Game Notes

Sep 22, 2007 | Football

Sept. 22, 2007

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Seniors Quinton McCrary and Taz Knockum were the Tiger captains for today's matchup with UCF.
Senior linebacker Quinton McCrary had his first start of the 2007 season today in place of Greg Jackson who was injured in the Jacksonville State game. McCrary had his first sack of the season; his seventh of his career when he dropped Kyle Israel for a loss of eight yards in the first quarter.
Carlos Singleton advanced his streak of receptions with his five-yard catch near the end of the first quarter. Singleton has now caught a pass in each of his last 11 career games. He finished the day with two catches for 22 yards.
Senior tailback Joseph Doss also extended his receiving streak after catching a five-yard pass from Martin Hankins to open the second quarter. Doss, who missed the Jacksonville State game last weekend with a knee injury, has now caught a pass in each of his last 14 career contests. Doss finished the day with two catches for (-5) yards.
Earnest Williams upped his receiving streak to eight games with his two-yard reception in the second quarter. Williams caught two receptions for six yards, including a four yard touchdown pass from Matt Malouf. It was his first touchdown of the season and fourth receiving touchdown.
For the second time in three games, the Tigers were down by 20 or more points in the first half. In the season opener against Ole Miss, the Tigers went into the locker room at the half down 20-0. Today, the Tigers were down 42-0 at the half. On Sept. 13, 1997, Memphis also was down 42-0 when Michigan State scored 28 in the first quarter and 14 in the second quarter at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.
Michael Grandberry had his third career 100-yard kickoff return game with his career high 160 yards on eight returns today. His eight returns ties the Memphis record and his 160 yards is tied for third in the program's history. His previous career best was his 138 yards on six returns against UCF last season.
Taz Knockum registered a career high with a 48-yard reception in the third quarter. His previous long catch was 17 yards against UAB in 2005.
Carlos Singleton caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Martin Hankins in the third quarter for his first score of the season and his fourth career TD reception.
Kicker Matt Reagan snapped his streak of 29 consecutive PATs when he missed his attempt following Singleton's touchdown.
Quinton McCrary tied a Memphis record for fumble recoveries in a game when he registered three recoveries, all of which were in the third quarter. McCrary tied Ricky Kale, who totaled three recoveries against Southern Miss in 1970. McCrary logged his first recovery of the day when he scooped up the Michael Greco fumble with just over 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. He landed on another fumble with six minutes remaining in the third quarter when Phillip Smith coughed up the ball on second-and-three. His third recovery came moments later on a Brent Sutherland punt. Joe Burnett logged a 10-yard return before the ball was knocked loose by Malcolm Jones and recovered by McCrary. This also marks the second time this season that a Tiger has recovered two fumbles in a single game as Jake Kasser did the same versus Ole Miss in the season opener.
Memphis did not commit a turnover in the game. The last time the Tigers played a game without a turnover was vs. UTEP to end last season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Matt Malouf registered his first pass completion of his career in the fourth quarter and it was for a touchdown to Earnest Williams. The four-yard strike to Williams marked his first touchdown of the season also.
Earnest Williams returned his second kick of the season for a career long 54 yards in the fourth quarter.
The Tigers set a school record with 214 kickoff return yards. The previous best was 196 yards set in 2002 by Cincinnati. Memphis tied the program record for kickoff returns in a game with nine.
Will Hudgens threw his first touchdown of the season in the fourth quarter and fourth of his career on a 10-yard pass to Dave Thomas. It is his first touchdown pass since 2005. The touchdown reception is the first in Thomas' collegiate career.