FUN FOOTBALL
Tigers sure can make winning look so easy
Maybe it was the first time tailback Darrell Henderson raced past the Georgia State defense, when he left safety Chris Bacon flailing on the ground with a juke Barry Sanders would have been proud of on a 54-yard touchdown scamper.
Or maybe it was after Brady White’s fourth touchdown pass of the first half, when his quarterback rating for the night improved to an absurd 302.7.
But it occurred to me that perhaps we’re losing sight of how much fun Memphis football is right now.
The Tigers make games like Friday’s 59-22 pounding of Georgia State look so easy that it’s easy to overlook how far
they’ve come in five years.
It’s easy to spend a week grumbling about a loss at Navy because expectations are higher than ever and dreams of a perfect season are over now. It’s easy to not come to the game and watch on television, to start thinking about basketball season.
It’s easy to complain about playing Georgia State on a Friday night, when high school football is usually king around here. It’s easy to forget that some in this city thought about getting rid of this program not that long ago.
Now, though? The Tigers might have been wearing throwback Memphis State uniforms, but that was the only reminder of what this program used to be.
When Memphis’ innovative, highoctane offense is rolling like it did Friday, when it turned another home game into a thrashing, there’s no better sports spectacle in town.
"Every phase had explosive plays," coach Mike Norvell said, and let’s make sure we all appreciate that.
Regardless of whether this season results in a conference title or simply a fifth-straight bowl appearance, we’re witnessing a special era of Memphis football.
We get to see Henderson become a star before our eyes, and the first Memphis player since DeAngelo Williams to gain more than 200 rushing yards in back-to-back games. He runs over and past defenders, breaking off long touchdowns and climbing the school record books seemingly every game.
We get to see Tony Pollard, who looks healthy again and scares teams like Georgia State so much as a returner they refuse to attempt anything other than squib kicks.
We get to see a veteran offensive line carve out holes the size of city streets, that went from a weakness to a strength since coach Mike Norvell took over the program two seasons ago.
We get to see the progression of White, who only seems to throw touchdown passes when he’s playing at the Liberty Bowl and not in the pouring rain on the road. And then there's his new favorite target, wide receiver Damonte Coxie, who set career highs for receiving yards and touchdowns Friday.
“We got a crazy offense, just all the weapons we got ... and it allows us to showcase what we do," White said.
Norvell has recruited so much skill position talent that Henderson, despite leading the nation in rushing yards after this latest performance, has yet to carry the ball more than 14 times in a game this season.
The offense is so good on nights like this that the defense can endure an upand-down effort and it doesn’t matter.
Which may not be the best recipe for Memphis to win an American Athletic Conference title.
But it sure will be fun to see if it is. Don’t forget that part.