The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – Memphis – INSIDE SLANT
Memphis coach Justin Fuente doesn’t mind having a disappointed football team. The Tigers are still seeking their first victory after opening the season with losses to Tennessee-Martin, Arkansas State and Middle Tennessee, and Fuente said they should be disappointed.
“I hope they’re disappointed,” he said in his Monday press conference, less than 48 hours after suffering a 48-30 loss to Middle Tennessee. “I think they are. I think they’re disappointed in the way we played on both sides of the ball.
“We talked very openly and frankly about it in the meeting yesterday in the things I felt like we needed to do in order to play better. I felt like they accepted it. This last week, we obviously did some things that really hurt us.”
As the Tigers prepare to visit Duke this week, Fuente will spend time, as he always does, stressing the importance of taking care of the football. The Tigers fumbled six times against Middle Tennessee, including three that resulted in turnovers that led to 24 points for the Blue Raiders. Memphis committed an alarming number of turnovers over the past three seasons, and it has been a point of emphasis since Fuente took over in December.
“There’s something we do every single week — we practice ball security,” Fuente said. “We actually have a manual of taking care of the football. It’s the first meeting we have in the spring and the first meeting every fall with every person that carries the football. We have drills that we do. We’ll reinforce those drills and reinforce it with our scout work this week.”
The Tigers will face a difficult task against Duke. The Blue Devils are 30th in the nation in scoring after putting up 113 points in their first three games. They are coming off a 54-17 victory over North Carolina Central in which they amassed over 400 yards for the second time in three weeks. The Blue Devils were held to one touchdown in a 50-13 loss to Stanford, but they still managed to gain 385 yards against the Cardinal’s vaunted defense.
“Duke provides many challenges for us,” Fuente said. “It will be our first real road trip. They’re the biggest team we’ve played so far. We’ll have to have a great week of practice.”
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NCAAF Team Report – Memphis – INSIDE SLANT
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
THIS WEEK’S GAME: Memphis at Duke, Sept. 22 — Memphis is reeling from three consecutive losses and desperately craving a taste of success. The Tigers were competitive in their first two games, falling 20-17 to Tennessee-Martin and 33-28 to Arkansas State, but they took two steps back in a turnover-filled 48-30 loss to Middle Tennessee. The Tigers have to play a cleaner game against the Blue Devils, but even then they may be overmatched.
KEYS TO THE GAME: The beleaguered Memphis defense is bracing itself for a Duke offense that ranks 16th in the nation in passing yards (314.7 ypg) and 30th in scoring (37.7 ppg). The Tigers haven’t recorded a sack all season, but they have to find a way to put pressure on Duke QB Sean Renfree. Duke’s defense is allowing 31 points per game, so the Tigers may be able to turn it into a shootout if they can establish a running game to set up some big pass plays for QB Jacob Karam.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
RB Jerrell Rhodes — Memphis coach Justin Fuente wants to establish the running game against this week after circumstances forced the Tigers to get away from it in a loss to Middle Tennessee. Rhodes was held to 48 yards on 15 carries against the Blue Raiders, but he had 106 yards against Tennessee-Martin and 70 against Arkansas State.
WR Marcus Rucker — The senior receiver’s fourth-quarter touchdown catch in the season opener against Tennessee-Martin was his first since the 2011 season opener. After going 11 games without a touchdown catch, Rucker now has three in three games this season. He had a 20-yard TD catch against Tennessee-Martin and touchdown receptions of 49 and 10 yards against Middle Tennessee.
KR Bobby McCain — The sophomore defensive back is one of the most dangerous return men in the Western Athletic Conference, ranking second with an average of 27.6 yards per kickoff return. However, his confidence could be an issue after he fumbled two returns in the loss to Middle Tennessee, resulting in two costly turnovers.
ROSTER REPORT:
–WR Keiwone Malone posted a career-high 10 catches for 102 yards against Middle Tennessee. WR Marcus Rucker had career highs of 10 catches and 177 yards. They became the first Memphis receivers to have 100 or more receiving yards in the same game since 2007, when Carlos Singleton (127) and Stephen Black (112) did it against SMU.
–Sophomore LB Charles Harris is tied for third in Conference USA with 11 tackles per game. Harris has led or tied for the team lead in tackles in two of Memphis’ three games. He had a team-high 12 tackles against Tennessee-Martin, a career-high 13 tackles against Arkansas State and a team-high-tying eight tackles against Middle Tennessee.
–Redshirt freshman RB Carl Harris scored his first career touchdown in his college debut against Middle Tennessee, scoring on a one-yard run in the fourth quarter. Harris redshirted last season after starring at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, Texas, where he rushed for 1,836 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior in 2010.
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RICE
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If they didn’t keep score until the second quarter, Rice might be 3-0 this season or at least 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Owls, it doesn’t work that way. Rice has a 1-2 record, with its two losses coming by a combined 44 points and its one victory by a single point.
Rice has been outscored 50-13 in the first quarter of games this season, including 21 unanswered points by Louisiana Tech in the opening period of its 56-37 win Sep. 15.
In the last three quarters of games, the Owls have played on even terms overall, getting outscored by just six points, 79-73, but that’s of little consolation to the players and the Rice coaching staff.
“That’s the third week in a row we’ve started way too slow,” Rice quarterback Taylor McHargue told the Hosuton Chronicle. After the loss at Louisiana Tech “We came out flat against a good team, and they buried us in the first quarter.”
For coach David Bailiff, it’s simple. His club has to be better prepared to play, and it cannot afford to wait till it takes the field to start the process.
“Whenever we step off the bus, we need to be ready to play a football game,” Bailiff said.
