All eyes of the college football world were on the Memphis Tigers on Saturday night as they started the Coach Charles Huff era with a highly anticipated road game against UNLV. In what could determine the representative from the Group of Six in the College Football Playoff, the winner of the Memphis-UNLV game would be in the driver’s seat while controlling their destiny for postseason implications. 

Prior to the matchup with the UNLV Rebels, Coach Charles Huff announced that Memphis would turn to Marcus Stokes to be the starter for the Tigers on Saturday night after a highly contested quarterback battle between Stokes and Air Noland. According to the Memphis pregame radio broadcast, the decision to start Marcus Stokes came down to game experience. Marcus Stokes came to Memphis via the transfer portal, where he was a star at the Division Two level at West Florida. Stokes was named a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy and won last season’s Gulf South offensive player of the year. 

During the team intros, UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen had an Elvis impersonator lead his team out of the tunnel, almost as a direct nod to Elvis’s rich history and the city of Memphis. Half the battle is sometimes the mind games, and Coach Mullen certainly won the first one before the game kicked off. 

Memphis and UNLV would exchange punts in the first quarter as both teams struggled to find any offensive swagger. 

UNLV would strike first with 8:14 left in the first half as Jackson Arnold found Tavian McNair on a 38-yard touchdown pass to take an early 7-0 lead over the Tigers. Memphis would respond with a ten-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that was capped off by Marcus Stokes to Hunter Tipton, which tied the game at 7-7 with 5:26 remaining in the half. UNLV would add a quick touchdown, but a missed field goal as time expired would have given the Rebels a 17-7 lead; instead, Memphis stayed within a touchdown, setting the scene for a wild second half. 

Both teams struggled on third down in the first half, going 3-for-12 combined. 

Memphis would use that momentum from the missed UNLV field goal that ended the half to tie the game off a 48-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Stokes to Stonka Burnside to even the score at 14 with 13:07 on the third quarter clock. UNLV would march right back down to the field, where Jackson Arnold would connect with Kayden McGee to retake a 21-14 lead over the Tigers with 10:15 remaining in the third quarter. Following a solid kick return, Jaylin Carter would take it 36 yards to the house for Memphis, tying the Rebels at 21 with 8:37 in the third. Memphis would take its first lead of the game with a 32-yard field goal from Philippe LaForge to make it 24-21 Tigers with 43 seconds in the third. At the end of the third, it was Memphis 24 and UNLV 21 with the Rebels facing a big decision on 4th and two. 

Memphis would once again have to settle for a field goal from Philippe LaForce as he nailed a 36-yarder to extend the Tigers’ lead to 27-21 with 12:11 remaining in the game. With 6:08 remaining and backs against the wall, the Memphis defense once again held the line and stopped UNLV, forcing a turnover on downs and giving the ball back to Marcus Stokes and the Memphis offense. Yet once again, the Memphis offense would squander the opportunity to put the game away as they were forced to punt the ball back to the Rebels with a little over 4:00 remaining in the game. The barrage of punts continued as the Memphis defense forced another stop, and the Tigers’ offense took over with 3:00 remaining on the clock with a chance to bleed the clock out with a 27-21 lead. Once again, the Memphis defense would walk away with back-to-back sacks that ended the game and gave the Tigers a massive road win. 

As we look back on Sunday’s game tape, the defensive line was stellar for the Tigers, and credit also goes to the offensive line, which didn’t get rattled when adversity hit. As for the defensive line, Zach Ruffin led the way in tackles with 13, while Michael Montgomery had ten tackles. Elijah Kinsler led the way in sacks with 2.5. Again, the defense did what they had to do when Coach Huff needed them to step up in a big way. 

You could not have scripted a better start to the Coach Charles Huff era at Memphis. It wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t have to be as the Tigers did what they had to do and escaped Las Vegas with a massive win over Dan Mullen and the UNLV Rebels. As much as it’s happened in the past, one must begin to wonder why Coach Mullen decided to use a Memphis icon against the Tigers, but as it goes, the Tigers had the last laugh and walked away victorious. Memphis now controls their destiny in the pecking order for a bid to the College Football Playoff for the first time in school history. 

Coach Huff is the only Tigers coach in the history of the program to earn the first win of their coaching tenure on the road. Truly incredible for Coach Huff and the Tigers. 

Memphis will return home on Saturday night as they welcome Tiger Nation to the newly renovated Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium as they welcome regional rival Arkansas State to the 901. Memphis and Arkansas State will kick off under the lights with a kickoff slated for 6:00 P:M. 

Photo Credits: Memphis Football on X

Leon Taylor – GoTigersGo247 and on X – LeonGoTigers247