Tigers win, but it costs dearly
November 23, 2003
The celebration began in the closing minutes Saturday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
More than 40,000 University of Memphis fans, enjoying the program's best season in 30 years, started counting down the final seconds of a 21-16 Conference USA victory against Cincinnati, a gutsy come-from-behind win that gave the Tigers their fifth straight victory.
Fans high-fived one another in the stands. Former Tigers players danced in the aisles. Longtime boosters embraced.
On the sidelines, U of M athletic director R.C. Johnson fought his emotions, overjoyed with the team's late-season run, but saddened at the cost of success.
Memphis (8-3) will end its regular season next Saturday at home against South Florida and earn its first bowl bid in 32 years, but running back DeAngelo Williams isn't expected to be a part of the spoils.
Williams, the super sophomore who has emerged as C-USA's top offensive player, tore a knee ligament midway through the third quarter and spent the rest of the game on crutches. He will miss next Saturday's game against South Florida and likely whatever bowl game the Tigers play. An MRI on Monday will determine Williams's status for mid-December, the earliest the Tigers would appear in a bowl game.
"It's awesome (to be 8-3), but it's tainted a little losing DeAngelo," Johnson said.
Williams rushed for 136 yards Saturday against Cincinnati (5-6) to push his season total to a school-record 1,430 yards. His injury was similar to the one that sidelined the team's top receiver, Maurice Avery, after last weekend's victory at Louisville.
Without their offensive weapons, the Tigers relied on a defense that has been improving since midseason. Memphis used an interception by defensive back Wesley Smith to score the game-winning touchdown with 5:57 left. Smith picked off a Gino Guidugli pass near midfield with 7:22 to go and returned it 36 yards to the Cincinnati 9-yard line. Three plays later, Darron White, who had tossed a 65-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game, scored on a 3-yard run to give the Tigers a 21-16 lead that held up.
"Today, the defense stepped it up because (the offense) didn't play too hot," White said of an offense held to 312 yards, 154 below its average.
But all that mattered to the long-suffering Tigers fans, a group that hadn't experienced a winning season since 1994, was another chance to celebrate.
"Last Tuesday, I went up to (Tigers coach) Tommy West, and I thanked him," said Bobby Wharton, a longtime supporter and former Highland Hundred booster club president. "Some of us have been with this program for 25 and 30 years, just waiting for a decent season. Now everything has jelled . . . . I feel like I need to pinch myself."
Sandra Hill, Williams's mother, was in good spirits, even as she escorted her son out of the stadium on crutches. She had a difficult time suppressing a smile or talking about next weekend.
"If we're 9-3 after next week's game," she said, "I'm stormin' the field."
......Don't forget that the Tigers also lost their big play receiver week before last because of the same injury...... Maurice Avery
.....I would be looking at S. Fl. pretty hard......as these two guys are 90% of the Memphis offense.
November 23, 2003
The celebration began in the closing minutes Saturday at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
More than 40,000 University of Memphis fans, enjoying the program's best season in 30 years, started counting down the final seconds of a 21-16 Conference USA victory against Cincinnati, a gutsy come-from-behind win that gave the Tigers their fifth straight victory.
Fans high-fived one another in the stands. Former Tigers players danced in the aisles. Longtime boosters embraced.
On the sidelines, U of M athletic director R.C. Johnson fought his emotions, overjoyed with the team's late-season run, but saddened at the cost of success.
Memphis (8-3) will end its regular season next Saturday at home against South Florida and earn its first bowl bid in 32 years, but running back DeAngelo Williams isn't expected to be a part of the spoils.
Williams, the super sophomore who has emerged as C-USA's top offensive player, tore a knee ligament midway through the third quarter and spent the rest of the game on crutches. He will miss next Saturday's game against South Florida and likely whatever bowl game the Tigers play. An MRI on Monday will determine Williams's status for mid-December, the earliest the Tigers would appear in a bowl game.
"It's awesome (to be 8-3), but it's tainted a little losing DeAngelo," Johnson said.
Williams rushed for 136 yards Saturday against Cincinnati (5-6) to push his season total to a school-record 1,430 yards. His injury was similar to the one that sidelined the team's top receiver, Maurice Avery, after last weekend's victory at Louisville.
Without their offensive weapons, the Tigers relied on a defense that has been improving since midseason. Memphis used an interception by defensive back Wesley Smith to score the game-winning touchdown with 5:57 left. Smith picked off a Gino Guidugli pass near midfield with 7:22 to go and returned it 36 yards to the Cincinnati 9-yard line. Three plays later, Darron White, who had tossed a 65-yard touchdown pass earlier in the game, scored on a 3-yard run to give the Tigers a 21-16 lead that held up.
"Today, the defense stepped it up because (the offense) didn't play too hot," White said of an offense held to 312 yards, 154 below its average.
But all that mattered to the long-suffering Tigers fans, a group that hadn't experienced a winning season since 1994, was another chance to celebrate.
"Last Tuesday, I went up to (Tigers coach) Tommy West, and I thanked him," said Bobby Wharton, a longtime supporter and former Highland Hundred booster club president. "Some of us have been with this program for 25 and 30 years, just waiting for a decent season. Now everything has jelled . . . . I feel like I need to pinch myself."
Sandra Hill, Williams's mother, was in good spirits, even as she escorted her son out of the stadium on crutches. She had a difficult time suppressing a smile or talking about next weekend.
"If we're 9-3 after next week's game," she said, "I'm stormin' the field."
......Don't forget that the Tigers also lost their big play receiver week before last because of the same injury...... Maurice Avery
.....I would be looking at S. Fl. pretty hard......as these two guys are 90% of the Memphis offense.
