Tigers Football Successful In Norvell's Debut Saturday

Saturday, September 3

Memphis, Tenn.

6:00 PM

University of Memphis

1-0

Southeast Missouri State

0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SEMO

Memphis

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Tigers Football Successful In Norvell's Debut Saturday

Sep 03, 2016 | Football

Box Score Postgame Notes Memphis 35, Southeast Missouri 17 Photo Recap Photo Recap (Adobe Slate)Photo Recap (Adobe Spark)Photo Gallery

Miller, Ferguson lead Memphis to 35-17 win over Southeast Missouri.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A beautiful afternoon of tailgating.

A raucous crowd of over 42,000 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.

And, a win!

A pretty nice start to the Mike Norvell era in Tigers football history.

On Saturday evening, Tigers quarterback Riley Ferguson threw for nearly 300 yards and three scores and wide receiver Anthony Miller had over 100 yards receiving to lift the University of Memphis football squad to a season-opening 35-17 victory over Southeast Missouri in Norvell's collegiate head coaching debut.

The win came in front of 42,876 at the Liberty Bowl, the overall 10^th-largest season-opening crowd and the third-largest non-Southeastern Conference season-opening attendance in school history.

Memphis jumped out to a 29-0 lead and was never really threatened in its third-straight season-opening victory. Southeast Missouri scored a field goal before halftime and added two touchdowns in the second half.

In his Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) debut, Ferguson was 26-of-40 passing for 295 yards and three touchdowns. Miller grabbed nine of Ferguson's 26 completions for 103 yards for his fifth career 100-yard receiving game. Patrick Taylor Jr. was the Tigers' leading rusher with 86 yards on seven carries.

Defensively, junior transfer Jonathan Cook led Memphis with eight total stops, including seven solo hits. Senior defensive back Arthur Maulet picked off his third career pass and had a career-high three pass break-ups.

A mark of a Norvell-coached team is few mistakes and that was seen Saturday. The Tigers had only four penalties for 40 yards, but did have three turnovers (one fumble/two interceptions). In his four seasons at Arizona State, the Sun Devils ranked among the nation's top-15 in fewest penalty yardage each year.

The Norvell era got off to a roaring start as Memphis jumped out to a 29-0 first-half lead. Doroland Dorceus (rush TD/receive TD) and Darrell Henderson (two receive TD) accounted for all of the Tigers' touchdowns in the opening half. After the first score, Memphis successfully converted its first passing two-point conversion since 2007 for an 8-0 lead just 2:17 into the contest.

Southeast Missouri got on the scoreboard just before halftime when Ryan McCrum connected on a 26-yard field goal to cut the Memphis lead to 29-3.

Two Jake Elliott field goals were the Tigers' only scoring after halftime. Elliott hit on field goals from 45 and 40 yards.

Southeast Missouri added two second-half touchdowns for the 35-17 final.

The Tigers have a bye week Sept. 10, but return to action against Kansas Sept. 17. The Tigers-Jayhawks match-up is slated for an 11 a.m. (CT) start from the Liberty Bowl. ESPNU is televising the contest.