Dec. 21, 2007

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NEW ORLEANS -- The Tiger Football team closed out the season at 7-6 with a 44-27 loss to the Florida Atlantic Owls in the 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome Friday evening.

The loss snapped Memphis' three-game winning streak and drops Memphis to 4-2 all-time in bowl appearances. The only other loss was against Bowling Green in the 2004 GMAC Bowl.

Memphis lost several key players in the game including kicker Matt Reagan (concussion), receiver Maurice Jones (hip), running back T.J. Pitts (ankle) and quarterback Martin Hankins (knee).

Hankins left the game with nearly a minute remaining in the third quarter after taking a hit following a pass attempt. Hankins ended with 281 yards and three touchdowns on 25 of 39 passing. Will Hudgens came in for Hankins and completed one of five pass attempts for zero yardage. Matt Malouf also had two pass attempts.

"I'm disappointed that we didn't do the things we needed to do to win," said head coach Tommy West. "We knew we were going to have to win it with special teams. We knew both offenses were talented, and we knew both offenses would score points. We felt we could win the game by playing special teams and giving ourselves the shorter field and them the longer field. We did just the opposite. They won in kickoff return and kickoff coverage; they won both of them."

"We gave them field position, and then the blocked punt was the turning point I thought in the game," added West. "When the punt was blocked, that kind of took the air out of us. And then we lost our quarterback. We just kind of went down hill from there."

Joseph Doss led the Tigers' ground effort with 91 yards on 20 carries. He had a long of 16 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. Hankins gained 12 yards on two carries and Malouf tallied 11 yards on two carries.

Ten different Tigers caught passes in tonight's game with Doss hauling in a team-high five receptions for 42 yards. Carlos Singleton extended his receiving streak to 21 games and had a team-high 63 yards and one touchdown on four receptions. He scored off a six-yard pass from Hankins in the third quarter. Brett Russell turned in a season-high 45 receiving yards on four receptions and scored Memphis' first touchdown of the game off an eight-yard strike from Hankins with 9:20 remaining in the first quarter.

Sophomore Duke Calhoun has now caught a pass in each of his 24 games played for the Tigers. He had four catches for 40 yards and the 24-game streak ties for third all-time in the Memphis record book. He is tied with Darron White (2001-04). The Memphis school record is 27 games by Russell Copeland (1989-92). Also logging multiple catches were Earnest Williams (3-37) and Carlton Robinzine (2-25). Williams scored Memphis' other receiving touchdown when he pulled in a 19-yard toss from Hankins with under a minute remaining in the first half to cut the Memphis deficit to 10 points (30-20) heading into the break.

Senior kicker Joey Mack scored a career-high eight points in replacing Reagan who left the game with a concussion. Mack hit a 38-yard field goal with 12:12 remaining in the second quarter, marking only his second attempt of the year and the first make of the season. Mack's 38 yarder tied the season high for the Tigers. Mack later hit a 35-yard attempt in the second quarter.

"I thought our guys fought pretty hard and gave us a chance," said West. "I thought the touchdown right before the half was big to get us back into it and then we had the ball first coming out and made it 30-27. Then we had the next kickoff, and we didn't get it out to but the 10 yard line and the next one we had penalties. We didn't do what we needed to win. We had to play defense and we had to play special teams, and we didn't do either."

"We're disappointed in losing the game, but I'm not going to let a loss in a bowl take away from what our senior class has done," West stated. "Our seniors have taken our program to a place it's never been. We're awful proud of that. We're awful proud of what they have accomplished. I take my hat off to Florida Atlantic. They did a great job. To be honest, they deserved to win the game. But we're proud of where we are right now. I can't wait to get back out there and start working towards next year."