AAC and Memphis Tigers Prepping for Shot at Instant Gridiron Respect in Week 7 vs. Ole Miss

Written by Ryan Wright

Twitter: @HogManInLA

Even the most diehard of college football fans may not be aware of a movement that is going on in the game. The leftover pieces of the former Big East Conference is now making waves as the American Athletic Conference in 2015. The groundwork has been ongoing but as the Group of Five member conference enters Week 6 action, four teams are undefeated led by Temple (4-0), Navy (4-0), Houston (5-0) – won again Thursday night 49-28 over SMU, and Memphis (5-0).

The kneejerk reaction is to scoff at any AAC team since they are not a Power Five Conference member and none of their teams are currently ranked in the AP poll. The reality is the AAC is making noise and each of the undefeated have quality wins under their belt. Temple opened the season with a 27-10 statement win on Penn State followed by a 34-26 victory over Cincinnati. Navy took down East Carolina 45-21 in Week 2 and stopped Air Force 33-11 in Week 4. Houston posted an attention grabbing 34-31 win over Louisville in Week 2 and Memphis has wins over Kansas (55-23), Bowling Green (44-41), and Cincinnati (53-46).

The AAC can add to their grow notoriety in Week 6 if East Carolina can take care of business on the road against BYU and if Navy can upend No. 15 Notre Dame in South Bend. Navy could be catching Notre Dame at the right time. The Fighting Irish are ailing with season ending injuries to key players across the board and in Week 7 USC comes to town. A win for the Midshipmen would be historic with Notre Dame owning a 75-12-1 series record. Vegas feels strongly about Notre Dame with the line at 14.5 but a win in South Bend would put Navy in the AP rankings for the first time since 1979.

If there is a team that might be able to break free of the non-Power Five Conference bias in 2015, and in a really big way, the Memphis Tigers could be the squad. Few may know it but Memphis is on a 12-game winning streak. The Tigers lost three games in 2014 falling to No. 11 UCLA 42-35 and No. 10 Ole Miss 24-3 on the road. The one upset loss was a 28-24 home defeat against Houston. Memphis ended last season in a controversial way but topped BYU 55-48 in a double-overtime Beach Bowl win.

The Tigers have continued their winning ways led on offense by quarterback Paxton Lynch. Lynch has the Tigers as the nation’s No. 14 passing offense at 335 yards per game, ranked slightly higher than Ole Miss at 327 yards per contest. The numbers would be higher had the Week 1 contest against Missouri State not been so lopsided. Memphis won 63-7 and Lynch was pulled early after completing 8-of-12 passes for 78 yards with one touchdown. Since then he has been on a hot streak hitting Kansas for 354 yards, Bowling Green for 386, Cincinnati for 412, and South Florida for 305. For the season he has 10 touchdown passes without a pick.

The Tigers’ backfield is a committee approach with Jarvis Cooper, Sam Craft, and Doroland Dorceus carrying the load. Cooper and Craft both have 50 carries with Cooper picking up 244 yards and Craft 199. Dorceus has 44 carries for 175 yards with all three tailbacks finding the end zone four times each.

The receiving crops easily has three players to watch for with another three that can do damage at any time. Anthony Miller leads the way as an explosive pass catcher with 15 receptions for 304 yards with one score. Mose Frazier has a team-high 21 receptions for 279 yards with two scores and Phil Mayhue has 17 pass receptions for 243 yards. Roderick Proctor, Tevin Jones, and Alan Cross help move the chains as well and Sam Craft has been a reliable option out of the backfield.

Kicker Jake Elliott has a canon for a leg already nailing a 52-yard attempt this season. Spencer Smith might out kick his coverage but he can flip a field quick averaging 50 yards a punt on 17 kicks this season.

Memphis has the nation’s No. 8 offense rolling at 541 yards a game. The defense has been put up against the ropes with the offense scoring at a prolific rate. The Tigers downfall could be stopping Ole Miss. The Rebels offense has been tough to slow down picking up 500 yards a game while the Tigers defense allows 438 yards.

The news on the defensive side is not a complete letdown for the Tigers. Ole Miss has fallen below expectations on defense currently tied at No. 48 allowing 357 yards per game. Mississippi’s stat line is sure to get better after a Week 6 visit from New Mexico State while Memphis is on a bye.

In Memphis’ 56 years of playing college football they have 45 games played against the Rebels winning 10 with 33 losses and two ties. The Tigers posted back-to-back wins against Ole Miss in 2003 and 2004 but have lost the last six matchups.

The game is sure to receive a lot of hype with a 12:00 p.m. kickoff time on Oct. 17 with ABC providing the coverage. If Memphis wins, a jump into the AP polls is a given, how high remains to be seen.

Photo credit: foxsports.com; No. 12 Paxton Lynch celebrates against BYU.