The Memphis Tigers have been slowly going down a trail of inadequacy for the previous few years. They are a combined 2-22 against their league foes during the past 3 seasons and have been a time-honoured patsy in that time. They completed their 2011 season with just a 2-10 record with their only victory inside C-USA coming on the road against Tulane. They were so terrible last season that they were outgained by a median of 230 yards/game.
Coach Larry Porter was mercifully fired after an abysmal 3-21 record in his 2 years at Memphis. 35-year-old Justin Fuente was employed as the replacement and he'll come in with new schemes on each side of the ball. He does have some players to work with as Memphis has 14 starters coming back. Too bad they have dug themselves quite a hole that it'll be hard for them to be competitive in most contests.
Offense:
Both beginning quarterback Taylor Reed and backup Andy Summerlin have moved to different colleges. It is inconsequential though as they have already got their starter in Texas Tech transfer Jacob Karam. Karam's potential to get the offense on track is what's making Memphis totally tickled. Memphis produced a measly 14.4 points and 16.3 points in the two years under Porter.
Notwithstanding losing top ball carrier Billy Foster, the Tigers could basically see improvement in the running game. Artaves Gibson showed some potential last season and he'll share the load with previous North Carolina recruit Jerrell Rhodes.
The Tigers lose Tanner Rehrer, but the loss may not be as massive a blow as formerly thought, especially if Karam lives up to his hype. Memphis really has some accomplished pieces coming back in sophomores Kevin Wright and Keiwone Malone. They've also got seniors Marcus Rucker and Curtis Johnson returning also.
They have to get more numbers out of their offensive line, otherwise their offense will continue to be at a stop. The Tigers were able to post a bad 84 running yards a contest and 2.7 yards/carry. To make the situation worse, those stats are against teams that don't even play a heap of defense. This group should be miles better than they were last year as they get back five guys with starting experience, and will add Georgia Tech transfer Antonio Fisher.
Defense:
The Tigers permitted just over 36.0 ppg and gave up virtually 500 yards of total offense on average in 2011. Defense has continued to be a weakness for Memphis for a bit now, and things are looking bleak on this side of the ball for the near future. While they get back 7 starters, they lose their star in defensive tackle Dontario Poe.
Memphis will be making the switch to a 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Barry Odom, which will help ease the holes up front. Not only do the Tigers have to replace Poe, but they also lose 3rd Team All-C-USA defensive end Frank Skid and 3 of their primary subs. The only starter back is junior defensive tackle Johnnie Farms, but he will probably be the backup nose tackle behind sophomore Terry Redden.
With the exit of Poe already hurting this group, the Tigers also lose the top tackler Terrance Thomas at linebacker. On the brighter side though, they have 5 of their top 6 linebackers coming back, including starters Kenyata Johnson and Akeem Davis.
The Tigers are prepared to get better after the awful showing they'd in 2011. At least they have some talent to work with this year. They get all four starters returning and have six players who have started 46 times.
Conference USA Prediction - Sixth in the East
The Tigers will be lots more competitive than they used to be a year ago. But that's not saying so much as they were absolutely horrendous last year. They will continue to be in the basement of the East, but they have the opportunity to transcend the league win total they'd last year. They have two winnable conference games against Tulane and Rice, but nothing is a lock. They'll be a team to check out against the spread, but otherwise this team will have a tough time topping the 3 victories they're projected to win in 2012.
Coach Larry Porter was mercifully fired after an abysmal 3-21 record in his 2 years at Memphis. 35-year-old Justin Fuente was employed as the replacement and he'll come in with new schemes on each side of the ball. He does have some players to work with as Memphis has 14 starters coming back. Too bad they have dug themselves quite a hole that it'll be hard for them to be competitive in most contests.
Offense:
Both beginning quarterback Taylor Reed and backup Andy Summerlin have moved to different colleges. It is inconsequential though as they have already got their starter in Texas Tech transfer Jacob Karam. Karam's potential to get the offense on track is what's making Memphis totally tickled. Memphis produced a measly 14.4 points and 16.3 points in the two years under Porter.
Notwithstanding losing top ball carrier Billy Foster, the Tigers could basically see improvement in the running game. Artaves Gibson showed some potential last season and he'll share the load with previous North Carolina recruit Jerrell Rhodes.
The Tigers lose Tanner Rehrer, but the loss may not be as massive a blow as formerly thought, especially if Karam lives up to his hype. Memphis really has some accomplished pieces coming back in sophomores Kevin Wright and Keiwone Malone. They've also got seniors Marcus Rucker and Curtis Johnson returning also.
They have to get more numbers out of their offensive line, otherwise their offense will continue to be at a stop. The Tigers were able to post a bad 84 running yards a contest and 2.7 yards/carry. To make the situation worse, those stats are against teams that don't even play a heap of defense. This group should be miles better than they were last year as they get back five guys with starting experience, and will add Georgia Tech transfer Antonio Fisher.
Defense:
The Tigers permitted just over 36.0 ppg and gave up virtually 500 yards of total offense on average in 2011. Defense has continued to be a weakness for Memphis for a bit now, and things are looking bleak on this side of the ball for the near future. While they get back 7 starters, they lose their star in defensive tackle Dontario Poe.
Memphis will be making the switch to a 3-4 scheme under new defensive coordinator Barry Odom, which will help ease the holes up front. Not only do the Tigers have to replace Poe, but they also lose 3rd Team All-C-USA defensive end Frank Skid and 3 of their primary subs. The only starter back is junior defensive tackle Johnnie Farms, but he will probably be the backup nose tackle behind sophomore Terry Redden.
With the exit of Poe already hurting this group, the Tigers also lose the top tackler Terrance Thomas at linebacker. On the brighter side though, they have 5 of their top 6 linebackers coming back, including starters Kenyata Johnson and Akeem Davis.
The Tigers are prepared to get better after the awful showing they'd in 2011. At least they have some talent to work with this year. They get all four starters returning and have six players who have started 46 times.
Conference USA Prediction - Sixth in the East
The Tigers will be lots more competitive than they used to be a year ago. But that's not saying so much as they were absolutely horrendous last year. They will continue to be in the basement of the East, but they have the opportunity to transcend the league win total they'd last year. They have two winnable conference games against Tulane and Rice, but nothing is a lock. They'll be a team to check out against the spread, but otherwise this team will have a tough time topping the 3 victories they're projected to win in 2012.