NOTES, QUOTES
Owls continue to use two punters
–For the third week in a row Rice used two different punters. Andre Gautreaux averaged just 35.7 yards on three punts, while Taylor Cook’s only punt traveled just 36 yards.
–Rice had a decided advantage in time of possession in its Sep. 15 game at Louisiana Tech, keeping the football nearly 35 minutes (34:57), despite losing by 19 points, 56-37. The Owls even controlled the football more (8:25 to 6:35) in the first quarter, when they were outscored 21-0.
–The success of Rice WRs Jordan Taylor, Vance McDonald and Sam McGuffie has meant fewer touches for the Owls’ tight ends, including Luke Willson. Willson, who is on the Mackey Award watch list this season, has just three catches for 30 yards in three games.
SERIES HISTORY: This is just the fourth time Rice and Marshall have met on the football field and the fourth time in the past five years. Marshall holds a 2-1 edge. The only Rice win came in its only home game against the Thundering Herd, 35-10, in 2008.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: A healthy Charles Ross has been a boost to the health of QB Taylor McHargue and the Rice offense so far this season. Ross, who combines power and speed when he’s healthy, lost most of last season to a hamstring injury. Despite a deep cut to his knee in the season opener this season against UCLA, the last two weeks have been the best of his career. Ross, who was granted a medical waiver from Conference USA to repeat his junior year, ran for a career-high 116 yards and caught his first career touchdown pass in the Owls’ Sep. 15 loss at Louisiana Tech. He has 210 rushing yards in the last two games and will get a chance to shine again against a Marshall defense that has allowed over 225 rushing yards per game.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: The Rice defense has to deal with another dangerous quarterback this week, one who has been as proficient, if not as prolific, as Louisiana Tech’s Colby Cameron. Marshall’s Rakeem Cato has completed more than 70 percent of his passes and thrown for 1,222 yards in three games this season. Cato has thrown eight touchdown passes and just two interceptions. Unlike Louisiana Tech, which also became the third team to rush for more yards than the Owls, the Thundering Herd averages more passing yards per game (425) than it’s accumulated on the ground all season (376). Marshall generates more than 77 percent of its offense in the air.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We have some pretty lofty goals that we are going to have to bear down to achieve them. They know it and I know it.” — Rice coach David Bailiff after a 56-37 loss at Louisiana Tech.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–QB Taylor McHargue came within one carry of giving Rice two 100-yard rushers in a Sep. 15 loss to Louisiana Tech. In addition to passing for 205 yards, McHargue ran for 93 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. One rushing attempt went for minus-seven yards.
–SB Sam McGuffie, who led Rice with eight pass receptions in the season opener against UCLA, has caught just four passes in the last two games. He was held to one catch for a loss of three yards in the Owls’ Sep. 15 loss at Louisiana Tech.
–K Chris Boswell, on his first kick after his school record 34th career field goal, a 57-yarder that tied another school record, missed an extra-point try in Rice’ 56-37 setback at Louisiana Tech. It was his first miss of the season.
ROSTER REPORT:
–S Corey Frazier is out for the season after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery.
–DE Tanner Leland will be sidelined six to eight weeks after suffering a knee injury in a Sep. 8 win at Kansas.
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NCAAF Team Report – Memphis – NOTES, QUOTES
–Senior WR Marcus Rucker had career highs of 10 receptions for 177 yards in the game against Middle Tennessee. It was the second 100-yard receiving game of his career. He finished nine yards shy of Bob Sherlag’s program record of 186 receiving yards, set against Mississippi State on Oct. 16, 1965.
“I’ve been proud of not just the balls (Rucker has) caught during the season so far, but just the way he’s gone about himself,” Memphis coach Justin Fuente said. “I’m not too proud to tell you, Marcus and I didn’t see eye to eye when we first got here. I feel like he’s made a concerted effort to do things the way we would like them to be done. It’s manifested itself into a great summer for him, and now he’s playing really well.”
–Memphis didn’t run the ball nearly as effectively against Middle Tennessee after two strong showings against Tennessee-Martin and Arkansas State. The Tigers rushed for 202 yards against the Skyhawks and 139 yards against the Red Wolves, but the Blue Raiders held them to 74 yards on 33 carries, an average of 2.2 yards per carry.
–The Tigers have blocked a punt in all three games this season. Freshman Tevin Jones blocked one against Tennessee-Martin, junior DB Anthony Watson blocked one against Arkansas State and redshirt freshman WR Tyriq Patrick blocked one against Middle Tennessee.
SERIES HISTORY: This is the first meeting between Memphis and Duke.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE: Junior Jacob Karam is looking more and more capable at quarterback, senior Marcus Rucker is coming on strong at wide receiver and junior RB Jerrell Rhodes has demonstrated some big-game ability. Memphis has the potential to be pretty good offensively, but the Tigers must limit turnovers. They committed three costly turnovers in a 20-17 loss to Tennessee-Martin in the season opener. Coaches thought they had cleaned up the problem following a turnover-free 33-28 loss to Arkansas State, but then they committed four turnovers against Middle Tennessee.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE: The Tigers allowed 101 points and 1,450 yards total offense in their first three games. That won’t get it done. They are eighth among Conference USA teams in passing defense (257.7 yards per game) and ninth against the run (225.7). It could be worse, too, given that opposing quarterbacks have completed just 57.5 percent of their passes. Putting pressure on quarterbacks might help defensive backs create more turnovers, but the Tigers have yet to record a sack.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I was disappointed. I went through all of the emotions. I went from being mad to reasoning it out. There are also plenty of good things that occurred. Basically, I get things out there on the table with the team. I tell them what I think and how I feel.” — Memphis coach Justin Fuente, on his reaction following a 48-30 loss to Middle Tennessee.
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