Post-Game Notes
Oct 22, 2005 | Football
Oct. 22, 2005
MEMPHIS, TENN. - Post Game Quotes
UM Coach Tommy West "It has not gotten to the point around here where winning is not good enough and today that was a big time win. I thought the defense played especially well in the first half."
"Offensively our energy was there but our execution was horrible. We were out of sync and could not get the plays called right and run right. Starting in the second half we handed the ball to 20 (DeAngelo Williams) and let him run it and win the game for us. And we did win the game which was the key. We can be a lot better than what we were today. Sloppy execution and penalties really hurt us in the second half."
"Marcus West will have a MRI on Monday on his knee and I am not going to speculate what it is."
"I thought DeAngelo took the game over and you have to keep feeding him the ball. We challenged our offensive line to help DeAngelo out but I did not think they did that and DeAngelo put the game on his shoulders."
ECU Coach Skip Holtz "They fought hard. I told them I feel bad for them because they did fight so hard. I made a lot of mistakes today and I feel bad on this one and on the first half. I made some bad football calls in the first half. Memphis does a great job in mixing things up and disguising it. We just dug ourselves in big holes in the first half. We weren't very productive. These players went in there at halftime and nobody quit; nobody gave up. They came out and competed in the second half and played hard. I told James (Pinkney) I'm going to put the ball in your hands. I told him I was going to put him in the shotgun and we were going to compete. We weren't going to run it any more."
"The offensive line did a great job. Chris Johnson did a super job protecting in the second half. He stood in there and protected and did a great job."
On DeAngelo Williams "You try to contain him. The thing we kept saying is we don't want to give up the big one. He's a great back. He's going to get his yards and you're not going to stop him. People have been trying to find ways to stop him, but he's just got great cutting ability. He's just a great back. He's a work horse and they're putting the saddle on him and riding him. He's a great horse to ride. He's a stud now. I was impressed with him on film, but I'm really impressed with how hard and physical he runs in person."
Memphis Game Notes: * Heisman Trophy candidate DeAngelo Williams rushed for 226 yards today and now has a total of 5,371 yards. Today, Williams passed Archie Griffin (5,177, 1972-75, Ohio State), Herschel Walker (5,259 yards, 1980-82, Georgia) and LaDainian Tomlinson (5,263 yards, 1997-2000, TCU) on the NCAA's all-time rushing list. Williams now ranks seventh behind Cedric Benson who totaled 5,540 yards for Texas from 2001-04.
* Williams rushed for 226 yards and caught one pass for 14 yards and now has 6,858 all-purpose yards to rank him No. 4 in NCAA history. He is just behind Darrin Nelson who totaled 6,885 yards from 1977-81 at Stanford. Williams entered today's game No. 8.
* Senior Maurice Avery started his second consecutive game at quarterback. Avery is Memphis' fourth QB to start this season. Memphis lost Patrick Byrne and Will Hudgens to broken legs in the first three games of the season, and true freshman Billy Barefield started in the upset win over UTEP and the loss to UCF. Avery powered the Tigers to victory over Houston last weekend. Avery passed for 117 yards and was 10-of-14 today. All of those marks were career highs.
* Senior kicker Stephen Gostkowski booted a 51-yard field goal with just over 10 minutes left in the first quarter. It was a career-long for Gostkowski and was tied the fourth-highest mark in school history. As far as the length, it is the second longest. Three Tigers have hit 52-yard FGs and six Tigers have now hit FGs of 51 yards. Gostkowski's previous high was a 50 yarder against Murray State as a freshman (2002). Gostkowski is 2-of-4 from 50-plus yards.
* DeAngelo Williams picked up 33 yards on 5 carries in the first quarter, and that 33 yards propels him above two-time Heisman Trophy candidate Archie Griffin for the No. 9 slot in all-time rushing in NCAA history.
* DeAngelo Williams rushed one yard and dove into the endzone with five minutes remaining in the first quarter for his 48th career rushing touchdown, and his 52nd overall touchdown. Williams rushed for another one-yard score in the second quarter for his 49th and 53rd, respective TDs. Williams has now rushed for multiple TDs in 14 career games and has scored in 20 of the last 24 games.
* With his second TD in the game, DeAngelo Williams surpassed teammate Stephen Gostkowski for the all-time scoring record at the U of M. The two were tied with 314 points with Williams' first TD and Gostkowski's FG and first extra point. With the second rushing TD, Williams took over with 320 points and the PAT gave Gostkowski 315 points. Gostkowski later hit a FG to end the game with nine points on the day and 319 for his career. The 320 points puts Williams second all-time in C-USA in scoring and first for a non-kicker. Gostkowski ranks third in C-USA. Jonathan Ruffin of Cincinnati previously held the No. 2 spot with 316 points and Tulane's Seth Marler holds the league record with 333 points. Both Ruffin and Marler were kickers.
* Kicker Stephen Gostkowski had his 39-yard field goal attempt blocked at the end of the first half, and it was the first time since 2003 against Cincinnati that the Tigers have had a field goal attempt blocked.
* Memphis held East Carolina scoreless in the first half, and it was the first time since the Memphis-USF match-up last season that the Tigers had shut out their opponent in the first half. In that meeting on Nov. 27, Memphis defeated USF, 31-15 in Tampa.
* DeAngelo Williams busted off a 63-yard run in the third quarter to give him 152 yards on the day, and his 30th career game of 100-plus yards. With his 63-yard run in the third quarter, he passed Herschel Walker (5,259 yards, 1980-82, Georgia) and LaDainian Tomlinson (5,263 yards, 1997-2000, TCU) on the NCAA's all-time rushing list. Williams now totals 5371 career yards, and is No. 7 behind Cedric Benson who totaled 5,540 yards for Texas from 2001-04.
* Memphis totaled 457 yards of total offense to East Carolina's 343 yards. It is the first time since the Tulsa loss earlier this season that Memphis has rolled off more offensive yards than its opponent.
* Williams' 39 rushing attempts is a career high and is the second highest in school history as the record is 42 carries by Marcus Holliday against Tulane in 1994. Williams' previous career high was 37 carries against Ole Miss last season.
* Williams' 226 yards rushing is the fourth highest in his career. He has rushed for more than 200 yards in four games this season, and eight in his career.
