Six games into the first year of the Larry Porter era, the Tiger football team is halfway to matching the 2-10 season that led to the dismissal of Porter’s predecessor, Tommy West. Considering the 56-0 loss at Louisville last Saturday, Tiger fans might be grateful for another win this fall, as the second half of the schedule — featuring Southern Miss, Houston, Tennessee, and UCF — is going to be tougher than the first. The good news may be that four of the remaining games will be played at the Liberty Bowl. The bad news may be that the program’s biggest supporters will be eyewitness to a kind of football that makes teeth-grinding a habit.
Here are five things we’ve learned over the first half of what we can only hope is the transition year of transition years for the Memphis program.
• Football fans love celebrating the rare team with no weaknesses. The 2010 Tigers are a rarity, in that the team has no strengths. They are near the bottom of the national rankings in total offense (276 yards per game) and total defense (436). They’ve had trouble running the ball (101 yards per game behind the tandem of Greg Ray and Jerrell Rhodes) and have gained as many as 200 passing yards in only one game. A veteran offensive line — forecast to be the strength of the squad — has given up 18 sacks in six games. The defense has forced a total of six turnovers, but four of them came in a single game (the only win of the season, over Middle Tennessee).
If you’re looking for a blanket diagnosis of the many symptoms that are hurting the Tigers, it’s team speed. Or the woeful lack thereof. Receivers aren’t escaping opposing defensive backs. The Tiger secondary is being outrun, often to the end zone. Memphis has given up 233 and 299 rushing yards in its last two games, gaps being opened by opposing blockers that the Tigers simply can’t close.
