Memphis Football: 2022 season preview and predictions for Tigers
By Kathryn Rose
The Memphis Tigers football program experienced a now-uncharacteristic 6-6 season under second-year head coach Ryan Silverfield. 2022 could see a return to winning ways.
Memphis football, historically, has been mediocre. Since they became classified as a major college football program in 1960, they’re nine games under .500.
Yet, that isn’t what Memphis football is now. It’s a program that expects success, which made the 6-6 mark last year a touch bitter. Ryan Silverfield is in his third year with the program and has been rebuilding from Mike Norvell’s days, where they went to a Cotton Bowl in 2019.
The 2021 version of the Tigers did feature some positives to build on. Offensively, they were top 35 in yards per game. Of course, that was due in no small part to Calvin Austin III, who is now in the NFL. Still, quarterback Seth Henigan did well after presumptive starter Grant Gunnell went down with an injury last August.
On defense, the team was enigmatic. The per-play data suggests a defense that wasn’t as bad as advertised but ranked 96th in yards allowed per game and 91st in points allowed per game.
Most of that defense is back, save for leading tackler JJ Russell. The defense did have some stars step up, though. Greg Rubin, for example, had 14 pass deflections at cornerback and is still just a sophomore.
2022 should see a major improvement for the Tigers in terms of their fortunes. 6-6 would be considered a tenuous floor, rather than a probable result.