Tigers’ special teams play shines
For the University of Memphis, Saturday’s 46-9 victory over UAB at Legion Field included another strong performance by the Tiger special teams, including a rare 100-yardplus punt returning outing by Keiwone Malone.
Malone returned five punts for 112 yards, including a 57-yard return late in the third quarter. That was the longest by a U of M player in eight years and the 112 return yards represented the most since 1994 when Ryan Roskelly had 194 punt return yards in a game at Tulsa.
“I thought the punt return unit, as a whole, had really been doing a good job and putting forth great effort (before Saturday’s game),” Tiger coach Justin Fuente said. “We hadn’t really gotten a lot out of it, but the kids on the unit have been doing a really good job. For one reason or another — a (punt) we couldn’t field or a kick out of bounds — we couldn’t get the return part of it going.
“We just kept harping on it to keep doing it and (eventually) we’re going to break one.”
In addition to the punt return unit, the Tigers got a 51-yard field goal from Paulo Henriques, who also had six touchbacks on kickoffs.
Memphis also got a blocked a punt by Reggis Ball that led to a first-half touchdown and a 2-point return by Charles Harris on a blocked extra point.
NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO CALL
Tiger football and men’s basketball play-by-play announcer Dave Woloshin couldn’t be in two places in one day, at least without a private jet at his disposal.
Woloshin called Saturday’s football game between the Tigers and UAB at Birmingham’s Legion Field, but did not handle the call of Saturday night’s men’s basketball game at FedExForum between the Tigers and Samford. The football game ended roughly two hours before the basketball game’s tipoff and Woloshin rode on a team bus back to Memphis.
Woloshin said he will miss next week’s regularseason football finale at home against Southern Miss to call the U of M’s basketball games in the Battle for Atlantis in the Bahamas. The Samford game was an openinground game in the Battle for Atlantis.
Jeff Brightwell, who handled the play-by-play of Saturday’s basketball game, will handle the football broadcast of the Southern Miss game.
A RARITY
Not only did Memphis score more first-quarter points (21) than it had in nine years, its 21-point outburst was only two fewer than it had scored in the opening quarter all season. Memphis entered the game having scored 23 points in the first quarter of its previous 10 games.
The 21 first- quarter points represented the most by a Tiger team in the first quarter since scoring 28 at Houston in a 45-14 win over the Cougars in 2003. The Tigers led 28-3 at the half, their most points at halftime since going up 28-0 against Tulane in 2008.
JUST LIKE FAMILY
About 30 minutes before kickoff Saturday, Tiger coach Justin Fuente and UAB coach Garrick McGee shook hands and embraced near midfield as their respective teams were going through warmups.
McGee and Fuente, both Tulsa natives, were standout prep quarterbacks in Tulsa and both eventually played, briefly, at Oklahoma.
Leading up to the game, McGee said going against Fuente was “competing against your brother.”
at Huntington, W. Va.: Rakeem Cato threw three TDs and ran for another and Marshall held off Houston’s furious fourth quarter rally to beat the Cougars.
Cato completed 32 of 50 passes for 377 yards.
Marshall (5- 6, 4-3) led 31-10 at halftime behind Cato’s three touchdown passes and a 69-yard rushing touchdown from Kevin Grooms.
Cato’s 5-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter extended Marshall’s lead to 38-17, but Crawford Jones threw three touchdowns — all within a seven minute span — to tie the game, 3838, with 10:47 left to play.