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TIGER FOOTBALL

How the Memphis Tigers beat Southern Illinois, 44-31

Memphis Commercial Appeal
University of Memphis tight end Joey Magnifico (left) grabs  a touchdown pass while defended by Southern Illinois University safety Ryan Neal (right) during second quarter action at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Saturday, September 23, 2017.

It turned out to be a lot tougher than anybody figured, but Memphis gutted out a 44-31 win over FCS foe Southern Illinois Saturday night at the Liberty Bowl.

If not for a SIU interception that set up a quick scoring drive in the first half, Tony Pollard’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the third quarter and a fortuitous facemask penalty on the Tigers’ final possession, Memphis could have easily been the victim of a stunning upset one week after beating UCLA.

Then again, the Tigers also showed the moxie to make crucial plays with the Salukis threatening and the offense still managed to rack up more than 460 yards on an off day by their standards.

Memphis moves to 3-0 on the season and will start AAC play next week in Orlando against Central Florida in a battle of undefeated teams.

Below, you’ll find our live blog from Saturday’s back-and-forth affair with Southern Illinois. Be sure to check commercialappeal.com for more analysis of what happened on the field and what it means going forward.

10:30 p.m. The Tigers win and it was one for the school record books.

 

10:22 p.m. Tailback Patrick Taylor scores on a six-yard touchdown run and it looks like Memphis is going to escape with a closer-than-expected victory. The Tigers lead Southern Illinois, 44-31, with 1:21 to go.

10:18 p.m. Boy oh boy did Memphis catch a break. Just when it looked the Tigers were stopped on third-and-four with 2:35 to go, Southern Illinois gets flagged for a facemask and Memphis picks up a huge first down. 

The Tigers are trying to run the clock out now with a 37-31 lead. If not for the penalty, the Salukis would have likely gotten the ball back with a chance to take the lead. 

10:05 p.m. Southern Illinois just won't go away, folks. The Salukis just ripped off a 13-play, 65-yard touchdown drive to cut the Memphis lead to 37-31 with 4:51 to go.

Southern Illinois now has four scoring drives of at least nine plays, including three that were 13 or more plays. 

9:53 p.m. Memphis is finally giving itself some cushion against Southern Illinois. 

Once the Tigers' defense followed up Pollard's big kick return with a three-and-out, the Memphis offense churned out its longest drive of the game (in terms of time of possession) and Spencer Smith kicked a 32-yard field goal.

The Tigers lead Southern Illinois 37-24 with 10:31 to go.

9:43 p.m. Tonight's attendance at the Liberty Bowl: 41,584

9:39 p.m. Memphis heads to the fourth quarter with a 34-24 lead over Southern Illinois. We'll leave you with this, for now:

9:36 p.m. Tony Pollard does it again. A 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. That's his second one this year and fourth for his career.

The Memphis lead over Southern Illinois grows to 34-24 in a flash.

9:34 p.m. Memphis is in another barnburner here at the Liberty Bowl. 

The Salukis just kept churning out first downs during a 16-play, 60-yard drive that ended with a 32-yard field goal. The highlights were two fourth-down conversions on quarterback keepers by Sam Straub.

I figured Memphis would face tougher teams than UCLA this year. But I never would have assumed one of them might be Southern Illinois. The Tigers aren't playing great, but the Salukis are pretty good, too.

Memphis is nursing a 27-24 lead on Southern Illinois with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

9:15 p.m. Kicker Riley Patterson comes on and connects on a 30-yard field goal to give Memphis a 27-21 lead over Southern Illinous with 9:08 to go in the third quarter.

QB Riley Ferguson is really starting to spread the ball around on offense, hitting nine different receivers thus far. John "Pop" Williams has two catches after snagging just one in the first two games. Redshirt freshman Damonte Coxie has also hauled in the first two catches of his career tonight.

9:02 p.m. Memphis needed two big plays and 1:13 of action to regain the lead to kick-start the second half.

After a discouraging post-whistle penalty on center Drew Kyser the snap before, Riley Ferguson stepped up into the pocket and fired a 55-yard catch-and-run to John "Pop" Williams. Then tailback Darrell Henderson stormed into the end zone from 14 yards out.

Memphis leads Southern Illinois, 24-21, early in the third quarter.

8:47 p.m. Some halftime stats for ya ...

Total yards: SIU 242, Memphis 200
Rushing yards: SIU 69, Memphis 42
Time of possession: SIU 18:05, Memphis 11:55

8:37 p.m. An uninspiring first half of Memphis football comes to an end with Southern Illinois up 21-17 on the scoreboard. And quite frankly, it's not really a fluke. The Salukis are playing well and the Tigers have looked listless for the most part.

The guess here is Mike Norvell isn't going to have many nice things to say to his team in the halftime locker room.  

8:31 p.m. Southern Illinois isn't going away, folks.

The Salukis just went 65 yards in 55 seconds and Darrell James scored a touchdown on a 33-yard pass off a missed tackle.

Southern Illinois leads Memphis, 21-17, with 36 seconds left before halftime. This is the definition of a hangover.

8:27 p.m. Spencer Smith connects on a 35-yard field goal and Memphis takes its first lead of the game over Southern Illinois, 17-14. The Salukis will get the ball back with 1:31 left in the second quarter  

8:24 p.m. Good news tweet

Bad news tweet

Memphis is driving inside the SIU 20-yard-line after converting a fourth-and-one.

