Sports Editor
It wasn't pretty, but before an announced crowd of 18,808, The University of Memphis Tigers football team ended their 11-game losing streak and defeated the Governors of Austin Peay State University, 27-6. The Tigers (1-2) won for just the second time in their last 15 contests, a dubious feat dating back to the 2010 campaign where they struggled to a 1-11 finish. The revamped Tigers defense, which gave up more than 400 yards of total offense to each their two previous opponents, held the Governors to 368 yards for the game, a notable improvement.
"I want to take my hat off to our defense, under the circumstances, as well as my defensive staff," head coach Larry Porter said. "For them to pick up and almost hold an opponent scoreless the whole game, and overall, despite the circumstances, I'm excited about them."
Freshman quarterback Taylor Reed carved up the APSU defense to the tune of 332 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. One of those touchdowns came on a bizarre play where Reed connected on an 18-yard pass to senior tight end Andrew Ene-inta, who fumbled the ball only to have it recovered by the Tigers for a 22-yard touchdown.
"Things slowed down for me this week, but I have to give credit to those skill players on the outside making plays…It definitely felt good to have things go our way like that," Reed said.
Junior linebackers Akeem Davis and Kenyatta Johnson each had 10 tackles for the re-tooled Tiger defense. But despite the changes on that side of the ball, Tiger players said there's still a lot more work to be done.
"It's a great win – we're going to embrace it, hold on to it and let it soak in – but we have SMU on Saturday," Davis said. "But I have flaws in my game just like we all do. So we have to just keep on practicing, and they say practice makes perfect, but around here at The University of Memphis we believe that perfect practice make perfect."
Not only were players relieved to snap the program's longest losing streak in 25 years, Porter, too, was in better spirits, briefly joking about the state of the program through the last 15 games.
"We've been losing," Porter said, laughing. "Under the circumstances or not, we needed a win."
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Tigers top Austin Peay 27-6 for Porter’s second win
Former Tiger Williams gives back
By Adam Douglas
Sports Editor
Carolina Panthers running back and former Tigers great DeAngelo Williams presented The University of Memphis with an enormous gift on Monday. The former All-American running back and Heisman Trophy candidate presented athletic director R.C. Johnson with a six-figure donation that will go to the Tiger Scholarship Fund and be used as a part of the Vision for Victory Capital Campaign.
"I am very fortunate to have been blessed with this opportunity to give back to a football program and a university that did so much for me during my career as a Tiger," Williams said. "Everyone around me knows I remain loyal to The University of Memphis and am thankful for the close relationships that I made while I was there. It is my hope that this gift will open the door for others to get involved and give back to this program, because this is such a crucial time for showing support to Tiger football."
Williams' donation includes naming rights to the football locker room at the Murphy Athletic Complex.
"We are thankful for the donation from DeAngelo and know that it will make such an impact on this program," Johnson said. "We are proud of what he accomplished while he was here and all that he did for this program during his four-year career. To have him make this donation is a testament to how much he cares for this university. He is such a true ambassador for this program."
Friday, September 16, 2011
Tigers desperate for win against Austin Peay
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.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Hopson removed as defensive coordinator
Sports Editor
Joe Murphy
Hopson
In an effort to improve the play of the Tiger defensive unit, University of Memphis head football coach Larry Porter removed defensive coordinator Jay Hopson from his current duties and named Mike DuBose and Galen Scott as co-coordinators. Hopson was offered a change in responsibility but chose not to remain on staff.
"This problem was bigger than coach Hopson," Porter said. "He is a fine man, and I thought he gave everything to this program. But at the end of the day, it's us as coaches that have to man up and do a better job at preparing this team."
Porter said that DuBose will continue to handle the entire Tiger defensive front. Scott will coach both the inside and outside linebackers and Shannon Morrison will be responsible for the defensive secondary.
"I think both guys bring something good to the table," Porter said. "Coach DuBose is a veteran guy and coach Scott is a very intellectual guy who understands what we're doing within this system, both in the front end and back end. And in terms of them both working together, they will be a great force moving forward in terms of tweaking some things in which we are doing."
Hopson was in his second season as the Tigers defensive coordinator. Defensively, the Tigers ranked 115 out of 120 football bowl division schools last season. This season, Memphis has given up over 1,200 yards of total offense in the first two games of the season, again ranking near the bottom of the FBS.
The Tigers parting ways with Hopson comes amid increasing scrutiny on Porter, who said two days earlier that he had no plans to change his staff.
Athletic Director R.C. Johnson reiterated last week that Porter's job is safe.
"We're not making changes because that's just ridiculous," Johnson said. "No one is more disappointed than I am over the last two Saturdays. Larry is too, and we both know that we have to get football going."
Questions about Porter's job security began to swirl before the Tigers' game against Arkansas State on Saturday.
