Memphis football had nothing to lose, everything to gain — and took it from Tulane

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 on the road in a showcase game on Thanksgiving. The temperature was dropping at Yulman Stadium, and Silverfield couldn’t care less.

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

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

When Henigan hit Desrosiers for an opening-drive touchdown, though, Memphis announced that this wasn’t going to be a cakewalk for the Green Wave.

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

The Tigers woke up on Thanksgiving morning knowing they had thrown away those opportunities in Annapolis and San Antonio and had little to play for other than to spoil the party that was bound to kick off a few miles from Bourbon Street.

“We didn’t do what we were supposed to in two games,” Silverfield said. “I wish we could have them back, but that’s college football. So I can’t sit there and harp on them. We’re going to learn from them, we’re going to grow from them. Hopefully we did. I think you got to see the Memphis football team that we were capable of the last few games.”

The Tigers didn’t just beat Tulane. They dominated, winning the turnover battle 3-0, running…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/memphis-football-had-nothing-lose-075632294.html

Author : The Commercial Appeal

Publish date : 2024-11-29 07:56:00

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