Nov. 6, 2009
MEMPHIS, TENN. -
The University of Memphis football team will travel east to Knoxville this weekend for an in-state game versus the Tennessee Vols on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET, and the game will be carried by ESPNU. Eric Collins and Brock Huard will be handling the duties in the booth for the national network.
The non-conference meeting is the first of three road games for the Tigers in the month of November. A week after facing the Vols, Memphis will play its final game at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium versus UAB on Nov. 14. The squad closes out the schedule at Houston (Nov. 21) and at Tulsa (Nov. 27). All four of the final games are being televised. CSS is carrying the UAB and Houston games, both at 12 p.m., and CBS College Sports Network has the Friday afternoon Tulsa game slated for a 2:30 p.m. kick.
Saturday’s game is the 22nd overall meeting between the two schools on the gridiron. The Tigers’ lone victory in the series came in 1996 when they upset the Volunteers 21-17 at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. The last time the Tigers and Volunteers met was in the 2006 campaign, with Tennessee posting a 41-7 victory over Memphis at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
In Saturday’s game, the state of Tennessee will be well represented on the playing field when Memphis meets Tennessee. A combined 85 players (37 Memphis, 48 Tennessee) from the state are listed on the team’s two rosters. Tiger punter/kicker Matt Reagan will be making a trip home to Knoxville this weekend. Reagan prepped at Bearden High, and was the third kicker from BHS to earn a Division I scholarship. The other two were Vols Dustin and Britton Colquitt.
The Vols have nine players on their roster from the Memphis area (includes Germantown, Collierville and Cordova).
Senior offensive lineman Malcom Rawls redshirted at UT during the 2005 season before transferring to Memphis. He is a former prep (East High) and UT teammate of Vols defensive tackle Dan Williams. Williams also redshirted in 2005. Rawls has played in 29 career games on the Tiger offensive line.
Steele Moves Up In Tiger Top 10
Curtis Steele entered the Tiger Top 10 in career rushing following the Southern Miss game, and with his 76 yards a week later against East Carolina, Steele totals 1,819 yards. He moved up another spot to No. 9, ahead of Jeff Womack (1982-86), and needs 106 yards to jump ahead of Wayne Pryor (1986-89), who sits at No. 8 with 1,924 yards.
Calhoun & Singleton Top Receivers in Memphis History
Following the East Carolina game, Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton officially became the top two receivers all-time at the U of M. The only category that had the two separated heading into the ECU game was receptions as Singleton was third behind Damien Dodson. With his nine catches versus the Pirates, Singleton jumped Dodson for the No. 2 spot.
Calhoun holds the top spot in receptions (194), yardage (2,822) and 100-yard games (10), while Singleton holds the record in TD receptions (22).
Recent Close Calls
In-state rivalries usually bring out the best in both teams, so it’s no surprise that recent battles in the Memphis-Tennessee match-up have been close. Of the nine meetings since 1991, six have been decided by 11 or fewer points. To take it further, five of those six contests were decided by single digits. The average margin of victory in the last nine games is 12.2 points (110 total points).
Back To Normal
After playing an “un-series-like” September game in the 2006 season, the Memphis-Tennessee encounter returns to its regularly-scheduled time of the season in November this year. Of the 21 previous encounters, 14 were played in the month of November. In fact, seven of the last 10 meetings were held in November. The last time Memphis and Tennessee played in the month of November was the 2005 season, and the Volunteers squeaked out a 20-16 victory in Knoxville.
The other years the Memphis-Tennessee game did not take place in November were 2006, 1999, 1988, 1981, 1972, 1969 and 1968.
Tiger Streak Third Nationally
Duke Calhoun recorded 91 yards on nine receptions against East Carolina and advanced his receiving streak to 45 games. He remains ranked third nationally in active receiving streaks. Calhoun has caught a pass in each of his 45 games in a Tiger uniform. He leads the receiving corps this season with 50 catches for 764 yards, while also holding the school record with 10 career 100-yard games.
Below is a listing of the top 10 active streaks:
49 - Bryan Anderson (C. Michigan)
46 - Naaman Roosevelt (Buffalo)
45 - Duke Calhoun (Memphis)
38 - Dennis Pitta (BYU)
36 - Brandon LaFell (LSU)
36 - Antonio Brown (Central Michigan)
34 - Eric Decker (Minnesota)
34 - Toren Dixon (Rice)
33 - Scotty McNight (Colorado)
32 - Jeff Moturi (UTEP)
Tiger Receiving Duo Third Nationally In Scoring Threat
How tough of a threat are Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton together? Well, heading into the Tennessee game, they rank third as the most prolific scoring threat in the nation by way of the air attack, boasting a combined 41 receiving TDs. They are behind the Central Michigan duo of Bryan Anderson and Antonio Brown, and Kansas’ Dezmon Briscoe and Kerry Meier, who claim a total of 43 TDs. In addition, of the top five threats, three are from C-USA schools. Below is a listing of the receiving duos nationally that have scored 35 or more touchdowns combined, according to the survey compiled by UTEP SID Jeff Darby:
43 - C. Michigan (B. Anderson 23, A. Brown 20)
43 - Kansas (D. Briscoe 27, K. Meier 16)
41 - Memphis (Singleton 22, Calhoun 19)
39 - UTEP (Jeff Moturi 24, Kris Adams 15)
38 - Tulsa (Charles Clay 16, Trae Johnson 22)
For the complete Memphis Football release, please go to:
http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/mem/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/weekly-release.pdf
