Same Old Song and Dance Without any offensive firepower, is the U of M destined to have another mediocre season? by dennis freeland One game does not a season make. But six opening-game losses do present something of a trend. Since Rip Scherer came to the University of Memphis in 1995 he has never started the season with a victory. After his first game at the U of M, a 28-18 loss to Mississippi State, the Tigers have not scored more than one touchdown in a season opener. In the last two opening games they haven't gotten into the end zone at all. In Scherer's defense, he has never opened with a patsy (Mississippi State has been the opponent three times, Ole Miss twice, and Miami once). But this is the sixth year of what should have been a three-year rebuilding effort. These are Scherer's players, his coaches, his playbook. Chuck Stobart cannot be blamed. This is Scherer's program and in his sixth season, his offense did not even come close to scoring a touchdown against Mississippi State. Even Scherer's most loyal defenders are starting to grumble. We're not talking about the ones who have been out to get him from Day One. We're not talking about those who abandoned ship during the disastrous 2-9 campaign in 1998. We're talking about the die-hard supporters, who have boosted his program all along. It was hard for even that staunch group to leave Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Saturday without at least thinking, "same-o, same-o." The calls to the post-game radio show on WMC-AM 790 ranged from mild frustration to unabashed fire-the-coach sentiments. And while the show's hosts did their best to defend Rip and his program, what could they say? How do you defend dropped passes, five turnovers, and unimaginative play-calling? In 1972, when Fred Pancoast took over a program that had slipped to 5-6 the previous year, it took him two years to get the program back with an 8-3 record in 1973. In 1980, Rex Dockery was hired after Richard Williamson went 2-9. Dockery had a winning season in his third year (6-4-1 in 1983). Charlie Bailey won six in his third season, in 1988, beating Florida, Mississippi State, and Vanderbilt along the way. Even Stobart had a winning season in his fourth year, going 6-5 in 1992, the first of three consecutive 6-5 seasons. Scherer has no more room to make excuses. Yes, the Shakir fumble return looks like a bad call, but it wasn't the SEC referees who dropped catchable balls. They weren't the ones who tried to run between the tackles even after it became obvious that the Tigers couldn't run. It wasn't the SEC officials who turned the ball over five times, leading directly to all three MSU scores. There can be no more excuses. Now comes a stretch of three games where the Tigers should be able to compete. The coach faces a battle for the hearts and minds of both his own players and the hardcore Memphis fans. He needs to beat Louisiana-Monroe and Arkansas State decisively. Memphis needs to go into Hattiesburg on September 30th with a 3-1 record. Anything less could be disastrous. Perhaps Scherer should bite the bullet, to use one of his favorite expressions, and name freshman Danny Wimprine as his starting quarterback right now. Throw him into the fire against Louisiana-Monroe (a game that the Tiger defense should be able to win on their own) and let him adjust to the speed and intensity of college football before Memphis hits the difficult part of the schedule. The truth is Wimprine is the best quarterback on the team. And he's a proven winner. Wimprine's record as a starting quarterback at J.P. Curtis High School in New Orleans was 53-2 over four years. He led his team to Louisiana state championships in both his junior and senior seasons. He's the Tiger quarterback of the future. And the future is now. Wimprine is the best quarterback Scherer has recruited to Memphis. It would be a shame if another head coach prospered with Wimprine behind center. There is a precedent for a Memphis coach turning to a true freshman. The year was 1975, Richard Williamson's first as head coach. The quarterback was Lloyd Patterson. The result was a five-game winning streak to close out the season. The next year, behind an experienced sophomore quarterback, Memphis went 7-4, the last time a Tiger team won seven in a season. This is not to lay all the blame on Travis Anglin. Certainly he played with a lot of courage against Mississippi State. The Memphis receivers had an unusually bad day catching the ball and the play-calling (despite Scherer's protestations to the contrary) lacked imagination. In fact, because of his quickness, Anglin was the most valuable weapon the Memphis offense had on Saturday. But he is probably playing out of position. He would be much more valuable at flanker. Especially with a quarterback like Wimprine. For too long Memphis has loaded up its defense with all the team's playmakers. That makes for games like Saturday's 17-3 loss or last year's 3-0 opener against Ole Miss. Because MSU knew the Tigers couldn't throw the ball deep, they were able to shorten the field, concentrating on the running and short-passing game. Other teams who see film of the game will do the same. The only solution is for Memphis to find a deep-passing threat. Again, Scherer may have to turn to a true freshman. Von Webb was a track star at Athens High School in Athens, Alabama, running the 100 meters in 10.58. Likewise Henry Washington ran the anchor leg of the Texas state champion 4X100 relay team. Jeremiah Bonds is another freshman burner. If not them, then maybe Memphis will have to play Michael Stone or Idrees Bashir, the fastest players on the team, both ways. Lack of speed kills and the Tiger offense looked mighty slow against Mississippi State. Scherer has to have someone on the offense who can make plays. Or Memphis could stay the course. Blame the opening loss on the officials. Figure that the MSU defense is better than any other the Tigers will see this season. Count on Anglin getting better and the receivers more sure-handed. But that is the recipe for another 5-6 season. Which may be good enough for the Memphis administration, but it won't be acceptable to the fans. Even the most faithful. The lackluster Memphis offense spoiled a spectacular debut for new defensive coordinator Tommy West. The Tiger defense, which finished 1999 ranked 23rd in the country, held Mississippi State to only 127 total yards, 19 in the second half. MSU never drove the ball on the Tigers, scoring after the Memphis offense turned the ball over deep inside its own territory. The longest drive MSU had was a mere 25 yards. In essence the Memphis defense pitched a shutout. Even the loss of senior linebacker DeMorrio Shank couldn't slow the defense, which started two freshmen at linebacker. To get a thorough read on how good this unit played, compare this game to last year's game at Mississippi State, when the Bullies rushed for 161 yards, passed for 156, and had 16 first downs. This year those numbers were 45, 82, and 7, respectively. After the first game, Memphis ranks fourth in the nation defensively. THIS AND THAT: Scherer is now 0-14 against the three Mississippi schools that Memphis plays regularly (State, Ole Miss, and Southern Miss). He is 1-12 in games against SEC schools. Ryan White's second quarter field goal against MSU moved him into fourth place on the school's all-time kicking list. White, a junior, has now kicked 30 field goals in just 23 games. Joe Allison tops the list at 51. Redshirt freshman linebacker DeMarquis "Coot" Terry had seven tackles in his first game. Only junior Tony Brown had more -- eight. Seven Tiger players made their first career starts against Mississippi State. Josh Eargle and Jimmond Pugh started in the offensive line. Tripp Higgins and Dernice Wherry started at wide receiver and tailback respectively. And Greg Harper and Derrick Ballard started at linebacker. Ballard from Madison, Georgia, and Jared Pigue, who was the starting deep snapper, were the only true freshmen to start.