Since Paxton Lynch took over quarterback duty in 2013, the Memphis Tigers have had a remarkably stable stretch at football’s most important position. Lynch didn’t miss a game in three seasons. He was followed by Riley Ferguson, who played in all 26 games over his two seasons (2016-17) as a Tiger. Then Brady White made 39 consecutive starts from 2018 through the 2020 campaign. All of which made last Friday’s contest at UCF … disorienting.
With freshman Seth Henigan sidelined by a right-shoulder injury (suffered in the Tigers’ win over Navy on October 14th), sophomore Peter Parrish took the field to lead the Memphis offense. How disorienting was the Parrish start? Rewind to August, during the Tigers’ preseason camp, and you’d find the LSU transfer fourth on the QB depth chart, behind not only Henigan, but also Arizona transfer Grant Gunnell and redshirt freshman Keilon Brown. Injuries and circumstance (Brown transferred) conspired, leading to a 24-7 loss to the Knights that dropped Memphis to 4-4 on the season.
Parrish had his moments in Orlando. He offered a threat running the ball that Henigan can’t match. He led the Tigers with 60 rushing yards, despite yardage lost on six sacks counting against his total. Parrish completed 31 of 48 passes, but averaged only 4.5 yards per attempt. Most damaging to the Tiger attack, he was unable to find Calvin Austin down field, subtracting one of the country’s most dynamic “chunk play” artists from the Memphis arsenal. (Austin caught seven passes but for only 44 yards.) A pair of second-half deflected interceptions erased chances for the Tigers to reduce their deficit on the scoreboard, or perhaps even steal a win.
Henigan’s injury is classified as “day-to-day,” and he has two full weeks to heal before the Tigers return to play (November 6th at the Liberty Bowl, against SMU). That throwing shoulder is suddenly the most important joint in the Tiger football program. Memphis fans spent the first half of the season marveling at the future Henigan has as a Tiger signal-caller. Turns out it’s Henigan’s present that is pivotal.
• When watching a football game, our eyes tend to follow the ball. From the snap into the quarterback’s hands, to a running back perhaps, or through the air toward a receiver. Defy this instinct when the Tiger defense is on the field and follow Memphis linebacker J.J. Russell (number 23) and/or safety Quindell Johnson (15). This tandem of tacklers is having an extraordinary season. They each have instincts for ending a play that I’m not convinced can be taught. Russell leads the American Athletic Conference with 86 tackles (53 of them solo) and Johnson is second with 73 (47 solo). They’ll be playing in the NFL in the near future. Keep your eyes on them while you can.
• Memphis is part of an exclusive club, one of only five FBS football programs to have won at least eight games every year since 2014. You’ve hard of the other four: Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, and Oklahoma. To make it eight straight seasons, the Tigers must win their final four regular-season games (against SMU, East Carolina, Houston, and Tulane), or win three of them and then win a bowl game. It’s an unlikely scenario for a team that’s lost four of its last five games, but should be prime motivation for a program that feels snubbed by the Big 12’s recent expansion. (The “Power 5” league is absorbing UCF, Cincinnati, and Houston … but not Memphis.) It will be interesting to count the attendance when SMU visits the first week in November, almost precisely two years after the epic Tiger win with ESPN’s GameDay crew in town. What a difference two years can make.