8:17 p.m. After getting gashed by Southern Illinois in the first quarter, the Tigers' defense has forced three-consecutive three-and-outs while allowing nine total yards in the second quarter.

QB Riley Ferguson and Anthony Miller just missed connecting on a surefire 70+ yard touchdown pass. Ball bounced off Miller's hands as he streaked alone down the sideline on a long bomb. Still tied at 14 with lees than five minutes to go before halftime.

8:08 p.m. The Memphis defense seems to have found its bearings after forcing another three-and-out. The Tigers could really grab hold of this game's momentum with another long scoring drive. Memphis has the ball at its own 13-yard-line to start.

8:03 p.m. Want to know more about tight end Joey Magnifico now that he's an integral part of the Memphis offensive attack? CA columnist Geoff Calkins wrote about him this week.

More:Memphis tight end Joey Magnifico is living up to his name

8:01 p.m. The Memphis offense is alive and well.

First, wide receiver John 'Pop' Williams Ferguson walked the tightrope along the sideline, somehow getting one foot (or toes?) down on a leaping 19-yard catch to convert one third down.

Then, QB Riley Ferguson completed 26-yard pass on the run to convert a third-and-16 and put the Tigers inside the red zone.

Finally, Ferguson perfectly placed a nine-yard touchdown pass so only tight end Joey Magnifico could grab it. That capped a 10-play, 71-yard drive. 

Memphis and Southern Illinois are tied at 14 with 9:53 left in the second quarter.

7:48 p.m. Good news: The Memphis defense just forced its first three-and-out and first Southern Illinois punt of the game.

Bad news: Safety Shaun Rupert wasn't on the field during that series, replaced by redshirt freshman Tyrez Lindsey

7:46 p.m. The stats aren't pretty for Memphis so far.

Southern Illinois is out-gaining the Tigers 167-27. The Salukis are also dominating time of possession after holding the ball for nearly 12 minutes in the first quarter.

Memphis QB Riley Ferguson is 1 for 5 for one yard, with his only completion being that touchdown pass to Anthony Miller.

7:43 p.m. Another three-and-out for the Memphis offense to close the first quarter. 

Southern Illinois will have the ball and a 14-7 lead when action resumes.

7:38 p.m. Southern Illinois is not messing around tonight. The Salukis just methodically dissected the Tigers' defense on a 15-play touchdown drive to take a 14-7 lead.

Memphis finally got a third-down stop against Southern Illinois, which began the game by converting its first four. But then the Salukis went for it on fourth-and-four and quarterback Sam Straub found receiver Raphael Leonard for a seven-yard gain inside the Tigers' 30-yard line.

Leonard then caught another 12-yard reception on an ensuing third-and-four before Straub found Darrell James for a seven-yard strike in the end zone.

Meanwhile, Memphis safety Shaun Rupert followed up his interception on the previous drive with a couple bone-crunching hits. Alas, Rupert hobbled off the field after the touchdowns pass.

Southern Illinois does not seem intimidated at all, and Memphis might be without another defensive starter. 

7:23 p.m. Safety Shaun Rupert gives Memphis just the boost it needed.

Rupert, playing center field coverage, intercepted a terrible pass by Southern Illinois QB Sam Straub over the top of the defense and returned it to the SIU 14-yard line.

Three plays later, the Tigers punched the turnover in for a touchdown when RIley Ferguson fires a one-yard pass to Anthony Miller in the end zone. 

Memphis and SIU and tied at 7 with 8:10 to go in the first quarter.

7:18 p.m. The Memphis offense goes three-and-out on its first possession. Keep in mind, Coach Mike Norvell was thrilled with how the Tigers were practicing earlier this week. This slow start could very well be a hangover effect from that UCLA game.

7:14 p.m. Well now, not the start Memphis was looking for.

Southern Illinois goes right down the field on the Memphis defense, capping off a nine-play, 78-yard drive with a 36-yard touchdown pass (that was more like a jump ball into the end zone) to Connor Iwema.

The Salukis jump out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Tigers better wake up quick.

7:05 p.m. Southern Illinois won the toss and elected to receive. The Memphis defense will on the field to start this one off.

6:33 p.m. Regardless of tonight's outcome, Memphis will be facing an undefeated team on the road next week to open up AAC play. Central Florida beat Maryland, 38-10, earlier today to improve to 2-0 for the season.

6:28 p.m. Some news from Tom Schad:

6:24 p.m. Memphis and Southern Illinois are out on the field for pregame warm ups. Here's some pregame reading:

Tom Schad on an unlikely hero from last week: redshirt freshman LB Tim Hart

Tom Schad on QB Riley Ferguson and how he's handling the spotlight coming off that big UCLA win.

Here are three keys for tonight's matchup

6:15 p.m. Here's all the game info 

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central Time.

TV: The game will be shown on WMC-TV (Channel 5).

ON THE CALL: Jeff Brightwell (play-by-play), Greg Gaston (analyst)

RADIO: 600 WREC AM or Rock 103 FM (Memphis); WJAK-AM 1460 or WJAK-FM 96.1 (Jackson); WNQM-AM 1300 (Nashville); Online at GoTigersGo.com/Listen

STREAMING: WatchESPN.com