2010 Memphis Tigers Football Preview

2009 Results: 2-10, No Bowl

Head Coach: Larry Porter (1st year @ Memphis, No Previous Head Coaching Experience)

Home Venue: Liberty Bowl (61,000) Memphis, Tennessee

The Memphis football program is at a crossroads. After firing former coach Tommy West, the administration was hit with a torrent of criticism as West felt that the school hadn’t properly invested into their facilities and program. While some of his comments were undoubtedly pent up frustration at losing his job, they resonated with at least one big money booster, Fed Ex CEO Fred Smith, who reportedly tried to buy Memphis into a BCS conference with a ten million dollar per year carrot. Perhaps that money would be better used to invest in world-class facilities, but the sentiment is appreciated.

In West’s place is former LSU running backs coach Larry Porter, who is a Memphis graduate. He has said that he believes that the Tigers have underachieved and can definitely compete for the best prospects in the talent-rich surrounding area that normally head off to SEC schools. However, first he has to turn around a team that only won 2 games last season: Can Porter get the Tigers back to the postseason in his first season in charge?

OFFENSE

The Tiger offense stagnated last season, scoring just under 22 points per game. Memphis had trouble throwing the ball with any effectiveness and will be starting from scratch this season in the passing game. Sophomores Cannon Smith (son of the aforementioned Fed Ex owner) is the favorite over fellow sophomore Tyler Bass, though Bass did throw for six TDs last season as the backup.

What will help both is the return of one of the conference’s best O-Lines, featuring five returning upperclassmen starters. This group was quite solid last season and paved the way for departed tailback Curtis Steele’s 1,240 yard campaign. Replacing Steele won’t be easy but former Wisconsin tailback Lance Smith (149 yards, 1 TD in ’09) should help ease the loss. With such a strong line blocking for him, anything less than a big year will be a disappointment.

Finally, the concerns about the passing game are expounded by a very inexperienced group of receivers that doesn’t have a single returnee who notched more than 20 catches last year. With a new system in place, expect Memphis to struggle once more through the air this fall but their strong line and good group of tailbacks should allow for decent offensive production.

DEFENSE

Memphis really failed last season on defense, ceding 35 points per game, lowlighted by opponents killing them through the air down the stretch. They ended up finishing with the 2nd worst pass defense in Conference USA! Only five starters are back from last year’s team and their new defensive coordinator is Jay Hopson, who just left after overseeing the super successful linebackers at Michigan (turn sarcasm meter to maximum!) the past two years.

The good news is that Memphis has the pieces in place to field a pretty strong defensive line. Senior linebacker Winston Bowens (58 tackles) moves to DE this season after starting for the last three years and should bolster the pass rush. Furthermore, there is a lot of size on hand and the Tigers will also benefit from Illinois transfer D’Angelo McCray. Thanks to a solid DT tandem, I’m confident that Memphis will have a productive D-Line this fall.

At linebacker, senior Jamon Hughes (87 tackles) was the team’s leading tackler in 2009 and should have another solid season playing behind an improved line. With an athletic group competing to play next to him, I think that the Tigers will be stronger at linebacker this season than in 2009.

However, the secondary is a bit concerning to me. Memphis had little success getting their hands on many interceptions last season and their best returning player is senior Marcus Ball (42 tackles, 2 INT). While I think that things could look better, especially if Auburn transfer DeRon Furr has a stronger campaign, the D-Line needs to provide an improved pass rush or I don’t think that this defense as a whole will show a lot of progress

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SCHEDULE

Memphis has an absolutely brutal schedule. The non-conference portion includes visits to Mississippi State and Louisville and they host Sun Belt favorite Middle Tennessee State and rival Tennessee. That’s not going to be easy as they’ll be underdogs in all four contests. On top of that, their four conference home games are against the top two teams from each division! As crazy as it sounds, Memphis will probably be an underdog in every home game they play this season and that’s not a recipe for success.

OUTLOOK

There are some aspects of this team that appear to be much-improved from 2009. Their defense is unlikely to give up 35 points per game like they did last season and I think that they’ll have an improved pass rush. Along with an improved defense, their offensive line is a really strong unit. On the flip side, their passing game is going to struggle again, their running back situation is a concern after losing one of the conference’s most productive runners and their schedule is really tough. Overall, this is a better Memphis team than the one that took the field last year but the results probably won’t show it. The Tigers are my choice to finish 4th in the C-USA East Division.

PREDICTED RESULT: 3-9 (3-5 CONFERENCE USA)