UCLA Football: An early preview of the Memphis Tigers

Continuing our look at UCLA Football’s 2017 schedule, Go Joe Bruin previews the Bruins’ first road game of the season as they take on the Memphis Tigers.

The UCLA Football team will have their first road game against the Memphis Tigers in Week 3 of the 2017 season. At this point, hopefully, the Bruins wI’ll be 2-0 as they head east for a game that is not going to be a walk in the park.

After winning only one game away from the Rose Bowl in 2016 (a 17-14 win over BYU), the Bruins look to reclaim their status wan “road warriors”.

Will this trip to Memphis be the start of a new mindeed on the road or will UCLA still struggle away from Pasadena?

What: UCLA Bruins vs. Memphis Tigers

Where: Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis, TN

When: Saturday, Sept. 16

What else would you want from a first-year head coach as Mike Norvell gave the Memphis football program an 8-5 perfomance in his first season? Sure they had a season of ups and downs, but there was progress.

Not only did they take down the mighty Houston Cougars, but they also had to take it on the chin with huge losses against Tulsa and Navy. And though they had a winning season, it’s never fun to end the year with a loss, which is what happened to them in the Boca Raton Bowl when they lost 51-31 against Western Kentucky.

So what should we expect in 2017?

Memphis Offense:

The Memphis offense should remain pass heavy. Last season they were one of the top passing teams in the AAC. The Tigers like to use the pass to open up the run which is something the UCLA defense is going to have to dig deep to try to stop.

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Memphis loses their offensive coordinator but retain a coach from their staff from last year, so continuity should not be a problem. If anything, Memphis should look like a carbon copy of last year.

The Tigers return senior quarterback Riley Ferguson who had an amazing year in 2016. He was the second-most productive QB in the AAC last season behind Houston’s Greg Ward, Jr. Ferguson threw for 3,698 (284.5 ypg), 32 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and an amazing completion percentage of 68.0.

Ferguson’s top receiver will once again be Anthony Miller who should make a case to be the best receiver in the AAC. Lst season he had the second most total receiving yards (1,434), yards per game (110.3) and receiving touchdowns (14) in conference.

There definitely going to get yards through the air, but running the ballnmight be an issue. Memphis will use the pass to open up the run, but will ignore be enough?

Doroland Dorceus returns as the TIgers’ top rusher who averaged 6.1 yards per carry and added 9 touchdowns. Memphis also returns two other running backs (Patrick Taylor, Jr. and Darrell Henderson) that carried the ball a significant amount, though not as much as Dorceus, averaged over five yards per carry.

So how is that going to play out against the Bruins defense? If the Tigers want to go pass-heavy, they’re going to have to go against UCLA’s secondary which has been one of the best in the Pac-12 Conference. The Bruins should be able to slow down Memphis’ assault, but they also have to be careful for the run game, which Bruin fans know UCLA’s run defense has not been as lauded as their pass defense.

Memphis 2016 Offensive Stats

Total Offense: 463.8 (4th in AAC)

Passing Offense: 304.4 (2nd)

Rushing Offense: 159.4 (7th)

Scoring Offense: 38.8 (3rd)

Memphis Defense:

Memphis’ weakness will be on the defensive side of the ball. They were not have a strong run defense team and had to rely on their defensive backs to make a lot of stops. The bad news for the Tigers is that they lose several players in the secondary and that is not going to be good when trying to stop UCLA’s multi-look offense.

Oct 1, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Memphis Tigers head coach Mike Norvell stands on the sidelines during the game against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mississippi won 48-28. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

Upfront Memphis has a number of new names but one to watch for will be red-shirt senior Ernest Suttles who had five and half tackles for loss in 2016 to go along with his three sacks. While those aren’t eye-popping stats, he’s steadily improved since his debut in 2014.

They will also be helped by senior Curtis Akins who mans the middle of this linebacker group. He’s an absolute tackling machine and in two years has managed to rack up 88 total tackles including 74 in 2016. He’ll get some help from sophomore LB Tim Hart who is riding plenty of hype and hope into the new season.

And the strength they have in the secondary will come from junior college transfers and strangely enough former Oklahoma Sooners, Marcus Green and Tito Windham. Green was one of the top CBs in the 2014 class and brings not just his experience but exceptional size, six-foot-one, 181 pounds to the secondary. They aren’t the only names to watch for though as red-shirt freshman Josh Perry, who decommitted from Alabama before ending up at Memphis, has impressed this coaching staff and is in line to make plays this fall.

Overall, this might be a weakness that UCLA’s once again transitioning offense could take advantage of. With the Tigers’ weak run defense, this should be a game where UCLA tries to run through and around Memphis.

But let’s not forget Josh Rosen who will also look to elevate UCLA’s passing game from last season. With Memphis having some holes in their past defense, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rosen threw for 400 yards in this game.

Memphis 2016 Defensive Stats

Total Defense: 454.6 (7th in AAC)

Passing Defense: 249.7 (8th)

Rushing Defense: 204.9 (10th)

Scoring Defense: 28.8 (7th)

Next: Grading the UCLA quarterbacks heading into 2017

Final Analysis

UCLA is going to need as many statement wins as possible. If they can go into Memphis and get a solid road victory, not only will they be 3–0, but they will have prepared themselves for the Pac-12 schedule which begins the following week against Stanford. This game should come down to Memphis’s offense against UCLA’s defense, which at this point, I have to give the edge to the Bruins.