"The one thing that's obvious is that we're playing a bad brand of football right now," Porter said. "What we got to fix, I understand. But as far as the chemistry and the defense as a group or core, there's some things that need to change schematically."
Tigers personnel mesh well with new coaches
Tigers personnel mesh well with new coaches
By Adam Douglas-->Sports Editor
Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2011 16:09
Three weeks into individual workouts, The University of Memphis Tigers men's basketball team is praising their new assistant coaches, Damon Stoudamire and Luke Walton. But what's most important is what the NBA stars are teaching the Tigers.
"Having two pro coaches makes us get after it," sophomore guard Will Barton said. "They've added a pro style, giving us hints that they've used on the next level so that we can be more experienced than our opponents."
The Tigers had a problem last season with a lack of depth in the frontcourt, especially when junior forward Angel Garcia decided to leave the program to play overseas, so the addition of junior college transfer Stan Simpson should be a key to the Tigers' success this season.
"Stan has a lot of talent," Barton said. "I think that once he gets into shape and learns how we do things around here, I think he will be a real good impact on our team."
Simpson has talent, but what the team and head coach Josh Pastner is raving about is his size. The team was highly undersized against most opponents last year, and that in turn caused them to be outrebounded and out muscled. So with Simpson being 6'10 to 6'11, the tigers should have no problem with being the aggressor under the boards this season.
"He's real crucial to our team," Barton said. "He's the tallest person on the team, we already have an enforcer with (Tarik) Black, but with Stan he can block shots, rebound and help keep Black out of foul trouble."
A year ago, these same Tigers were made up mostly freshmen and sophomores. This year they're a little more experienced – sophomores, juniors and seniors. With the experience comes a more defined role of leadership, and some Tigers are poised to take on that role this season – something that some of the elder players were reluctant to do last year.
"I got to lead, I've got to be more vocal this year," senior guard Charles Carmouche said. "I think I could have done a better job of leading last year because we had a lot of freshman. I should have brought my knowledge to the table more last year so that everybody could have been on the same page."
Also in the mix this season for the Tigers is former McDonald's High School All-American and Melrose standout Adonis Thomas. Thomas understands that now as a freshman, he's not ‘the man' any more and that things a very different on the college level.
"The transition has been tough, tougher than I thought," Thomas said. "It's a lot of things that I need to learn, especially defensively, so I just have to listen to the coaches and my teammates because it's a learning process. And with the coaches, you just can't help but to listen to guys that been to where you want to go."
Recommended: Articles that may interest you
refresh -->Be the first to comment on this article!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Tigers trounced at ASU, 47-3
Sports Editor
Jerald Holiday
Freshman defensive back Bakari Hollier catches an interception against an Arkansas State receiver.
The University of Memphis Tigers football team headed to Jonesboro, Ark. with hopes of turning things around against Arkansas State on Saturday. They had a new starter at quarterback with true freshman Taylor Reed, and another freshman, Artaves Gibson, showed promise in his first collegiate game.
Freshman wide receiver Keiwone Malone, a transfer from Alabama and former Mitchell High standout, was ruled eligible to play by the NCAA one day before the game.
But the Tigers put up another disappointing effort as their defense allowed 30 points and 336 total yards of offense in the first half en route to a 47-3 loss against ASU.
"It's obvious that we weren't prepared tonight," head coach Larry Porter said. "I truly believe that we've got a locker room full of guys that are better than that."
Though Porter believes the players are better than that, the truth remains to be seen. The Tigers gained just three yards of offense in the third quarter after posting 137 in the first half, finishing with an abysmal 169 total yards of offense for the game. Former Briarcrest High head football coach Hugh Freeze, who is now the head coach at ASU, took his starters out of the game after the first series of the third quarter. Memphis was unable to score against the second and third teams of ASU in the final 20 minutes of the game.
"It's up to us as coaches to get them prepared and we didn't do a good job tonight," Porter said. "It's us as coaches, so we got to stop blaming it on personnel."
Whether the blame is on coaches or a lack of talent, some players still have faith that the season can still be turned around starting with the Tigers next home game against Austin Peay State University.
"I think we just got to step up and compete," senior linebacker Akeem Davis said. "Everybody's down and sad in the locker room. But we're still very optimistic about the season because we still have 10 opportunities to prove ourselves and be competitive in conference play and win Conference USA."
Before a crowd of 29,872, the second largest in ASU history, the Tigers allowed yet another opponent to score over 40 points and amass 600 or more yards on offense for the second straight week. Despite all of this, Tiger players know that there's still a lot to be said about the rest of the season.
"I was very surprised about the outcome of the game," senior wide receiver Tanner Rehrer said. "I would still tell Tigers fans to stick behind us because we have talent – I see it at practice every day."
Davis shared Rehrer's outlook.
"Just like in life, you get shocked," he said. "It's life and adversity. Adversity slapped us in the face Saturday, and what we're going to do is give it our all and go strong in practice this week, and then give everything we have to Austin Peay."