Analysis: Tigers' comeback over Temple a tone-setter

A few thoughts, observations and takeaways from the University of Memphis’ 34-27 come-from-behind victory over Temple Thursday night…

-- Make no mistake: This was a huge, huge win for the Tigers. It was the sort of confidence-building, tone-setting victory that can propel them through the early portion of conference play. Coming out with the win was huge because it ensures that -- with straightforward victories over Tulane and Tulsa -- the Tigers will be bowl-eligible by the end of the month. And the way in which they won was equally important. They managed to win a game that, for at least 42 minutes, they had absolutely no business winning. And that says a lot, I think, about the resolve of this group.

-- The headlines were about Tony Pollard’s 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and Doroland Dorceus’ 71-yard score to spark the offense, and Chauncey Lanier’s game-sealing interception in the final minute. And all of those were pivotal plays, no doubt. But Memphis, in my opinion, won last night because of what the defense did in the first half. The Owls had the ball for 20:15 and only reached the end zone once. Twice, they had to settle for field goals in the red zone, including on a drive that started at the Memphis 6-yard line. And they only went 1 for 8 on third downs. “They were put in some really, really tough situations and they responded,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell said. “Down in the red zone, to be able to hold them to a couple early field goals really allowed us to, even though we weren’t clicking offensively early in the first half, it allowed us to stay in the game.”

-- The stamina of Memphis’ defense also deserves a big shoutout. For the second game in a row, the Tigers had to defend exactly 88 plays. That’s not easy. “That’s back to back weeks you play that many plays, and we did it in five days,” Norvell said. “I guarantee you we’ve got some sore bodies in there, and two physical football teams. But I thought we showed some heart tonight.”

-- Norvell said he thought the defining play for Memphis was Pollard’s kickoff return. I think it was Dorceus’ 71-yard touchdown run. The Tigers had only 36 rushing yards on 20 carries up to that point. Dorceus breathed some life into a struggling offense -- and a mighty quiet stadium. “It gave us the energy that we needed to get through the game, to push through,” Pollard said.

-- On that run, and the 14-yarder before it, Dorceus ran behind the left side of the line, featuring Trevon Tate and Dustin Woodard. Those two have not gotten nearly enough credit this season. Tate has stepped into the extremely large shoes of three-year starter Taylor Fallin, and not missed a beat. Woodard has come in as a true freshman and already won the starting job. Kudos to both.

-- With all of that said: The offensive line remains the most glaring concern on this team. Yes, Ole Miss and Temple both have extremely talented defensive fronts, but that doesn’t absolve the Tigers’ line of blame. Temple was routinely generating a pass rush with only three down linemen. If you can’t block three guys with five guys, you’re in trouble as an offense. And that’s what we saw. The Tigers couldn’t establish the run, and they couldn’t take shots downfield because either Riley Ferguson didn’t have enough time, or Temple could drop so many players back in coverage that it made it difficult to find a potential target.

-- Kudos to Memphis for cutting down the penalties. Only three for 25 yards. The Owls, meanwhile, were constantly shooting themselves in the foot with fouls. The roughing the kicker call on Nick Jacobs late in the fourth quarter was absolutely pivotal.

-- Speaking of Jacobs: That was a quietly huge play he made by collecting the low snap and getting the kick off. “That’s the second time he’s had a situation where the potential of an extremely bad play, and he’s controlled it,” Norvell said. Both times, when faced with low snaps, Jacobs has been smart with the ball and prevented a mistake from becoming a colossal mistake.

-- There were some light boos at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium at the end of the first half, when Norvell elected to kick a field goal from the 2-yard line rather than go for the score. “We thought about it,” Norvell said, when asked about that decision. “We had deferred to start the game. I knew that there would be a little bit of a challenge. I wanted to make sure that, no matter what happened in the first half, that we’re getting the ball to begin the second half. Let’s go in, get points on the board, go in and make the adjustments.”

-- I recently heard that freshman defensive lineman Jonathan Wilson watches incredible amounts of film, and you can see the payoff in games. Last night, his sack of Temple quarterback Phillip Walker was the preface to Genard Avery’s pick-six. The Memphis coaching staff was incredibly excited to snatch Wilson, who was a late academic qualifier, away from Tulane during fall camp. And through the first five games of the season, it’s easy to see why.

-- I’m not sure why Memphis split up the carries like it did. Sam Craft got the bulk of the work in the first half, Dorceus and Darrell Henderson came on in the second and Patrick Taylor Jr. didn’t get a single carry. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers divide up that workload -- and continue to involve Anthony Miller in the running game, too -- in the weeks to come.

-- Big-time play from Chauncey Lanier there at the end of the fourth quarter. Lanier started in place of the injured Dontrell Nelson. And, when Arthur Maulet left the game for a stretch because of injury, Lanier suddenly became the most experienced cornerback on the team. He stepped up in a big way there with 18 seconds remaining and had a solid performance all-around, finishing with five tackles.

-- The Tigers faced their first true test of the season and passed. Now, an eight-win season is very much within reach -- and nine or 10 wins is still feasible. Navy and USF remain tossup games, in my opinion, and the regular-season finale against Houston will be a significant challenge. But the Tigers are now in position to have a good season, as opposed to an OK season. To follow through, though, they’ll have to win games that they should win on paper. Next week’s meeting with Tulane is one such game.

Memphis vs. Tulane

When, where: 7 p.m. Oct. 14, Yulman Stadium, New Orleans

TV, radio: ESPNU; WREC-AM 600, WEGR-FM 102.9