University of Memphis Athletics
Friday, October 2
Tampa, Fla.
6:00 pm CT
University of Memphis
at
USF
Photo by: Joe Murphy
Tigers Take On New-Look Bulls
Oct 02, 2015 | Football
Memphis takes on a USF team tonight that carries a deserved reputation for its defensive play. While the Bulls' numbers are evidence of continued prominence for its defensive unit, the Tigers will face an opponent that has transformed its offensive and defensive philosophies for 2015.
"They are big and athletic and well accomplished on defense," Memphis head coach Justin Fuente. "And they have added new coordinators and will present a challenge."
The Bulls now have an emphasis on tempo and speed. Offensively, the Bulls have installed more spread options and moved to a no-huddle offense. Defensively, USF ranks second in the American Athletic Conference in total defense (344 ypg) and is third in pass defense (210 ypg) in 2015 while transitioning to a 4-2-5 scheme to take advantage of its speed in the secondary.
Memphis will counter with one of the nation's most prolific offenses during the month of September. The Tigers head into the week ranked eighth in total offense (570 ypg) and third in scoring offense (53.8 ppg).
The two teams play tonight at 6 p.m. Central in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. In Memphis, the game can be heard on AM 600 WREC as well as WAMB-AM 1160 in Nashville and WJAK-AM 1460 in Jackson, Tenn. The game can also be heard through SiriusXM Channel 119 (Sirius) and 201 (XM) while fans can also listen to the game as subscribers to Memphis All-Access at www.GoTigersGo.com/Watch.
Tonight's game is the American opener for USF, which enjoyed an open date last week and has had two weeks to prepare for the Tigers.
USF opened its season with a 51-3 win over Florida A&M before back-to-back games at Atlantic Coast Conference schools – at No. 11 Florida State (34-14 loss) and at Maryland (35-17 loss).
In the opener USF's 556 yards of total offense was the seventh-most in school history. Running back D'Ernest Johnson caught four touchdown passes against FAMU and set records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for a running back the first two weeks of the season.
Fellow sophomore running back Marlon Mack was the 2014 American Conference Rookie of the Year and through three games has rushed for 285 yards and a touchdown.
USF quarterbacks Quinton Flowers and Steven Bench have each played in all three games this season. Flowers has completed 34-of-59 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, the Bulls have been led by tackle Deadrin Senat who has 19 tackles through three games. One of the strongest players in USF's weight room, Senat has registered career tackle highs in each of the Bulls' last two games. He had eight tackles including one for lost yardage at Florida State before setting a new career mark against Maryland two weeks ago with nine stops.
The Bulls also return last year's leading tackler in senior rover back Jamie Byrd who has 18 tackles in the Bulls' new 4-2-5 defense.
Memphis' 4-0 start in 2015 marks just the fifth time the Tigers have opened a season with four straight victories and the first time since 1961 when the team won its first six en route to an 8-2 final record.
Tonight's game is the first of two games the Tigers will play this season in stadiums which are home to National Football League teams. Raymond James Stadium is the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tigers have flourished in NFL stadiums in recent years, winning nine of their last 10 games played in those facilities.
Memphis will play Temple at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, in November.
Heading into tonight's game, junior quarterback Paxton Lynch has passed for new career highs each of the past three weeks including 412 yards last week against Cincinnati, the second-most passing yards in school history.
Lynch has completed 83-of-113 passes for 1230 yards and eight touchdowns in 2015. For his career, the Deltona, Fla., native needs just four touchdown passes to equal Martin Hankins' career number of 43, second-most in school history. With his next touchdown passing or rushing, Lynch will equal DeAngelo Williams for the second-most touchdowns responsible for in a career. Williams was responsible for 55 touchdowns during his career.
Jarvis Cooper, Sam Craft and Doroland Dorceus have all scored four times rushing this season while seven different receives has caught a touchdown pass this season. Senior receiver Mose Frazier has caught 19 passes for 248 yards and two scores while sophomore Anthony Miller has 12 catches for 268 yards including an 82-yarder in last week's 53-46 win over Cincinnati.
Defensively, Memphis has five players who are co-leaders in tackles with 17 apiece. Among the group is sophomore linebacker Shareef White, who is also the co-leader in tackles for lost yardage with four.
