This weekend, Memphis was able to pick up a convincing 56-14 win over Bethune-Cookman. While Bethune-Cookman is no national powerhouse, there are still things to take away. The defense was stout, the run game looked promising, and though it’s still early, the Tigers appear to have more weapons than they’ve ever had under head coach Ryan Silverfield. Here’s three observations I had:
As I’ve indicated all offseason, this defense has the potential to be really special.
All things considered, the unit as a whole looked great Saturday night. The Tigers defense allowed just 91 total yards the entire game. The defense didn’t give up a touchdown all night, and honestly, the Wildcats never even came close. In fact, the only two touchdowns Bethune-Cookman scored came from their defense.
The Wildcats only had four first downs and went 1-16 on third and fourth downs. Furthermore, the Tigers did force one turnover. It was a fumble recovered by Andres Fox in the second quarter.
Overall, It was a dominating performance Saturday by the Tigers defense.
Offense has Weapons
Memphis might just finally have some real difference makers around Seth Hennigan.
The first thing that jumps off the stat sheet is the run game. The Tigers accumulated 208 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.
Blake Watson – 10 Carries, 75 Yards, 3 Touchdowns
Sutton Smith – 18 Carries, 115 yards, 2 Touchdowns
Watson and Smith appear to be the two backs Memphis is going to feature this year. Albeit, last year’s leading rusher Jay Ducker was out with an injury.
The Tigers receivers were open all game long. Dameer Blankumsee stood out as he appears to have a quick twitch that we haven’t seen from a Tiger player since Calvin Austin. Roc Taylor and Tauskie Dove were making Bethune-Cookman defensive backs looks silly all game.
Dameer Blankumsee – 6 Receptions, 98 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Roc Taylor – 6 Receptions, 78 Yards
Tauskie Dove – 3 Receptions, 72 Yards
Ultimately, while it was an FCS opponent, I thought the receivers looked very promising. This position group has been an issue in the past. I thought they were impressive in week one.
Henigan Off to Shaky Start
While the Tigers made easy work of the Wildcats, Quarterback Seth Henigan got off to a shaky start.
Henigan was alarmingly careless with the ball. He threw two interceptions against a Bethune-Cookman defense that has no business giving the Tigers any issues. He had a couple pretty bad missed throws as well. Henigan finished with 334 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions.
These things can all be attested to first game jitters, or just kicking some of the dust off.
But they certainly cannot continue as the competition stiffens.
