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TIGERS FOOTBALL NEWS |
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Memphis Tigers Football
News
9-9-06
POST-GAME NOTES AND
QUOTES
Memphis Head Coach Tommy
West
"I thought that was a good game for us. It was hard,
and they are never easy. None of them are easy.
All you have to do is look around the country right
now. Winning is hard because of the parity. We had
to work like crazy to get this win. I never thought
our offense got in a good rhythm tonight. When you
throw the ball like we do and your quarterback is
a little bit off (it's hard to get in that rhythm).
I thought Martin Hankins was a shade out of rhythm
and could not get it going."
"Chattanooga's defense did a good job early of containing
our running game, and we had to throw it. We hit
some big plays on them because of that. There were
a lot of positives tonight. We had some big plays,
and our defense played better. Our special teams
played better (coverage and returns played better).
I thought we improved the things that had been bad
the week before, and we still have a lot of improvement
to do."
"Our kicking game has to improve. We have to make
the field goals we are supposed to make and kick
the ball in the end zone. We have to make our plays."
"It was one of those games where we had trouble
getting in sync, but Chattanooga had a lot of people
in the box. We thought the play action game would
get them, and it did."
"We played a four-man front on defense tonight,
and I thought we played it pretty good, but what
helped us the most is we were embarrassed of the
way we played defense last week. We had a better
attitude of playing defense. We spent a lot more
energy this week."
"Joseph Doss is fine and should play next week.
He was about 90 percent, but I held him out the
second half."
UT Chattanooga Head Coach Rodney Allison
"I thought we played pretty good on defense against
the run. I told our defense all week, make them
beat us on the pass. That's what they did. We made
some mistakes back there, but our kids fought. We
had some opportunities early to make it a game in
the second half. We didn't do it. We had too many
penalties. I thought our defense did alright though."
"The speed of their people is just different than
what we see. We probably didn't do a good job of
adjusting to that. We lost this game coaching and
playing. That's what I told our players, and that's
what I believe. If the kid was out of position and
busted a coverage, that's our fault. We got to do
a better job; everybody in our program."
"At 19-7, our kids still felt good. There's a spirit
on this team."
MEMPHIS GAME NOTES
· Freshman T.J. Pitts registered his first career
kickoff return in the first quarter. He totaled
35 yards on the return. Pitts finished the game
with two returns for 62 yards.
· Senior receiver Mario Pratcher tossed his first
career touchdown pass to quarterback Martin Hankins
in the first quarter. It was Pratcher's first-ever
pass completion. This is the second consecutive
week that a Memphis receiver has thrown a touchdown
pass. Last week against Ole Miss, Dave Thomas found
Carlos Singleton in the end zone.
· Following the touchdown in the first quarter,
sophomore kicker Trey Adams missed the PAT. It was
the first missed attempt for the Tigers since 2004
against Southern Miss when Stephen Gostkowski missed
a PAT that was backed up by penalty. Adams also
missed a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter
that would have given Memphis a 9-7 lead.
· Trey Adams hit his second career field goal when
he hit a 30-yarder with just over eight minutes
left in the second quarter to give Memphis the 9-7
lead. Adams also hit a 30 yarder against Ole Miss
last week. Adams later hit a 28-yard field goal
and missed a 32-yard attempt. He finished the day
3-of-4 on PATs and 2-of-3 on field goals.
· True freshman Duke Calhoun caught a 60-yard pass
from Martin Hankins late in the second quarter that
set up the 28-yard field goal by Trey Adams. Calhoun
had two receptions against Ole Miss with a long
of 18 yards. He finished the game with four catches
for 109 yards.
· Senior corner back Brandon McDonald logged his
fourth career interception - his first of the season-
when he hauled in a pass by Antonio Miller late
in the first half. He returned the ball 30 yards
for his second-longest interception return of his
Tiger career. His longest was a 39-yard effort in
last year's Motor City Bowl victory. His return
set up the eventual three-yard touchdown run by
Jamarcus Gaither.
· Junior Jamarcus Gaither recorded his second career
rushing touchdown when he scored from three yards
out late in the second quarter. Ironically, Gaither's
first career touchdown run came against Chattanooga
last season. Gaither scored again on a 13-yard run
in the third quarter to give Memphis the 26-7 lead.
He finished the day with 10 carries for 49 yards
and two touchdowns. Gaither had a majority of the
carries as starter Joseph Doss was injured in the
first quarter.
· Junior fullback Greg Hinds caught his first career
pass on a seven-yard strike from Martin Hankins
in the third quarter. Hinds was moved from linebacker
to fullback prior to the start of the season.
· Quarterback Martin Hankins was picked off by Raeshon
Bell with just over two minutes left in the third
quarter. The ball bounced off receiver Ryan Scott's
hands and was scooped up by Bell. Hankins ended
the day having completed 10 of his 30 passes attempted
for 294 yards and one touchdowns.
· Earnest Williams' touchdown at 5:57 in the fourth
quarter was his third career touchdown, but his
first receiving touchdown. Williams caught a 14
yard TD pass from Martin Hankins, Hankins' first
throwing touchdown of the night.
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