Cold conditions on tap
MEMPHIS — It’s the Memphis Tigers who will be in familiar territory today at the Liberty Bowl, but the chilly weather forecasted for the midday kickoff could have Iowa State feeling right at home.
Highs in the upper 30s and lows in the upper teens are predicted at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, which serves as the home field for No. 19 Memphis (10-2). That’s rather cold by Tennessee standards, but it’s milder than the sub-zero temperatures expected on Iowa State’s campus today.
“This is warm to us,” Iowa State running back David Montgomery said this week.
The Cyclones (7-5) downplayed the notion the weather could give them any sort of benefit to counteract the Tigers’ home-field advantage. Neither team played a regular-season game with temperatures below 40 degrees this year. Memphis beat Tulane amid rainy conditions in the low 40s and defeated Louisiana-Monroe in a storm, but this type of cold will offer a different kind of challenge.
“I’ve been practicing without sleeves this week just to get prepared for the weather this Saturday,” Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller said. “I think playing in the cold is better because you don’t lose as much energy. The heat zaps a lot out of you.”
The Tigers have reason to feel confident. They are 7-0 in games this season at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, where they have averaged 50 points and more than 500 total yards per contest. They also boast one of the nation’s most electrifying passing tandems with quarterback Riley Ferguson throwing to Miller, a consensus All-American.
A victory would give Memphis its first 11-win year in school history and assure the Tigers of their highest season-ending ranking. Memphis has only finished a season in The Associated Press Top 25 once before (25th in 2014).
“We talk about it every day,” Ferguson said. “The fact that we can come here and leave a legacy like that, it means everything to us and our fans and the community as well. It’s a huge accomplishment.”
Iowa State sold more than 15,000 tickets for this game, but Memphis still figures to have the majority of fans in an expected sellout crowd of 57,266.
Attraction Jackson
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Louisville junior quarterback Lamar Jackson could be headed for the NFL draft in a few months, but he never considered sitting out the TaxSlayer Bowl.
On Friday, the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner said he wanted to play because of his teammates, a not-at-all-surprising statement from a star who nonetheless always defers to those around him while smashing records.
“I just felt I owed that to them,” Jackson said of his choice.
Jackson will be the main attraction — as usual — when the Cardinals (8-4) face 24th-ranked Mississippi State (8-4) at EverBank Field, home of the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars. The game is expected to be Jackson’s collegiate finale, although he’s keeping his future plans under wraps for now.
“I just want to sit down with my family and make my decision,” he said.
In the meantime, Jackson has more records in his sights. The Pompano Beach, Fla., native needs 26 rushing yards and 126 passing yards to join Colin Kaepernick as the only other player in NCAA history to run for 4,000 yards and pass for 9,000 in a career. Jackson also needs 183 yards of offense to break his single-season school record (5,114) set in 2016.
Those seems about as close to a given as possible considering Jackson’s year.
Jackson leads the nation in total offense with 4,932 yards — 3,489 passing and 1,443 rushing — and is on pace to break Atlantic Coast Conference and career records for total yards per game. The two-time ACC player of the year finished third in Heisman Trophy voting this season.
“He’s going to get his yards,” said Mississippi State interim coach Greg Knox, who is filling in for the departed Dan Mullen — now at Florida — with Joe Moorhead set to fully take over after the game. “It’s like playing Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan was going to get his points every night.”