University of Memphis Athletics
University of Memphis
Middle Tennessee State
Memphis Falls To Middle Tennessee, 31-14
Sep 12, 2009 | Football
Sept. 12, 2009
Final Stats | Notes
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- The Tiger football team dropped to 0-2 with a 31-14 loss to Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro in front of a record crowd of 28,105 at Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium.
Middle Tennessee put the first points on the board with a four-yard run by Phillip Tanner with 10:30 left in the first quarter. Memphis answered with a 12-yard touchdown run by senior Curtis Steele with 6:10 left in the first. Steele scored twice last weekend against Ole Miss, and has now scored in seven of his last eight games for the Tigers. He has registered 11 touchdowns in that eight-game span. Steele left the game in the second quarter with an apparent knee injury. He totaled 29 yards on five carries before being sidelined.
The Blue Raiders shut out Memphis in the second and third quarters and scored four times before Memphis scored again. In the second quarter, Dwight Dasher tossed a 40-yard strike to Shane Blissard to give MT the 14-7 lead. Alan Gendreau sent the Blue Raiders to the locker room at the half with a 17-7 lead after booting a 28-yard field goal with 6:14 remaining in the first half.
Near the end of the third quarter, Dasher reached Patrick Honeycut for a 24-yard touchdown pass to push Middle Tennessee up 24-7 with 2:44 remaining in the third. The Blue Raiders forced the Tigers into a 3-and-out and began driving down the field with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. Middle moved the ball to the Memphis 20 and then only had to run three plays to jump to a 31-7 advantage off a seven-yard run by D.D. Kyles with 14:15 remaining in the game.
The Tigers were forced to punt on their next two drives before mounting a scoring drive. Sophomore Tyler Bass replaced Arkelon Hall and was playing in just his third career game for the Tigers. Bass completed passes to Steven Joachim and Deven Onarheim and rushed four yards to get the squad to 3rd-and-4 from the Middle Tennessee 24. Bass then hit Lance Smith with a 24-yard completion for the first down to the Blue Raiders 6. Bass gained three yards from the run, and Smith marched in for the three-yard touchdown with 1:47 remaining in the game. Bass finished the game having completed 4-of-4 passes for 33 yards. Hall was 13-of-22 for 93 yards and one interception. He was picked off on a long pass attempt with seconds remaining in the first half.
T.J. Pitts led the rushing game with 40 yards on nine carries. Duke Calhoun posted four catches for 27 yards and extended his receiving streak to 39 games. He came into the game with the third longest active receiving streak in the nation. Calhoun also set a school record for career receiving yards, totaling 2,138 yards. He surpassed Earnest Gray, who totaled 2,123 yards from 1975-78. Calhoun set the school record for career receptions last weekend, and with his four catches tonight, now has 153 career catches.
Senior Matt Reagan, who has only punted in two games during his career, logged 10 punts and averaged 41.6 yards per punt. He booted five inside the 20. Reagan's 10 punts against Middle Tennessee are the most by a Memphis kicker since Ben Graves had 10 in 2000 against Mississippi State. The last time Memphis had 10 punts as a team was in 2005 against UTEP.
Lance Smith logged 121 yards on five kickoff returns for his first game over the century mark. The Wisconsin transfer had 148 all-purpose yards with his 19 yards receiving and eight yards from the run. Greg Jackson led the defense with eight tackles, seven of which were solo stops. Dontari Poe and Greg Terrell both registered sacks, while Alton Starr was credited with a forced fumble and Jada Brown had the recovery.
The Tigers host UT Martin next Saturday at 7 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium before opening Conference USA action against Marshall on Sept. 26 at home.
