Postgame Notes

Oct 10, 2009 | Football

Oct. 10, 2009

MEMPHIS POSTGAME NOTES

Game Six – vs. UTEP – October 10, 2009 – Memphis, Tenn.

MISCELLANEOUS TEAM NOTES

·         Captains for Memphis were seniors Jada Brown, Steven Joachim and Curtis Steele.

·         Sixth-year senior Will Hudgens started at quarterback today, marking his fifth career start.  His last start as the Tigers’ signal caller was versus Middle Tennessee on Oct. 13, 2007.

·         Memphis led 14-3 at the end of the first quarter to mark the second time that Memphis was up after the first quarter.  The other time was against Marshall.  This is also the most points that Memphis has scored in the first quarter.

·         True freshman offensive lineman Jamie McCoy made his first game appearance today in the second quarter.  McCoy came in at right tackle, and is the fifth true freshman to play for the Tigers this season (Marcus Hightower, Dontari Poe, Derek Smith and Paulo Henriques).

·         Memphis is now 3-0 all-time against UTEP and head coach Tommy West improves to 4-0 against the Miners.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

·         Marcus Rucker caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Will Hudgens with 9:25 left in the first quarter.  Rucker scored on his fourth career reception. It was   Hudgens’ 13^th career touchdown toss and the second of 2009.

·         Duke Calhoun caught a one-yard pass from Will Hudgens in the first quarter to extend his receiving streak to 43 games.  Calhoun ranks third nationally in active receiving streaks behind Central Michigan’s Bryan Anderson (46) and Buffalo’s Naaman Roosevelt (44).

·         Duke Calhoun caught a 13-yard touchdown pass with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter to give Memphis a 14-3 advantage.  It was Calhoun’s 18^th career TD catch, and team-leading fourth of the season.  Calhoun now ranks third all-time in touchdown receptions, surpassing Earnest Gray, who totaled 17 from 1975-78.  Calhoun has scored in the last four-straight games.  The play was reviewed and the call on the field stood. 

·         Will Hudgens tossed a career high three TDs today, marking his fourth career game of multiple touchdown passes.  His last was two versus Ole Miss in 2008. Hudgens finished with 216 passing yards, completing 19 of 33 attempts with one interception.

·         Curtis Steele logged his 100^th yard of the game late in the second quarter for his seventh career game over 100 yards.  His last was against Tulane last season.  Steele is now tied for third in 100-yard games with Dave Casinelli who totaled seven from 1960-63.  The last time a Tiger player rushed for 100-plus yards in a half was Steele last year versus SMU.  Steele ended the game with a career high 240 yards on 39 carries. It is his second career 200-yard game making him only the second Memphis player to have two or more career 200-yard games in school history. DeAngelo Williams totaled nine 200-yard rushing games.

·         Curtis Steele caught a two-yard touchdown pass from Will Hudgens with 2:31 remaining in the second quarter for his first career touchdown reception.  This is the first time in his career that Hudgens has tossed three touchdowns in a single game.  The last time a Tiger threw three touchdowns in a half was Arkelon Hall versus UAB last year.

·         Marcus Rucker caught a 31-yard pass from Will Hudgens on 3^rd-and-6 in the third quarter for a career-long reception for the freshman.  Rucker finished the game with a career-high 53 yards on two catches.

·         The Tigers rushed for 270 yards today marking the most rushing yards this season and the most since the Tigers logged 379 yards last season versus Tulane.

·         Curtis Steele rushed for a touchdown in the fourth quarter on a 20-yard run at the 10:15 mark. He later added his second rushing touchdown in the game with 6:08 remaining in the fourth quarter on a nine-yard run. It is his third career multiple rushing touchdown game and second of the season after also scoring two against Ole Miss. Steele now has 12 career rushing touchdowns and a team leading five this season. He has scored rushing touchdowns in eight of his last 10 games played with 11 TDS in the stretch.

·         Curtis Steele scored a career high three touchdowns in the game (2 rush, 1 receiving). The three TDs in the game ties him for fifth all-time in Memphis history, one behind the school record of four set three times by DeAngelo Williams and once by Dante Brown. It is the most touchdowns by a single player in a game since Steven Black had three rushing touchdowns against Tulane in 2008.

·         Carlos Singleton had his fifth career 100-yard receiving game and first since totaling 123 yards against UAB on October 2, 2008. Singleton finished with five catches for 105 yards. The 105 yards also moved him up two spots into second place all-time at Memphis in career receiving yards with 2,142. Singleton ranks third in career catches with 142.

·         Curtis Steele’s 240 rushing yards in the game ranks fourth all-time in school history and his 39 carries ranks in a tie for second with DeAngelo Williams. Williams holds the single game rushing record with 263 yards against USF in 2004 and Marcus Holliday holds the attempt record with 42 rushes against Tulane in 1994. Steele averaged 6.2 yards per carry in the game.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

·         Senior DB Deante’ Lamar broke up a Trevor Vittatoe pass in the endzone on 3^rd-and-10 from the Memphis 21 to force a UTEP field goal in the first quarter.  It was the fifth straight game that Lamar has logged a pass breakup.

·         Marcus Ball intercepted Trevor Vittatoe in the first quarter at the Memphis 20 and made a 14-yard return.  It was Ball’s first interception at Memphis, and the second of his career.  He also had a pick against Rice when he played at Florida State in 2006.  Ball intercepted Vittatoe again in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.  It was the first time a Tiger had multiple interceptions in a game since current Cleveland Browns’ DB Brandon McDonald made two picks against UTEP in 2006.

·         On 3^rd-and-1 from the UTEP 44, Dontari Poe tackled Donald Buckram and forced him to fumble on the play.  Greg Jackson recovered the ball and made a 13-yard return.  It was Poe’s first forced fumble, and Jackson’s third career recovery (second of the season).  The play was reviewed and the call on the field was confirmed as a fumble.  Jackson is the only Tiger this season to log multiple fumble recoveries.

·         Bryan Wright saw his first game action this season in today’s game and worked in the secondary.  Wright made a big play in the third quarter when he stripped a ball thrown to Evan Davis on 3^rd-and-goal from the 5.  The defensive stop forced UTEP to attempt a 22-yard field goal that was went left.  Wright also tipped the ball in the fourth quarter that was intercepted by Marcus Ball.

·         Junior Jamon Hughes had a career high two tackles for loss for a total loss of nine yards. Hughes finished with three tackles in the game.

·         Junior Mike McDonald made his second sack of the season in the fourth quarter for a loss of eight yards. It was the only sack in the game by both sides.

·         Deante’ Lamar and Greg Jackson led the team in tackles with seven. Lamar tied a career high with two pass breakups and Jackson had a fumble recovery and a TFL for a loss of three yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

·         Chris Hobbs saw his first game action for the Tigers with the special teams unit.  Hobbs is a senior who transferred to Memphis after playing two years at Stanford (2006-07).  Hobbs made his first punt return for the Tigers with just over a minute remaining in the first quarter.  His first return for Memphis was 14 yards.  He ended the day with 15 yards on two returns and had one kick return of 35 yards.