Friday night started as a celebration for the Memphis Tigers; with four minutes remaining in the game against Houston, Ryan Silverfield and his program failed to close the door on the Cougars leading to an embarrassing loss at the Liberty Bowl. The Memphis Football program has grown accustomed to winning since 2015. However, Memphis Football still fails to get out of its way, which was evident on Friday night. Friday night saw the Memphis Football of old that would earn a lead late in the 4th before breaking the hearts of Tiger Nation.

As we have seen the time before, Memphis played too conservatively and became way too complacent, and the result was the same. Another disappointing loss for the program, with more grumblings across the inner circles for change within the program. There’s no doubt that Friday night’s loss to Houston was on the shoulders of Coach Ryan Silverfield. He failed to prepare his team to close out a must-win game over the Cougars. For the entirety of the game, Memphis was better than Houston. With a missed field goal later and poor game management, Memphis earns their second loss of the 2022 season with little positive upside heading into the East Carolina game on Saturday.

So, where does Memphis go from here? How can the Tigers put the Houston debacle behind them to focus on salvaging a successful season? For starters, as is the case in any loss, that short-term memory is the key to a successful program. Mistakes are going to happen. Unfortunately, that’s college football. Learn from the mistakes that were made on Friday night, and don’t make the same mistakes again. That goes for the coaching staff and players alike. Study the tape and dust yourself off because East Carolina is in the darkness, waiting to plunder what’s left of the Memphis program.

Don’t let one loss on Friday turn into two on Saturday against East Carolina. Bury the feelings of regret of not closing out the deal on Friday because the next opponent does not care about your feelings. Go out, and play for your brothers beside you in the trenches.

As far as the elephant in the room regarding the future of Coach Silverfield, the grass is not always greener. As frustrating as it may sound, at this point in the history of Memphis Football, Coach Silverfield is still the best option to lead the program into the weekly grind. Any coach in his position takes the position of knowing what could come if another Friday night happens this season. Being frustrated is understandable, but the season is far from over, and the Tigers still have the potential to salvage a successful eight to nine-win season.

Memphis will hit the road next Saturday to face the East Carolina Pirates.