MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Memphis football coach Mike Norvell says he welcomes the short week and game under Friday night's lights.
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He's hoping it will help ease the pain lingering from last weekend's one-point American Athletic Conference loss at Navy.
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Friday at 6 p.m. at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the Tigers (1-1) will return home to play host to Georgia State in the 'Memphis State' game. ESPN will carry the game nationally.
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Norvell said the shorter week forced his team to quickly turn its thoughts to Georgia State, which is also 1-1 after opening with a win over Kennesaw State and dropping 41-7 decision at North Carolina State.
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"At the end of the day we have to respond, we have to learn from the experience," Norvell said. "I hate it for these guys and for everybody who's a part of the organization and our community, but I can tell you these guys will respond in the right way."
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The Tigers led 21-9 entering the fourth quarter, but yielded two Navy scores in the closing 11:06.
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Georgia State, of the Sun Belt Conference, and Memphis are meeting for the first time. The two were scheduled to meet last season in Atlanta, but the Tigers were forced to cancel the game to reschedule its AAC game against UCF.
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The Panthers are led by junior receiver Penny Hart, who led the Sun Belt Conference last season with a school-record 74 receptions for 1,121 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback Dan Ellington, from Olive Branch, Miss., tossed three touchdown passes in the season-opening win and punter Brandon Wright leads the nation with a 55-yard average.
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"Georgia State is a good football team," Norvell said. "You look at them defensively, they are a very sound defense. They are going to attack in some areas and they have good personnel. You look at the improvement on defense from last year and what they have started even this year. It's impressive to see the guys they have."
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"The NC State game was 27-7 late, going against a really good opponent. Offensively they probably didn't move the ball as well as they would have liked, but the defense held strong. It is a team that you can tell they are well coached and they have an athletic quarterback, some really good receivers and some running backs that I think are going to be really good players. It is going to take a great effort for us."
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The Tigers will be led by running back Darrell Henderson, who has rushed for 290 yards and four touchdowns in two games. Quarterback Brady White, the transfer from Arizona State, has thrown for 503 yards and five touchdowns.
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Memphis also should welcome the return of a healthy Tony Pollard. The junior tailback/kick-return specialist has been slowed by injury.
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"We're excited," Norvell said. "We think we'll be able to get Tony back in full capacity."
 QUICK HITS
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The Tigers are 14-0 since 2014 when playing a regular-season, non-Saturday game. This is the first of four Friday games for the Tigers.
Before the Sept. 8 loss at North Carolina State, Georgia State had won five straight road games and six consecutive away from home capped by the 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl win over Western Kentucky.
Memphis RB Darrell Henderson leads the nation with a 13.09 yards-per-carry average. Last year, Henderson finished second nationally in the category with an 8.88 average.
Georgia State will be playing a current member of the American Athletic Conference for only the second time. The Panthers lost at Houston in 2011 when Houston was a member of Conference USA.
