MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - With the American Athletic Conference Western Division trophy in hand, the No. 17 Memphis Tigers still have some goals to achieve in their regular season finale.
There’s a chance at reaching 10 wins in a season for only the second time in the program’s history and first in the regular season. A win also would mean Memphis’ first undefeated season at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium by going 7-0, which has been the Tigers’ home field since 1965.
To accomplish that, the Tigers (9-1, 6-1 AAC, No. 20 CFP ) need to forget last week’s division-clinching win - and accompanying celebration over SMU - and concentrate only on the East Carolina on Saturday. No peeking at the league championship Dec. 2 either.
“For us to accomplish all of the things that we need to do, we have to get better,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “We’ve got to continue to progress and prepare at the highest level here this week, and we’ve got to come out and play our best game Saturday.”
The Tigers have used an explosive offense to reach this point of the season with quarterback Riley Ferguson and wideout Anthony Miller as the centerpiece. Memphis averages almost 45 points a game, while amassing 329.6 yards a game through the air. The Tigers beat SMU 66-45 to spark the big celebration.
For East Carolina (3-8, 2-5), recent weeks have provided glimpses of promise for the future. Last week, the Pirates defeated Cincinnati 48- 20 for their highest-scoring performance of the season. A week earlier, they went to overtime before losing to Tulane 31-24.
“This is a good chance for us,” Pirates coach Scottie Montgomery said. “I think we are climbing in our conference now with the people we are playing against. I can see our level of play catching up and getting to the level of some of our other conference opponents.”
But Montgomery also recognizes Memphis is a different challenge.
“It’s good that we have this test at the end of the year,” Montgomery said.
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Some other things to know as East Carolina visits Memphis:
BALANCE: The Tigers’ passing game has carried them much of the season, and Ferguson and Miller has combined for 13 TD passes. Against SMU, Memphis showed a more balanced attack with 331 yards through the air and 333 yards on the ground. Darrell Henderson churned out 147 of those yards, the bulk on TD runs of 52 and 70 yards.
NOSE FOR THE END ZONE: In addition to Henderson, running back Patrick Taylor also reached 100 yards with 112 yards. Like Henderson, Taylor scored twice against SMU, giving him 10 rushing touchdowns for the season.
TOSSING TANDEM: While Ferguson leads the American in passing with an average of 320 yards, East Carolina is third in passing using the tag team of Gardner Minshew and Thomas Sirk. Minshew averages 198.8 yards a game, while Sirk adds another 165.5 yards.
CALLING ON THE YOUTH: Montgomery realizes the season finale will be the last time East Carolina’s seniors play together, but he also has an eye on the future. “We are going to do some different things in practice to get some of our younger players involved,” he said.
LAST WORD: “The Liberty Bowl is a special place. It is a landmark in this city, and I can tell you, our guys know the importance of what it represents for this community in that stadium. . So to be able to go and accomplish that goal that we set out to at the beginning of this year, we want to defend our home turf.” - Norvell on trying to go undefeated at home.
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