Postgame Notes

Sep 01, 2011 | Football

Sept. 1, 2011

Recap |  Final Stats |  Quotes |  Photo Gallery 

Game One - vs. Mississippi State - September 1, 2011 - Memphis, Tenn.

TEAM GAME NOTES

Captains for Memphis were offensive lineman Ron Leary, fullback Ricky Holloway and defensive back Akeem Davis.
The Tigers played seven true freshmen in today's game, including RB Joe Price, QB Taylor Reed, RB Artaves Gibson, DB/PR Bakari Hollier, LB Charles Harris, OL Taylor Fallin and DB Derek Howard.

OFFENSIVE NOTES

First-time offensive starters today were: QB Andy Summerlin, OL A.J. Antonescu, OL Jordan Devey, OL Nick Chartain, TE Andrew Ene-Ita and WR Reggie Travis. D'Angelo McCray made his first offensive start today. He started three games on the defensive front in 2010.
Redshirt-freshman Reggie Travis is the only freshman to start on the offense today.
Andy Summerlin's first career pass attempt was an 11-yard completion to Jerrell Rhodes. Summerlin completed 3-of-5 pass attempts for 25 yards in the game. He left the game with an ankle injury
RS-freshman receiver Reggie Travis made his first career pass reception in the first quarter. Travis ended the game with seven catches for 43 yards.
True freshman Taylor Reed came in at quarterback with just over 13 minutes remaining in the second quarter. On the first play, he handed off to Jerrell Rhodes for a nine-yard gain. His first career completion was on the next play - a 10-yard strike to redshirt freshman Kevin Wright. Reed finished with 149 yards passing, completing 23-of-35 attempts with a touchdown and an interception.
RS-freshman Kevin Wright recorded his first career reception for a 10-yard gain from Taylor Reed in the second quarter. Wright finished with three catches for 37 yards. He also returned five kicks for 87 yards and had a long return of 23.
Junior receiver Marcus Rucker extended his receiving streak to 13 games with his four-yard catch in the second quarter. Rucker caught a pass in each of the 12 games last season. He finished with a team high seven receptions for 73 yards with one touchdown. Rucker has caught touchdown receptions in three-straight games dating back to last season.
Billy Foster set a career high in rushing yards today with 63 yards on 13 carries today. Foster's previous high was 16 yards at East Carolina last season. His previous high carries was three versus UAB. Foster totaled 41 yards rushing in 2010 on nine carries.
Billy Foster scored his first career touchdown on a 21-yard run with just over three minutes remaining in the second quarter. It was also a career-long run for the redshirt-senior.
True freshman Artaves Gibson came in in the third quarter after both Jerrell Rhodes and Billy Foster left the game with injuries. Gibson's first collegiate carry was for a 10-yard gain. He finished with a team best 85 yards rushing on 17 carries and averaged 5.0 yards per rush.
True freshman Joe Price entered the game late in the third quarter and made a catch for no gain on his first collegiate play.
Taylor Reed threw his first career touchdown on an 11-yard, fourth-down conversion to Marcus Rucker with 11:40 left in the fourth quarter. It was Rucker's 11th career touchdown and first of the season.

DEFENSIVE NOTES

Several defenders made their first career starts today including LB Kenyata Johnson, DL Zach Gholson and DB Bakari Hollier. Safety Cannon Smith started his first game on defense. He made two starts at quarterback last season.
DB Bakari Hollier started today at corner as a true freshman. He was the only true freshman starter for the Tigers today.
Linebackers Akeem Davis and Terrence Thomas led the team in tackles with seven. Davis had six solo stops with a pass breakup, while Thomas finished with five solo tackles, including a TFL for a loss of two yards.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES

Senior Dasmine Cathey recovered a muffed punt return by Jameon Lewis at the MSU 36. It was Cathey's first career fumble recovery.
Junior kicker Paulo Henriques kicked two of his three kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. He averaged 69.3 yards per kick in the game.
Sophomore Tom Hornsey had nine punts for 395 yards and an average of 43.9 yards per kick. Two of the punts went for 57 yards, including a career long 64-yarder in the fourth quarter.