# 2018 Memphis Tigers football team

The 2018 Memphis Tigers football team represented the University of Memphis in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee and competed in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Mike Norvell. They finished the season 8–6, 5–3 in AAC to finish in a three-way tie for the West Division championship. After tie-breakers, they represented the West Division in the AAC Championship Game where they lost to East Division champion UCF. They were invited to the Birmingham Bowl where they lost to Wake Forest.

## Preseason
### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Drew Kyser | C | SR |
| Chuck Bednarik Award | Curtis Akins | LB | SR |
| Maxwell Award | Darrell Henderson | RB | JR |
| Maxwell Award | Tony Pollard | RB | JR |
| Doak Walker Award | Darrell Henderson | RB | JR |
| John Mackey Award | Joey Magnifico | TE | JR |
| Butkus Award | Curtis Akins | LB | JR |
| Jim Thorpe Award | T. J. Carter | DB | SO |
| Bronko Nagurski Trophy | T. J. Carter | DB | SO |
| Outland Trophy | Trevon Tate | OL | SR |
| Paul Hornung Award | Tony Pollard | RB/KR | JR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Patrick Taylor | RB | JR |
| Walter Camp Award | Darrell Henderson | RB | JR |
| Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award | Brady White | QB | JR |
| Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award | Patrick Taylor | RB | JR |

### AAC media poll

The AAC media poll was released on July 24, 2018, with the Tigers predicted to win the AAC West Division.
Media poll (West) :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Memphis | 171 (23) |
| 2 | Houston | 146 (4) |
| 3 | Navy | 129 (3) |
| 4 | SMU | 72 |
| 5 | Tulane | 68 |
| 6 | Tulsa | 44 |

## Personnel
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* La'Andre Thomas
* Sanchez Blake Jr.
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| J. J. Russell | Cade Mashburn | Austin Hall |
| Tim Hart | Jaylon Allen | Thomas Pickens Nehemiah Augustus |
* SS
* Tyrez Lindsey
* Josh Perry
* CB
* T. J. Carter
* Jacobi Francis
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Carlito Gonzalez | Ross Anderson | Emmanuel Cooper | Jonathan Wilson |
| Chris Claybrooks | Noah Arrindell | Khalil Johnson | Joseph Dorceus |
* CB
* Tito Windham
* Tamaurice Smith Tim Gordon
Offense :
* "X" WR
* John Williams
* Kedarian Jones
* "Z" WR
* Sam Craft
* Mechand Slade
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Trevon Tate | Dylan Parham | Drew Kyser | Dustin Woodard | Roger Joseph |
| Obinna Eze | Manuel Orona-Lopez | Issac Ellis | Brytain Peddy Titus Jones | Scottie Dill |
* "Y" TE
* Joey Magnifico
* Sean Dykes Tyce Daniel
* "S" WR
* Damonte Coxie
* Antonio Gibson Tre'Von Hamilton
* QB
* Brady White
* Brady McBride Connor Adair
* RB
* Darrell Henderson
* Patrick Taylor
* Tony Pollard
* Special teams
* PK Riley Patterson
* PK Mike Kroeze
* P Adam Williams
* P Mike Kroeze
* KR Tony Pollard Darrell Henderson
* PR John Williams T. J. Carter
* H Preston Brady

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 p.m. | Mercer* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN3 Mike Watts, Tyoka Jackson | W 66–14 | 33,697 |
| September 8 | 2:30 p.m. | at Navy | Navy–Marine Corps Memorial StadiumAnnapolis, MD | CBSSN John Sadak, Randy Cross, Sheehan Stanwick Burch | L 21–22 | 31,762 |
| September 14 | 7:00 p.m. | Georgia State* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN Jason Benetti, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Harlan | W 59–22 | 27,678 |
| September 22 | 7:00 p.m. | South Alabama* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | WMC Pete Pranica, Greg Gaston | W 52–35 | 27,765 |
| September 28 | 7:00 p.m. | at Tulane | Yulman StadiumNew Orleans, LA | ESPN2 Dave LaMont, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Harlan | L 24–40 | 16,631 |
| October 6 | 6:00 p.m. | UConn | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | CBSSN Dave Ryan, Danny Kanell | W 55–14 | 27,581 |
| October 13 | 2:30 p.m. | No. 10 UCF | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ABC/ESPN2 Dave Lamont, Ray Bentley, Alex Chappell | L 30–31 | 38,831 |
| October 20 | 3:00 p.m. | at Missouri* | Faurot FieldColumbia, MO | SECN Mike Morgan, D.J. Shockley, Dawn Davenport | L 33–65 | 52,917 |
| November 3 | 11:00 a.m. | at East Carolina | Dowdy–Ficklen StadiumGreenville, NC | ESPNU Mike Corey, Rene Ingoglia | W 59–41 | 29,127 |
| November 10 | 11:00 a.m. | Tulsa | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPNU Shawn Kenney, Rene Ingoglia | W 47–21 | 27,905 |
| November 16 | 8:00 p.m. | at SMU | Gerald J. Ford StadiumDallas, TX | ESPN2 Anish Shroff, John Congemi, Roddy Jones | W 28–18 | 15,794 |
| November 23 | 11:00 a.m. | Houston | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ABC Beth Mowins, Anthony Becht, Rocky Boiman | W 52–31 | 27,790 |
| December 1 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 7 UCF | Spectrum StadiumOrlando, FL (The American Championship) | ESPNews/ABC Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams | L 41–56 | 45,176 |
| December 22 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. Wake Forest* | Legion FieldBirmingham, AL (Birmingham Bowl) | ESPN Dave Neal, D.J. Shockley, Dawn Davenport | L 34–37 | 25,717 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Game summaries
### Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Tigers | 28 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 66 |

### At Navy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |
| Midshipmen | 3 | 6 | 0 | 13 | 22 |

### Georgia State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Panthers | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 22 |
| Tigers | 21 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 59 |

### South Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jaguars | 7 | 14 | 6 | 8 | 35 |
| Tigers | 7 | 14 | 10 | 21 | 52 |

### At Tulane

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
| Green Wave | 14 | 3 | 7 | 16 | 40 |

### UConn

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Huskies | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Tigers | 13 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 55 |

### UCF

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Knights | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Tigers | 17 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 30 |

### At Missouri

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| MEM Tigers | 3 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 33 |
| MIZZU Tigers | 21 | 27 | 14 | 3 | 65 |

### At East Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 10 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 59 |
| Pirates | 14 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 41 |

### Tulsa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Golden Hurricane | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
| Tigers | 17 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 47 |

### At SMU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Mustangs | 3 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 18 |

### Houston

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cougars | 7 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 31 |
| Tigers | 3 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 52 |

### At UCF (AAC Championship game)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 24 | 14 | 3 | 0 | 41 |
| No. 7 Knights | 7 | 14 | 14 | 21 | 56 |

### Vs. Wake Forest (Birmingham Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Tigers | 14 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| Demon Deacons | 7 | 17 | 6 | 7 | 37 |

## Players drafted into the NFL

| Round | Pick | Player | Position | NFL Club |
| 3 | 70 | Darrell Henderson | RB | Los Angeles Rams |
| 4 | 128 | Tony Pollard | RB | Dallas Cowboys |