Memphis football ends the regular season with a bittersweet win over Tulane

On By Littum

NEW ORLEANS – Ryan Silverfield jogged toward midfield, ready to shake Tulane coach Jon Sumrall’s hand.

But he was interrupted. First there was a Gatorade bath.

It wasn’t a conference title, and it wasn’t a spot in the College Football Playoff, but Silverfield’s Tigers had just dispatched the No. 17 Tulane 34-24 on the road in an exhibition game on Thanksgiving. The temperature was dropping at Yulman Stadium and Silverfield couldn’t care less.

“I’m cold right now,” he said in his postgame press conference, “but man, I’ll take a hundred of them.”

The Tigers had come in as 13.5 point underdogs, the first time in more than a decade that had happened. The last time Memphis was this big of an underdog in a conference game, quarterback Seth Henigan and running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. in elementary school.

But when Henigan hit Desrosiers for an opening drive touchdown, Memphis announced that this wouldn’t be a cakewalk for Green Wave.

Sumrall’s team woke up Thanksgiving morning with everything to play for. A win would guarantee a home game against Army for the AAC title on Dec. 6 and mean the College Football Playoff was still a very real possibility.

The Tigers woke up Thanksgiving morning knowing they had thrown away those opportunities in Annapolis and San Antonio and had little to play for other than spoil the party that was set to start a few miles down Bourbon Street.

“We didn’t do what we needed to do in two games,” Silverfield said. “I wish we could get them back, but it’s college football. So I can’t sit there and harp on them. We’re going to learn from them, we’re going to grow from them. Hopefully we did. I think you got to see the Memphis football team that we were capable of the last few games.”

The Tigers didn’t just beat Tulane. They dominated, winning the turnover game 3-0, running rampant against Tulane’s defense and completely shutting down star running back Makhi Hughes, who entered Thursday as the No. 9 rusher in the country but had easily the worst game of his career (nine carries). , 15 yards).

Desrosiers was outstanding in a true breakout game. He started the season buried on the running back depth chart and then missed five games with a collarbone injury, but he was the best player on the field for much of Thursday. He towered over Tulane linebacker Tyler Grubbs for the first touchdown, outran virtually the entire defense for the second and third, then punctuated his performance with a ridiculous juke move that left Grubbs rooted to the ground in the fourth quarter.

“This was our championship game,” Desrosiers said, echoing a sentiment teams often use as motivation when playing Memphis.

But Memphis was the hunter and not the hunted this night in New Orleans. Tulane built momentum, but safety Kourtlan Marsh came up with two forced fumbles after long passing plays that stopped any real attempt at a second-half comeback. When Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah’s pass was intercepted by Davion Ross near the goal line midway through the fourth quarter, he knelt and put his head in his hands, staring down at the turf as the Memphis sideline bounced with cheers.

So how will Memphis’ season be remembered?

“10-2, that’s got to be a pretty good standard to be at,” Henigan said. “Obviously you want to be a championship contender in the championship game every single year, so it was disappointing. But if you win 10 games, that’s a pretty successful season. And the opportunity to win 11. That’s all we can do is win one more game, so that’s our goal, people will remember it how they will remember it, as a failure, as a success, but I feel that you have to in our dressing room. walk away knowing that you did your best and we had a successful season.”

The Tigers will have to wait a week and a half to learn their bowl destination and opponent. During that time, Tulane will regroup and get ready to play for an AAC title game. As for the Group of Five spot for the College Football Playoff, Boise State and UNLV, the top two teams in the Mountain West probably have the best chances.

Memphis started the season with a stated goal of reaching the AAC title. The Tigers didn’t get there, but they showed everyone Thursday that they could absolutely be the best team in the conference.

“All season we’ve faced adversity,” Silverfield said. “But adversity is what allows you to grow. On a day like Thanksgiving, you talk about being thankful, and you talk about being thankful for all the things. Well, most people will say to you, ‘I’m thankful for my family I’m grateful for my health and I’m grateful for the opportunity to play on national television.’ Well, I’m thankful for all the adversity we’ve faced all season.”

Reach sportswriter Jonah Dylan at [email protected] or at X @thejonahdylan.