Tigers Football Falls To Tulsa Saturday

Saturday, October 29

Memphis, Tenn.

7:00 PM

University of Memphis

Tulsa

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Oct 29, 2016 | Football

Box Score Photo Gallery Memphis Postgame Notes 2016 Tulsa at Memphis

Miller has record-setting performance in the setback.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Some nights, things just don't go your way. That was the case for the University of Memphis football team in its Homecoming game against Tulsa Saturday.

Before a crowd of 36,984 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the Tigers had four turnovers – which led to 21 Golden Hurricane points – and committed over 100 yards in penalties in a 59-30 American Athletic Conference loss to Tulsa.

With the loss, Memphis fell to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in The American. The Golden Hurricane improved to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the league. Tulsa moved into second place in The American West Division standings with the victory.

In the setback, Anthony Miller had a record-setting game. He had 12 catches for 250 yards and two touchdowns. The 250 yards set a school record for receiving yards in a game, and the 12 receptions were the second-most for a game in program history. The 250 yards were the fifth-most for a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) game in 2016, and also are the second-most for a game in American Athletic Conference history.

Quarterback Riley Ferguson was 19-of-41 passing for 349 yards and three scores. It was Ferguson's fourth 300-yard game and also his fifth multi-touchdown contest of 2016.

The Tigers fell behind 14-0 early and was unable to catch up the entire contest. The Tigers, though, fought throughout and clawed to get back into the contest.

After Tulsa took a 14-0 lead, Memphis answered with a six-play, 65-yard drive that Darrell Henderson capped with a six-yard run to pull the Tigers to within seven at 14-7. The rushing score was Henderson's third of the season.

The Golden Hurricane went back up by 14 points at 21-7, but Memphis answered again. This time, the Tigers' response came in explosive fashion when Ferguson hooked up with Miller on a 59-yard scoring strike with 11:23 left in the second quarter. It was Miller's sixth 40-plus yard play of the season on which he scored a touchdown.

Tulsa doubled up the Tigers again at 28-14. Memphis again had an answer. The Tigers drove 72 yards on seven plays and hit pay dirt when Ferguson hit Kedarian Jones in the front corner of the end zone for the score. Jones' first career touchdown pulled Memphis to within seven at 28-21.

A Tulsa touchdown and a Jake Elliott field goal made the halftime score 35-21 in favor of the Golden Hurricane. Elliott's 40-yard field goal gave him 71 for his career, which is a school record. Elliott entered Saturday's game tied with former standout Stephen Gostkowski with 70 career field goals.

After intermission, Memphis struck first with a second Ferguson-to-Miller touchdown connection to cut the Tulsa lead to 35-30. But, that's when the Tigers ran out of responses to Tulsa's offensive output.

A Golden Hurricane field goal extended their lead to 38-30 midway through the third quarter and that's when Tulsa put the contest out of reach.

Following a punt from Memphis' end zone, the Golden Hurricane scored a touchdown courtesy of a short field for a 45-30 lead. Then, the turnover bug hit the Tigers. Memphis fumbled on its next two possessions, and Tulsa turned those miscues into touchdowns to extend its advantage to 59-30.

Curtis Akins led the Memphis defense with 10 total tackles, including a career-best eight solo stops. It was the second-straight game Akins posted double-digit tackles.

Memphis returns to action Saturday, Nov. 5 when it travels to Dallas, Texas, to face SMU in an American Athletic Conference clash. ESPNews is televising the 3 p.m. (CT) game between the Tigers and Mustangs.