Henigan secures Silverfield's future/coaching extension with Tigers
More on 92.9 FM ESPN: Tigers beat UAB in the Battle for the Bones Senior Night at Simmons Bank Lib. Stadium
Memphis Head Football Coach Ryan Silverfield secured his future and a one-year automatic extension last night with the Tiger Football program's 9th win. As outlined in his agreement with the University of Memphis, Silverfield's contract is structured with provisions for annual extensions, contingent upon meeting specific performance benchmarks. The "hardest" of those benchmarks is seemingly a 9th win against a 2-8 UAB team. More coverage Monday on 92.9 FM ESPN.
Memphis, apparently holding the largest Name, Image, & Likeness (NIL) fund in the American Conference according to multiple sources, will finish fourth behind Army, Tulane and Navy in the AAC. Despite subsidizing for student athletes enlisting/service agreements, Army and Navy are at a heavy disadvantage and essentially offer zero NIL. Tulane is playing in their third straight AAC title game.
From the University of Memphis:
Tigers Retain The Bones in Senior Day Win Over UAB
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The University of Memphis football team earned its ninth win of the season in the 17th all-time edition of The Battle for the Bones, 53-18, over UAB on Senior Day at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium. With the victory, the Tigers completed an undefeated season at home for the first time since 2020.
The Tiger defense created four takeaways while Memphis' all-time leading passer Seth Henigan shined with four passing touchdowns and 299 yards through the air on 23-of-34 passing. The four passing scores for Henigan gave him 100 for his career and made him one of three active FBS quarterbacks to reach that milestone (Dillon Gabriel; Oregon, Will Rogers; Washington).
Memphis ran for 227 yards on the ground in the win over the Blazers (2-8, 1-5) to mark the sixth time this season it has rushed for over 200 yards. The Tigers were paced by senior running back Mario Anderson Jr.’s 138 yards as he logged his seventh 100-yard effort of the campaign – the most by a Tiger since Kenneth Gainwell in 2019 (7).
Anderson Jr. became just the ninth individual Tiger to rush for 1,000 yards in a season when he broke free for a 10-yard run on the game’s opening drive that led to the 33rd rushing score of Brandon Thomas’ career and an early Memphis lead. The Tigers dug into their bag of tricks on the ensuing point-after attempt when kicker Caden Costa connected with senior long snapper Colby Cox for a two-point conversion. A 41-yard field goal by Tristian Vandenberg later in the quarter made it an 11-0 lead.
Senior tight end Anthony Landphere had a notable day, hauling in four passes for 45 yards and a pair of touchdowns, the first coming with 6:34 remaining in the first half to put the Tigers up 18-0. Henigan found running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. all alone in the back of the endzone for a 19-yard touchdown strike that made the score 25-8 with 10:57 to play in the third quarter.
Memphis led 25-11 entering the fourth quarter before erupting for 28 fourth-quarter points on a pair of touchdown throws by Henigan, the 16th rushing touchdown of the season for Anderson Jr. and the first rushing touchdown as a Tiger for quarterback Harris Boyd to put an exclamation mark on the win.
Anderson Jr.'s induction into the 1,000-yard club marks the 13th 1,000-yard rushing season by a Tiger overall. In addition, it marks the sixth time in the past eight seasons that a Memphis running back has eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark.
The Tigers have now scored 20 or more points in 38-consecutive games – the longest active streak in the nation – dating back to a 33-28 win over Tulane on Nov. 27, 2021. Memphis (63) is one of five teams with 60 or more home wins since 2014, along with Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Michigan.
Dating back to the win over UAB last year, Memphis has forced at least one turnover in 14 of its last 18 games. Over that stretch, the Tigers have created 32 takeaways (17 INT, 15 FR).
Head coach Ryan Silverfield is 18-0 in his Memphis tenure when holding opponents to 20 points or less. Overall, he is 53-9 at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium since joining the program in 2016, and 28-6 since taking over at the helm of the Tigers in 2020.
UP NEXT
The Tigers will have a bye week to recoup before heading to New Orleans for a Thanksgiving night matchup at No. 25 Tulane (9-2, 7-0 AAC) to cap the regular season.