Following tonight's game, Memphis will have its lone open date of the season before playing host to No. 3 Ole Miss on Oct. 17th.
"They are big and athletic and well accomplished on defense," Memphis head coach Justin Fuente. "And they have added new coordinators and will present a challenge."
The Bulls now have an emphasis on tempo and speed. Offensively, the Bulls have installed more spread options and moved to a no-huddle offense. Defensively, USF ranks second in the American Athletic Conference in total defense (344 ypg) and is third in pass defense (210 ypg) in 2015 while transitioning to a 4-2-5 scheme to take advantage of its speed in the secondary.
Memphis will counter with one of the nation's most prolific offenses during the month of September. The Tigers head into the week ranked eighth in total offense (570 ypg) and third in scoring offense (53.8 ppg).
The two teams play tonight at 6 p.m. Central in Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.
The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. In Memphis, the game can be heard on AM 600 WREC as well as WAMB-AM 1160 in Nashville and WJAK-AM 1460 in Jackson, Tenn. The game can also be heard through SiriusXM Channel 119 (Sirius) and 201 (XM) while fans can also listen to the game as subscribers to Memphis All-Access at www.GoTigersGo.com/Watch.
Tonight's game is the American opener for USF, which enjoyed an open date last week and has had two weeks to prepare for the Tigers.
USF opened its season with a 51-3 win over Florida A&M before back-to-back games at Atlantic Coast Conference schools – at No. 11 Florida State (34-14 loss) and at Maryland (35-17 loss).
In the opener USF's 556 yards of total offense was the seventh-most in school history. Running back D'Ernest Johnson caught four touchdown passes against FAMU and set records for receiving yards and receiving touchdowns for a running back the first two weeks of the season.
Fellow sophomore running back Marlon Mack was the 2014 American Conference Rookie of the Year and through three games has rushed for 285 yards and a touchdown.
USF quarterbacks Quinton Flowers and Steven Bench have each played in all three games this season. Flowers has completed 34-of-59 passes for 326 yards and five touchdowns.
Defensively, the Bulls have been led by tackle Deadrin Senat who has 19 tackles through three games. One of the strongest players in USF's weight room, Senat has registered career tackle highs in each of the Bulls' last two games. He had eight tackles including one for lost yardage at Florida State before setting a new career mark against Maryland two weeks ago with nine stops.
The Bulls also return last year's leading tackler in senior rover back Jamie Byrd who has 18 tackles in the Bulls' new 4-2-5 defense.
Memphis' 4-0 start in 2015 marks just the fifth time the Tigers have opened a season with four straight victories and the first time since 1961 when the team won its first six en route to an 8-2 final record.
Tonight's game is the first of two games the Tigers will play this season in stadiums which are home to National Football League teams. Raymond James Stadium is the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Tigers have flourished in NFL stadiums in recent years, winning nine of their last 10 games played in those facilities.
Memphis will play Temple at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles, in November.
Heading into tonight's game, junior quarterback Paxton Lynch has passed for new career highs each of the past three weeks including 412 yards last week against Cincinnati, the second-most passing yards in school history.
Lynch has completed 83-of-113 passes for 1230 yards and eight touchdowns in 2015. For his career, the Deltona, Fla., native needs just four touchdown passes to equal Martin Hankins' career number of 43, second-most in school history. With his next touchdown passing or rushing, Lynch will equal DeAngelo Williams for the second-most touchdowns responsible for in a career. Williams was responsible for 55 touchdowns during his career.
Jarvis Cooper, Sam Craft and Doroland Dorceus have all scored four times rushing this season while seven different receives has caught a touchdown pass this season. Senior receiver Mose Frazier has caught 19 passes for 248 yards and two scores while sophomore Anthony Miller has 12 catches for 268 yards including an 82-yarder in last week's 53-46 win over Cincinnati.
Defensively, Memphis has five players who are co-leaders in tackles with 17 apiece. Among the group is sophomore linebacker Shareef White, who is also the co-leader in tackles for lost yardage with four.
Following tonight's game, Memphis will have its lone open date of the season before playing host to No. 3 Ole Miss on Oct. 17th.
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