Coach Mike Norvell and the University of Memphis Tigers. Photo by Larry Kuzniewski
The University of Memphis opens its 104th football season this Saturday when regional rival Ole Miss visits the Liberty Bowl (kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.). Recent success under coach Mike Norvell has made counting numbers (and records) a fun part of fall weekends.
Here are figures to keep in mind this season.
2 — Consecutive American Athletic Conference West Division titles for the Tigers. (They’ve lost to UCF in the AAC championship game each of the last two years.)
4 — Consecutive bowl games the Tigers have lost. Memphis last won a postseason contest by beating BYU in the 2014 Miami Beach Bowl.
5 — The Tigers have enjoyed five straight winning seasons, a stretch last enjoyed from 1973 to 1977. The longest streak of winning seasons in the program’s history is six: 1959-64.
6 — A win Saturday against the Rebels would give Memphis six straight season-opening wins, an unprecedented streak in Tiger history.
11 — Wins the Tiger program needs to reach 500.
26 — Wins in three seasons as Tiger coach for Mike Norvell. With merely five more in 2019, Norvell will move into fifth place on the Tiger chart. (Spook Murphy holds the record with 91 wins.)
42.9 — Average points scored by the 2018 Tigers, seventh in the country and the second straight season Memphis has averaged more than 40 per game.
503 — Yards Damonte Coxie needs to gain to become the seventh Tiger player with 2,000 career receiving yards.
1,000 x 2 — For the first time in Tiger history, Memphis will field a team with both a running back (Patrick Taylor) and a receiver (Coxie) with a 1,000-yard season on his resume.
1,012 — Yards Taylor needs to gain to pass Darrell Henderson for second on the Tigers’ alltime rushing chart.