Memphis football ends the regular season with a bittersweet victory over Tulane

November 29, 2024

NEW ORLEANS — Ryan Silverfield jogged toward midfield, ready to shake Tulane coach Jon Sumrall’s hand.

But he was interrupted. First there was a Gatorade bath.

It wasn’t a conference title and it wasn’t a College Football Playoff berth, but Silverfield’s Tigers had just dispatched No. 17 Tulane 34-24 in an exhibition game on Thanksgiving. The temperatures inside Yulman Stadium dropped, and Silverfield didn’t care.

“I’m cold right now,” he said at his postgame press conference, “But man, I’ll take a hundred of these.”

The Tigers were 13.5-point underdogs, the first time that had happened in more than a decade. The last time Memphis was such a big underdog in a conference game was quarterback Seth Henigan and running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. in elementary school.

However, when Henigan hit Desrosiers for the opening touchdown, Memphis made it known that this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for the Green Wave.

Sumrall’s team woke up Thanksgiving morning with everything at stake. A win would guarantee a home game against Army for the AAC title on Dec. 6 and mean the College Football Playoff would still be a very real possibility.

The Tigers woke up on Thanksgiving morning knowing they had squandered those chances in Annapolis and San Antonio and had nothing to do but spoil the party that was about to begin a few miles from Bourbon Street.

“We haven’t done what we should in two games,” Silverfield said. “I wish we could have her back, but that’s college football. So I can’t sit there and ride on them. We will learn from them, we will grow from them. Hopefully we did that, I think. “You could see from the Memphis football team that we were capable the last couple of games.”

The Tigers didn’t just beat Tulane. They dominated, winning the turnover battle 3-0, running wild against Tulane’s defense and completely shutting down star running back Makhi Hughes, who entered Thursday’s game ranked No. 9 in the country but by far the worst game of his career (nine runs). , 15 yards).

Desrosiers was outstanding in a true breakout game. He was buried in the running back rankings to start the season and then missed five games with a collarbone injury, but was the best player on the field for most of Thursday. He outran Tulane linebacker Tyler Grubbs for the first touchdown, ran past virtually the entire defense in the second and third quarters, and then punctuated his performance with a ridiculous juke move that left Grubbs rooted to the ground in the fourth quarter.

“That was our championship game,” Desrosiers said, echoing a sentiment teams often use as motivation when playing Memphis.

But Memphis was the hunter, not the hunted, that night in New Orleans. Tulane built momentum, but safety Kourtlan Marsh came up with two forced fumbles after long pass plays that ended any real attempt at a comeback in the second half. When Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah’s pass was intercepted by Davion Ross near the goal line midway through the fourth quarter, he knelt, put his head in his hands and stared at the turf as the Memphis sideline rose up and down in celebration hopped.

How will Memphis’ season be remembered?

“10-2, that has to be a pretty good standard,” Henigan said. “Obviously you want to be a championship contender every year so this was disappointing. But if you win 10 games, that’s a pretty successful season. And the chance to win 11. That’s all we can do.” Our goal is to win another game, so people will remember it however they want, as a failure, as a success, but I feel like you’re in “We have to leave our locker room knowing that you did what was best for you and we had a successful season.”

The Tigers will have to wait a week and a half to find out their bowl destination and opponent. During this time, Tulane will regroup and prepare to play for an AAC title game. When it comes to the Group of Five spot for the College Football Playoff, Boise State and UNLV, the top two teams in the Mountain West, probably have the best chances.

Memphis began the season with the stated goal of reaching the AAC title game. The Tigers didn’t get it done, but they showed everyone on Thursday that they might be the best team in the conference.

“We faced adversity all season,” Silverfield said. “But adversity is what makes you grow. On a day like Thanksgiving, you talk about being thankful, and you talk about being thankful for everything. Well, most people will tell you, ‘I’m grateful for the things I have.’ “I’m grateful for my health and for the opportunity to play on national television. “Well, I’m grateful for all the adversity we faced all season.”

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