Wait Till This Year.
The marking slogan for the 2014 Memphis Tiger football season was high risk, high reward. For a team that had virtually nothing to be proud of over the last six plus seasons in football, telling people to wait till this year could have gone awfully wrong. What if Memphis stumbled through another 4-8 season? Telling people to wait for another disastrous football campaign might have done irreparable damage to the program’s already marred image.
But that didn’t happen. In fact, the complete polar opposite happened. Memphis had a 10-win season that included a share of the American Athletic Conference title and the team’s first bowl win since the 2005 Motor City Bowl.
There is reason for Tiger fans to be supremely optimistic about what the future hold for Memphis football especially head coach Justin Fuente received a pay-raise and a contract extension. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s take a look at the Memphis’ report card from the 2014 season.
Offense: B+
A large portion of what Memphis was going to be able to accomplish offensively this season was going to rest on the shoulders of their sophomore quarterback Paxton Lynch, and how well he had developed over the spring and summer.
Lynch showed the ability to run Fuente’s system effectively finishing with 3,031 yards passing, 35 total touchdowns (22 passing and 13 rushing) and just nine interceptions. Compare that to Lynch’s freshman season where the Florida native had just 2,056 yards passing, 11 total touchdowns (nine passing and two rushing) and 10 interceptions, and one can clearly see that from a statistical standpoint, Lynch’s improvements were astronomical.
Sophomore Doroland Dorceus and senior Brandon Hayes were expect to share workload in the run game, but an early season-ending knee injury to Dorceus forced fellow sophomore Sam Craft – who is best suited playing in the slot – to play tailback.
Craft, too, suffered an injury that forced him to miss five games leaving the door wide-open for Hayes to become the feature back, and Hayes did not disappoint. The senior finished with 1,070 yards from scrimmage (951 yards rushing) and eight total touchdowns. True freshman Jarvis Cooper – who was thrust into action of the injuries to Dorceus and Craft – finished second of the team in rushing with 378 yards and four touchdowns.
The Tigers had nine different players with at least 100 receiving yards this season and six players with multiple receiving touchdowns. In other words, Lynch spread the ball around all season long. Keiwone Malone, Mose Frazier, Tevin Jones, and Alan Cross were the only four pass catchers to play in all 13 games, and as a result they were all top four in both receptions and receiving yards.
Memphis will return its quarterback, five of its top six pass catchers, and six of its top seven rushers for the 2015 season.
Defense: A
Despite being known as an offensive prowess, coach Fuente has consistenly had very good defenses during his tenure at Memphis. And this past season was no exception.
The Tigers finished ranked 28th in overall defense and 11th in scoring defense – surrendering just 19.5 points per game.
Senior middle linebacker Tank Jakes – the 2014 AAC Defensive Player of the Year – was the bell cow of the Tiger defense – leading Memphis in tackles (94), tackles for loss (15.5), sacks (six), and forced fumbles (four). Fellow seniors Bobby McCain (five interceptions and two defensive touchdowns in 2014) and Martin Ifedi (Memphis all-time sacks leader) joined Jakes as first team all-conference performers.
The Tigeres did suffer a blow to the defensive side of the ball when defensive coordinator Barry Odom elected to leave Memphis and accept the same position at Missouri. It is likely that Galen Scott – current Memphis linebackers coach – will take over the defensive coordinator duties going forward.
Special Teams: A
After a stellar freshman season, Tigers kicker Jake Elliot set a high standard for himself heading into year two. The sophomore managed to make 21 field goals and all 57 of his extra points in route to being named the 2014 AAC Special Teams Player of the Year (Side note: This is the second consecutive year a Memphis Tiger has won this award. Former Memphis punter Tom Hornsey won the award in 2013).
Memphis punter Spencer Smith was named to the second team all-conference after averaging 40.26 yards on 58 punts this season.
Amazingly, the Tigers on surrendered 37 punt return yards all season – seventh fewest nationally – while compiling 377 punt return yards of their own – seventh most nationally.
Additionally, Memphis gave up just 18.12 yards per kickoff return which was the 17th best mark in the country.
Malone was named to the all-conference second team as a return specialist.
Coaching: A+
I find it incredibly difficult to overstate just how good of a job Fuente and his staff did this season at Memphis. If you look at what he, offensive coordinator Derrell Dickey, and quarterbacks coach Brad Cornelson did with Lynch and this Tigers offense made up of a plethora of underclassmen, it is truly remarkable. Or what Barry Odom and his staff have consistently done with defense – making them perennially one of the tops in the national. Or what special teams coordinator James Shibest did by having three special teams players named to the all-conference teams, and his coverage teams among the nation’s elite.
This staff is truly filled with talent coaches across the board. Memphis fans should be elated to seemingly have nearly every one of them returning for next season.
Overall: A+
How could you not give arguably the great season in Memphis Tiger football history the highest grade available? Fuente maximized the talent he had to work with. The seniors lead the defense while a host of young, talented players lit up the scoreboard offensively. This season had everything: last second victories, blowout wins, record-setting performances, gut-wrenching home loss, losses that felt like wins, young players stepping up, seniors taking ownership of their team, and a bowl win over a national brand. The 2014 season was truly one of a kind for the boys in Tiger blue.
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