Memphis Post-Game Notes

Nov 22, 2008 | Football

Nov. 22, 2008

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* Captains for Memphis were seniors Brandon Pearce, Clinton McDonald, Earnest Williams.

* Arkelon Hall started today's game at quarterback. He had missed the last two games with a broken thumb he suffered in the first drive of the East Carolina game. Also making starts today were running back Curtis Steele and defensive lineman Clinton McDonald, who were both questionable for the game. Steele left the SMU game late with a hamstring injury, and McDonald had missed three games with an ankle sprain.

* Duke Calhoun hauled in a 54-yard touchdown pass from Arkelon Hall with 5:40 remaining in the first quarter. It was a career-long pass for Hall and a season-high catch for Calhoun. Hall previously tossed a 53-yard pass to Maurice Jones versus Marshall. This was Hall's 11th passing TD this season; and Calhoun's second TD reception this year.

* Duke Calhoun extended his receiving streak to 35 games with the 54-yard TD catch in the first quarter. Calhoun has caught a pass in each of his 35 career games played, and holds the school record. He entered today's game ranked 11th nationally.

* Duke Calhoun came in to today's game needing just 43 yards to become only the third Tiger in school history to tally 2,000 career receiving yards. He hit 2,000 yards with his 54-yard catch in the first quarter. Calhoun is the fastest Tiger receiver to 2,000 yards. Earnest Gray tallied his 2,000th yard in the 43rd game of his career (1978); and Damien Dodson recorded his 2,000th yard in the 39th game of his career (1999).

* Curtis Steele rushed two yards for a touchdown with 4:52 remaining in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 28-14. It was Steele's sixth rushing touchdown of the season. He has scored in the last four straight games.

* With his 38 yards rushing in today's game, Curtis Steele moved to No. 5 all-time in single-season yardage with 1,040 yards. He surpassed Dave Casinelli, who previously held the No. 5 spot with 1,016 yards in 1963.

* For only the second time this season, the Tigers logged less than 400 yards of total offense. Memphis tallied 305 yards on 74 plays today. The Tigers logged just 184 yards in the loss to East Carolina - a game that Memphis lost two quarterbacks in the first quarter.

* Steven Black rushed three yards for a touchdown off a direct snap to cut the deficit to seven points (28-21) with 8: 24 remaining in the game. It was Black's first career rushing touchdown and his third touchdown of the season.

* Greg Jackson sacked Rob Calabrese for a loss of 11 yards on third down forcing a UCF punt with 6:15 left in the game. Jackson had 1.5 sacks in the game for a total loss of 14 yards and finished with 2.5 tackles for loss. He totals two sacks on the season and 7.5 tackles for loss.

* Arkelon Hall finished with a team-high and career-best 42 yards rushing on 11 attempts. He also passed for 183 yards with one touchdown, completing 15 of 35 attempts with one interception.

* Greg Jackson recovered a UCF fumble at the Memphis 21 with 2:21 left in the game. It is his first career fumble recovery.

* The Memphis defense allowed only 194 yards of total offense to UCF, which marks the second lowest total of the season. The Tigers allowed just 164 yards of offense to Nicholls State in a 31-10 victory on September 20.

The Tigers made 11 tackles for loss in the game for a total of 41 yards and had three sacks for a loss of 24 yards. Four U of M defenders had multi-tackles for loss in the contest.