U OF M PENALTY:
Senior Pegues to miss opener
Six Tigers suspended for brawl after bowl game last year.
University of Memphis football coach Justin Fuente announced Monday that six players will serve suspensions stemming from the team’s postgame brawl at last year’s Miami Beach Bowl.
The suspensions, which were decided in conjunction with the American Athletic Conference, range from a half-game to 1½ games. They will be effective as of Saturday evening, when Memphis opens its season against Missouri State at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
Senior linebacker Leonard Pegues received the most significant punishment. He will miss Saturday’s game and the first half of next week’s road game against Kansas. Defensive lineman Isadore Outing will sit out the first game, and four players — offensive linemen Nick Thomas, Michael Stannard and Trevon Tate and cornerback Chauncey Lanier — will miss the first half of that game.
“Obviously this was not an incident that I’m proud of, or that we are proud of,” Fuente said Monday. “I think our kids have done a great job, in the wake of this, owning it, standing up to it, understanding that it’s not what we want to represent. And some of the things that we’ve asked them to do, they’ve gone above and beyond the requirements that we put in front of them.”
In addition to the six suspensions, a seventh returning player, sophomore linebacker Noah Robinson, was asked “to fulfill some other requirements” and went “above and beyond that,” according to Fuente. All returning players also participated in mandatory counseling and additional conditioning work. Some of them were also instructed to perform community service, 220 hours in total. Fuente said they performed 326.
The coach added that five others would have been subject to suspensions but are no longer with the team. Martin Ifedi, Derek Howard and Tank Jakes have exhausted their eligibility, and Chase Johnson and Tony Mays are no longer with the team.
The fracas occurred on the field at Marlins Park shortly after Memphis defeated BYU, 55-48, in double overtime on Dec. 22. Television replays show Pegues punching a BYU player’s helmet and later kicking another BYU player while on the ground. Outing was seen punching BYU safety Kai Nacua, who later punched Memphis tight end Alan Cross.
University and conference officials had access to other video angles from cameras located around the stadium as well.
“The conference looked at the video for a long time,” Fuente said. “We looked at the video for a long time and tried to do our best to come up with (punishments).”
Fuente said the suspensions were decided in the month after the incident. The Commercial Appeal reported in January that 12 players would be affected.
BYU has not announced which of its players, or how many, will be suspended as a result of their participation in the brawl.
“It was so long ago, I don’t know what more you can do to punish the kids besides the scrutiny that comes with it,” BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall told reporters Monday. “I don’t know what else needs to happen for these kids to have learned their lesson than what has happened. We won’t be announcing the suspensions before the Nebraska game. We’ll announce them after.”
Fuente said he was “somewhat” involved in the process that determined the suspensions, but he fully supports the results.
“Obviously it’s a challenge,” Fuente said. “We’ll have to shuffle some things around and manage some depth, particularly obviously in the first half of the game this week. But our actions have consequences, and obviously by getting involved in that situation, we put our team at risk. So this is what it is and we’re going to have to stand up and find a way to make it work.” PREGAME CONCERTS SET FOR TIGER LANE
The Tigers will host pregame concerts on Tiger Lane again this season as part of the 901 Concert Series, with local music acts performing before the first three home games.
The Dantones will kick off the season with a performance Saturday before Memphis’ game against Missouri State. The group will play from 4 p.m. to 5:15. A performance by Kevin and Bethany Paige will precede the Tigers’ game against Cincinnati, and the Super 5 will play Oct. 17 before Memphis plays Ole Miss.