2018 Memphis Tigers football team

2018 Memphis Tigers football
2018 Memphis Tigers football
AAC West Division co-champion
American Athletic Championship Game; L 41–56 vs. UCF
Birmingham Bowl, L 34–37 vs. Wake Forest
Conference	American Athletic Conference
	West Division
Record	8–6 (5–3 American)
Head coach	Mike Norvell (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Kenny Dillingham (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Chris Ball (3rd season)
Home stadium	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Memphis Tigers football team represented the University of Memphis in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Mike Norvell. They finished the season 8–6, 5–3 in AAC to finish in a three-way tie for the West Division championship. After tie-breakers, they represented the West Division in the AAC Championship Game where they lost to East Division champion UCF. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they lost to Wake Forest.

2018 American Athletic Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 11 UCF x$	8	–	0	12	–	1
Temple	7	–	1	8	–	5
No. 24 Cincinnati	6	–	2	11	–	2
South Florida	3	–	5	7	–	6
East Carolina	1	–	7	3	–	9
UConn	0	–	8	1	–	11
West Division
Memphis xy	5	–	3	8	–	6
Houston x	5	–	3	8	–	5
Tulane x	5	–	3	7	–	6
SMU	4	–	4	5	–	7
Navy	2	–	6	3	–	10
Tulsa	2	–	6	3	–	9
Championship: UCF 56, Memphis 41
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy^[1]	Drew Kyser	C	SR
Chuck Bednarik Award^[2]	Curtis Akins	LB	SR
Maxwell Award^[3]	Darrell Henderson	RB	JR
Maxwell Award^[3]	Tony Pollard	RB	JR
Doak Walker Award^[4]	Darrell Henderson	RB	JR
John Mackey Award^[5]	Joey Magnifico	TE	JR
Butkus Award^[6]	Curtis Akins	LB	JR
Jim Thorpe Award^[7]	T. J. Carter	DB	SO
Bronko Nagurski Trophy^[8]	T. J. Carter	DB	SO
Outland Trophy^[9]	Trevon Tate	OL	SR
Paul Hornung Award^[10]	Tony Pollard	RB/KR	JR
Wuerffel Trophy^[11]	Patrick Taylor	RB	JR
Walter Camp Award^[12]	Darrell Henderson	RB	JR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award^[13]	Brady White	QB	JR
Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award^[14]	Patrick Taylor	RB	JR

AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Tigers predicted to win the AAC West Division.^[15]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (West)
1	Memphis	171 (23)
2	Houston	146 (4)
3	Navy	129 (3)
4	SMU	72
5	Tulane	68
6	Tulsa	44

Personnel

Depth chart

WLB	MLB	SLB
J. J. Russell	Cade Mashburn	Austin Hall
Tim Hart	Jaylon Allen	Thomas Pickens Nehemiah Augustus

SS
Tyrez Lindsey
Josh Perry

CB
T. J. Carter
Jacobi Francis

DE	DT	DT	DE
Carlito Gonzalez	Ross Anderson	Emmanuel Cooper	Jonathan Wilson
Chris Claybrooks	Noah Arrindell	Khalil Johnson	Joseph Dorceus

CB
Tito Windham
Tamaurice Smith Tim Gordon

Offense

"X" WR
John Williams
Kedarian Jones

"Z" WR
Sam Craft
Mechand Slade

LT	LG	C	RG	RT
Trevon Tate	Dylan Parham	Drew Kyser	Dustin Woodard	Roger Joseph
Obinna Eze	Manuel Orona-Lopez	Issac Ellis	Brytain Peddy Titus Jones	Scottie Dill

"Y" TE
Joey Magnifico
Sean Dykes Tyce Daniel

"S" WR
Damonte Coxie
Antonio Gibson Tre'Von Hamilton

QB
Brady White
Brady McBride Connor Adair

RB
Darrell Henderson
Patrick Taylor Tony Pollard

Special teams
PK Riley Patterson
PK Mike Kroeze
P Adam Williams
P Mike Kroeze
KR Tony Pollard Darrell Henderson
PR John Williams T. J. Carter
H Preston Brady

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	Mercer*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ESPN3	W 66–14	33,697
September 8	2:30 p.m.	at Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	L 21–22	31,762
September 14	7:00 p.m.	Georgia State*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ESPN	W 59–22	27,678
September 22	7:00 p.m.	South Alabama*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	WMC	W 52–35	27,765
September 28	7:00 p.m.	at Tulane	Yulman Stadium New Orleans, LA	ESPN2	L 24–40	16,631
October 6	6:00 p.m.	UConn	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	CBSSN	W 55–14	27,581
October 13	2:30 p.m.	No. 10 UCF	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ABC/ESPN2	L 30–31	38,831
October 20	3:00 p.m.	at Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	SECN	L 33–65	52,917
November 3	11:00 a.m.	at East Carolina	Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, NC	ESPNU	W 59–41	29,127
November 10	11:00 a.m.	Tulsa	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ESPNU	W 47–21	27,905
November 16	8:00 p.m.	at SMU	Gerald J. Ford Stadium Dallas, TX	ESPN2	W 28–18	15,794
November 23	11:00 a.m.	Houston	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ABC	W 52–31	27,790
December 1	2:30 p.m.	at No. 7 UCF	Spectrum Stadium Orlando, FL (The American Championship)	ABC	L 41–56	45,176
December 22	11:00 a.m.	vs. Wake Forest*	Legion Field Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl)	ESPN	L 34–37	25,717
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[16]

Game summaries

Mercer

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	14	14
Tigers	28	28	0	10	66

At Navy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	7	14	0	21
Midshipmen	3	6	0	13	22

Georgia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	3	7	6	6	22
Tigers	21	17	7	14	59

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	7	14	6	8	35
Tigers	7	14	10	21	52

At Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	7	0	7	10	24
Green Wave	14	3	7	16	40

UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	7	0	0	14
Tigers	13	28	7	7	55

UCF

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Knights	7	10	7	7	31
Tigers	17	13	0	0	30

At Missouri

	1	2	3	4	Total
MEM Tigers	3	17	7	6	33
MIZZU Tigers	21	27	14	3	65

At East Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	10	14	14	21	59
Pirates	14	3	17	7	41

Tulsa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Hurricane	0	0	14	7	21
Tigers	17	10	7	13	47

At SMU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	7	7	14	28
Mustangs	3	2	7	6	18

Houston

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cougars	7	14	10	0	31
Tigers	3	14	14	21	52

At UCF (AAC Championship game)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	24	14	3	0	41
No. 7 Knights	7	14	14	21	56

Vs. Wake Forest (Birmingham Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	14	14	0	6	34
Demon Deacons	7	17	6	7	37

Players drafted into the NFL

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
3	70	Darrell Henderson	RB	Los Angeles Rams
4	128	Tony Pollard	RB	Dallas Cowboys

References

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