The University of Memphis won the 2022 Servpro First Responder Bowl with a 38-10 victory over Utah State on Tuesday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
With a 3-3 game early in the second quarter, Memphis turned to its offensive playmakers on the outside through screen passes, jet sweeps, and reverses. It worked.
The Tigers went on to outgain Utah State 179 yards to 39 yards in the quarter and scored 21 unanswered points to take a 24-3 lead into halftime.
“We did not cover well. They had some explosive throws, and we could not get anything generated at all, especially in the second quarter,” Utah State head coach Blake Anderson told reporters in a postgame press conference. “We gave up explosive throws, didn’t cover well in one-on-one situations, and couldn’t get anything offensive going at all.”
Sophomore quarterback Seth Henigan admitted the Tigers had some rust to knock off at the start of the game, but the second quarter helped his team surge to a win.
“I took a couple of sacks early that stalled out plays. We had a lot of penalties,” Henigan told media members postgame. “Coming into the game, we were one of the least penalized teams. We had a lot of flagged plays that stalled our drives.”
“In the second quarter, the spark really helped us win the game,” he went on. “The rest of the game and second half, we just wanted to maintain clock management.”
Henigan, a Denton Ryan High School alumnus, was 20-of-29 passing with 284 yards and 3 touchdowns — two to wide receiver Eddie Lewis and one to tight end Caden Prieskorn.
Memphis running back Jevyon Ducker added 83 yards and two second-half touchdowns on the ground to put away the game.
Playing from behind did not allow Utah State to lean on its running game as much as it likes, and senior running back Calvin Tyler Jr. was the Aggies’ best offensive weapon.
Utah State played three different quarterbacks, who combined for just 135 passing yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions, while Tyler ran for 79 yards on 16 carries (4.9 yards per carry).
“We did not play our best ball,” Anderson lamented after the game. “We could not create enough offense to give us a chance to win.”
WHAT TO KNOW
Henigan was named the Most Valuable Player for his performance on Tuesday. It was his second time coming home to play a game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium this season. The previous trip ended in a Memphis loss against SMU when Henigan was intercepted in the end zone with two seconds left in the game.
Utah State starting quarterback Cooper Legas, who was an injury replacement for Logan Bonner himself earlier this season, left this game in the third quarter after suffering an injury on a sack. Texas native Bishop Davenport took his place and threw for 100 yards and a touchdown.
This was the first football game Utah State has ever played at SMU. Memphis is a fellow American Athletic Conference (AAC) member and plays SMU every year, alternating as the home team.
Utah State had 12 players from the state of Texas on its roster this season, including Tyler, Bonner, Davenport, defensive back Ajani Carter, and defensive end Byron Vaughns.
Memphis is now the only AAC team to defeat a Mountain West Conference opponent in a bowl game. Mountain West teams were 6-0 all-time against AAC teams before Tuesday.
BY THE NUMBERS
Henigan is the second consecutive quarterback to win the MVP award in the First Responder Bowl and the third since 2016.
A 26-yard field goal at the end of the first quarter gave Memphis a 3-0 lead, making Memphis the 10th team to score first and win the First Responder Bowl. Memphis is also the 10th team to win the game after leading at halftime.
The 31-10 final score snapped a streak of three consecutive First Responder Bowl games that had been decided by one score.
WHO SAID?
Memphis has struggled in games played in the Dallas area, but head coach Ryan Silverfield was adamant that the credit for this one goes to his players.
“We are going to celebrate this and be proud of the moment. I am proud of our guys and our seniors. That win was for them … I think the bounce back by guys like Seth shows you what the resiliency is all about,” Silverfield said. “It is all about the team and it is an honor to be their head coach.”
Despite the loss, Utah State players and coaches seem confident in the program’s future.
“They are coming,” said Tyler, who was a senior on this year’s team, during the press conference. “They are young and hungry. This loss will be bitter, and they know what they have to do and build off of.”
“The season happened like it was supposed to,” Tyler continued. “You can’t question how it happened. I do not doubt them at all. The Aggies 2023 season is going to be a good one to watch.”