Fresh off the final bye week of the season, the Memphis Tigers would head south to the Sunshine State for a Thursday night showdown with the South Florida Bulls. Prior to the final bye week, Memphis was riding high following a massive Halloween night 49-22 victory over Army, bringing the Tigers right back into contention not only to play for the American Championship, but to have a potential opportunity to host the game for the first time since the 2019 season, when the Tigers won the American, then went on to play Penn State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic.
Heading into Thursday night’s matchup with South Florida, the Tigers will look not only to control their own destiny with a win, but also to avoid the snare of a late-November conference trap game against a program like South Florida, which currently sits in the shadows of contention for the American Championship.
Memphis opened the game by forcing a South Florida punt, then struck first when Marcus Stokes found the end zone on a 47-yard quarterback keeper, giving the Tigers an early 7-0 lead over the Bulls. The Memphis defense then forced another punt, which turned into another touchdown drive when Marcus Stokes found Hunter Tipton in the end zone to extend the Tigers’ lead to 14-0 with 5:35 in the third quarter. Memphis would once again find the end zone as Marcus Stokes added another quarterback keeper for an 8-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 21-0. South Florida would get on the scoreboard with a 47-yard field goal from Nico Gramatic to cut the Tigers’ lead to 21-3. South Florida followed up after a missed Memphis field-goal attempt with a quick touchdown drive as Luke Kromenhoek found Mudia Reuben on a 3-yard slant to cut the Memphis lead to 21-10 with 4:13 remaining in the half. However, as we’ve seen all season long with the explosive nature of the Tigers offense, Memphis found the end zone as Jaylin Carter capped a quick drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to extend the Tigers’ lead to 28-10 with 1:50 remaining in the half. South Florida responded with a touchdown drive to cut the Memphis lead to 28-17 with 49 seconds left in the half. Memphis took the 28-17 lead into the break, with momentum still in the Tigers’ favor.
South Florida opened the second half by forcing the Tigers to punt, then quickly drove for a touchdown to cut the Memphis lead to 28-24. But Memphis struck quickly: Marcus Stokes found Stonka Burnside in the end zone, extending the lead back to double digits as the Tigers led 35-24 with 9:01 left in the third quarter. Just ten seconds later, Jason Collins would give South Florida another touchdown with a 75-yard rush up the middle to cut the Memphis lead to 35-31. Memphis would have to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Philippe Laforge to take a 38-31 lead with 6:49 left in the third. As they’ve done since being down 21-0 in the first half, South Florida responded with a touchdown drive capped by a 23-yard rushing touchdown from Luke Kromenhoek to tie it 38 with 1:42 left in the third. At the end of the third, Memphis and South Florida were tied at 38, with the Bulls carrying the momentum into the 4th quarter.
Memphis opened the 4th quarter with a turnover on downs as the South Florida defensive line pressured Marcus Stokes into a wild throw and an incomplete pass, giving the Bulls the ball back on the South Florida 32-yard line with 13:09 remaining. The Memphis defense finally got a stop, forcing South Florida to settle for a 38-yard field goal as Nico Gramatica sent it through the uprights to give the Bulls their first lead of the night, 41-38, with 8:04 remaining. Just like that, though, a two-play drive capped by a 76-yard touchdown pass from Marcus Stokes to Jemyri Davis retook the Tigers’ lead, 45-41, with 7:34 to play. South Florida went for it on 4th and two inside the red zone, and a pass from Luke Kromenhoek fell incomplete as it slipped the wide receiver’s hands, giving the Tigers the ball back with a little over three minutes remaining. The South Florida defense would force a Memphis punt, giving the Bulls offense 2:30 to work with to overcome a 45-41 deficit. At the two-minute timeout, the Bulls faced a 2nd and 15 on the South Florida 42-yard line. Once again, the Tigers’ defense came up big, forcing back-to-back sacks and setting up a 4th-and-27 before South Florida turned it over on downs. Memphis tried to run out the clock, but South Florida called a timeout, so Coach Charles Huff called a Jaylin Carter draw, and Carter scored to extend the Memphis lead to 52-41 with 44 seconds remaining.
Marcus Stokes finished his night with three touchdowns through the air, 313 passing yards, and two rushing touchdowns for 73 yards. Jaylin Carter finished his day with two touchdowns and 109 yards on the ground.
After building an early 21-0 lead over South Florida, Memphis simply collapsed; the defense looked like they were operating in quicksand, while the offense would score, but South Florida would answer with a score of their own, putting all the pressure in the world on the Tigers to deliver on each drive to at least give the defense some time to rest. Credit to South Florida, they smelled blood in the water, and the Tigers were pinned against the wall with a choice of either responding by digging deep and grinding it out on both sides of the ball, or allowing South Florida to mount an insane comeback to knock the Tigers out of contention to win the American Conference. However, Memphis had too much talent on the defensive side of the ball, and the Tigers leave Tampa with a massive 52-41 win over a pesky South Florida team.
Memphis started fast on both sides of the ball, but the Bulls of South Florida wouldn’t go down without a fight, chipping away at the Tigers’ lead before creating a classic second half where it felt like the momentum was heading toward the possibility that whoever had the ball last could very well walk away with a massive conference win. At the end of the day, it wasn’t pretty, but it doesn’t have to be; Memphis improves to 8-2 on the season and 5-1 in conference play.
Memphis returns to action next Saturday as they head to Annapolis, Maryland, to take on Navy’s Midshipmen for an early kick.
Photo Credits- Memphis Football on X
