After a tough setback at the hands of UCF, the Memphis Tigers travel from Orlando to East Hartford, Connecticut to play UConn. This AAC matchup will start at Friday at 7:00 EST from Rentschler Field, with the game airing on ESPN.
Memphis built up a fair amount of energy through their early schedule, which included a win over UCLA. But they quickly stalled because of the Knights, and now they’ll have to lick their wounds on the road.
UConn is coming off their own road game, in which their defense succumbed to SMU’s firepower. Even so, the Huskies have shown subtle hints of offense, something they had none of last season. 66 points in the past two games is definitely an improvement, as they’ve compiled over 800 yards in that short span.
But Memphis has plenty of offense itself, even if it didn’t show in their 40-13 loss to UCF. They’ve scored 37 points or more in their other three games, and outpaced Josh Rosen and UCLA in a 48-45 offensive thriller. QB Riley Ferguson continues to be hit-or-miss, throwing for 321 yards last week, but also tossing three picks.
The Tigers are looking for a bounce back from the run game, with RB Darrell Henderson still averaging nearly nine yards per-carry. Memphis is expected to rebound, with the spread currently giving them 13 ½ points.
Don’t be too impressed by UConn’s offensive spark. They’ve still lost the spread in every one of their games this season, and scored those 66 points against two teams 102nd (SMU) and dead-last (ECU) in defense. Memphis is 125th, but has played stiffer competition and can easily lap the Huskies on the scoreboard.
Memphis has covered 12 of its last 13 road games against below-.500 teams, and averages 35.5 points-per-game even after the loss last Saturday. Henderson and fellow RB Patrick Taylor Jr. are good enough to take the load off Ferguson if he remains inconsistent. But expect him to have his best game against a team who’s given up the most passing yards per-game in the entire country.
It’s the first time in a while that the Huskies defense is a bigger concern than the offense. QB Bryant Shirreffs has spread the ball out terrifically, already having hit seven different receivers for over 100 yards. But it’s negated by the nonexistent run game they had last week, with only 8 yards on 36 carries. And to top it off, their defense has given up 128 points in its last three contests.
If something specific has hampered Memphis, it’s been their turnovers. They’ve had nine in total, four against UCF alone. But UConn doesn’t have much of a nose for the ball on the defensive side either. Luckily for the Tigers, their defense has also forced nine turnovers, helping snip high-yardage drives short.
Coach Randy Edsall may have the Huskies rolling on offense by this time next year. But for now, they won’t be able to keep up with the better AAC teams on the scoreboard. It showed against SMU, and the score here could be eerily similar.