. "All in all, we didn't play a balanced game in terms of offense, defense and special teams. We have to have more from every phase of our team."

Two Tiger quarterbacks led the Memphis attack, with freshman Taylor Reed going 15 of 30 in passing for 100 yards, and sophomore transfer Andy Summerlin, who entered the game for Reed at the end of the third quarter, finished the game and completed 9 of 13 passes for 137 yards and no touchdown. Though the offense was at one point 0-7 in third down conversions during the game, Porter said that the offense will be different once some subtle changes come about.

"The thing that we've got to do is glue our offensive line together," he said at his weekly press luncheon.  "We've been very inconsistent with injuries, and it showed on Saturday. You have to start there because when you can't run and you can't throw, it doesn't matter who your quarterback is."

The Tigers are still having problems on offense, but the defense is picking up the slack by creating turnovers. The Tigers forced three Rice turnovers, one of which was senior linebacker Akeem Davis' third interception in three games. But it went to spoils as the offense managed just two field goals on the turnovers.

"On a day in which you get three turnovers, that certainly gives you a good opportunity of putting points on the board and also victory," Porter said. "Obviously offensively, we couldn't get anything established throughout the day, which put us in a bad position."

Senior wide receiver Tannar Rehrer continued to be reliable target in the game, finishing with a career-high 11 receptions for 89 yards, tying him with Duke Calhoun for third-most receptions in school history.

Freshman wide receiver Kevin Wright also finished with a career high in receiving yards with four catches for 82 yards. But despite their efforts, the offense just couldn't find their stride.

"We didn't have any rhythm or continuity at first,'' Rehrer said. "I don't know why. We've got to be consistent. It can't be one week here, one week there."