University of Memphis Athletics
Tigers Battle Rain During First Scrimmage of Fall
Aug 13, 2003 | Football
Aug. 13, 2003
A steady drizzle of rain dampened the Tigers' first scrimmage of fall camp and caused several mistakes by the offense but head coach Tommy West did not see anything that could not be fixed before the season opener against Tennessee Tech.
"The tempo was very good and the fundamentals very were bad," West stated after the scrimmage. "The players were eager and trying hard to learn what we were teaching but fundamentally, we did not protect the ball. There were too many mistakes on exchanges between the quarterbacks and centers and the running backs put the ball on the ground too often.
"Fortunately, you can correct the fundamentals by working on more scrimmage situations and that is what we will do."
The scrimmage started on a very positive note for the offense as tailback DeAngelo Williams caught a six-yard pass on first down and on the ensuing play, scampered 74 yards for a touchdown. The Wynne, Arkansas, native would finish the day with 114 yards rushing on 12 carries.
With junior tailback Derron Parquet sidelined with an ankle injury, redshirt freshmen tailbacks Brian Davis and LaKendus Cole moved up the depth chart and responded with 72 and 48 yards rushing, respectively. Included among Davis' rushing yardage were touchdown runs of 35 and 16 yards.
Junior quarterback Bobby Robison connected on 8-of-13 pass attempts for 83 yards and one score, and freshman Mario Pratcher led all receivers with four catches for 32 yards.
Defensively, defensive tackles Albert Means and Erskine Williams both registered fumble recoveries and cornerback Lee Hayes had the only pass interception of the scrimmage which he returned 30 yards.
The Tigers will hold one practice session on Thursday at 6:30 AM.
