Memphis Football: Tigers collapse in first AAC showdown vs. Tulane

Memphis went to 0-2 in AAC play after falling big on the road against Tulane. Here’s what we learned from the showdown in New Orleans on Friday night.

Memphis went down early, and they never entirely managed to clay their way back into the Friday-night showdown against Tulane. The Tigers fell to 3-2 on the season, both of their losses coming in conference play, thanks to a 40-24 loss on the road to the Green Wave

At halftime, Memphis wasn’t necessarily playing poorly against Tulane. The offense scored only one touchdown, but Brady White was 4-of-6 for 77 yards and Darrell Henderson went off for 52 yards on just five carries, most coming on a 47-yard scoring burst.

But Tulane was nevertheless up 17-7, thanks in large part to 103 first-half rushing yards and a touchdown on 10 carries from Green Wave running back Darius Bradwell. Jonathan Banks went 8-of-12 passing for 92 yards, and Corey Dauphine added a two-yard touchdown run and 10 total yards on three carries before the break.

The question coming out of the locker room for the second half in New Orleans was whether Tulane could hold on to their lead against the Tigers. Memphis took the ball first in the second half and aggressively moved downfield. On third down just on the plus side of midfield, White hooked up with Henderson for a 47-yard touchdown catch. With the extra point, the visitors were back within three.

After going 5-of-8 on third down in the first half, Tulane regressed back to the mean in the second half. The Green Wave missed on converting when they needed eight yards, but then went for it on fourth down. As the attempt fell beyond the reach of well-covered receiver Terren Encalade, the turnaround looked ready to fall into place.

At least, that was what it seemed was about to happen in the moment.

But Memphis was held to a three-and-out, Tulane flipped the field position, and it became a battle of attrition. Jonathan Banks limped off the field after a four-yard run for the Green Wave on the penultimate play of the third quarter. That sent backup quarterback Justin McMillan into the game for Tulane. On his first play, McMillan endured pressure and hit Darnell Mooney for a 51-yard catch-and-run down the sideline for an insurance touchdown to go back up by 10 points.

As much a story was the Tulane defense, which held Memphis to 277 total yards — more than 300 yards below their season average. The Green Wave forced a safety on a Memphis drive early in the fourth quarter, after giving Brady White fits all night long up to that point. They ended the game with a half-dozen sacks of White. When Tulane got the ball back on the free kick, they chugged right downfield and punched in a dagger on a 46-yard Corey Dauphine run to go up 33-14.

That is when it all collapsed for Memphis, as they turned over the ball on downs in their own half on the following drive. On the second play of Tulane’s follow-up drive, Darius Bradwell punched in a 25-yard touchdown run to put the hosts up by 26 points. In the span of just more than six minutes, the Green Wave scored 23 points to run away with the victory at home.

What we learned from this game was simple. As good as they may be, Memphis is a pretender in the AAC West race this year. Tulane, meanwhile, is far better than their 1-3 record entering this game might suggest.