Memphis, FAU ready for Wednesday's Montgomery Bowl
The Memphis Tigers go through a walk-through in preparation the game against FAU in Wednesday’s Montgomery Bowl to be telecast on ESPN. (Graham Dunn)
By TIM GAYLE
Two first-year coaches with contrasting styles will meet in the inaugural Montgomery Bowl tonight at Cramton Bowl, putting their school’s impressive bowl streaks on the line.
The bowl game is the first of two this week at Cramton Bowl as the Fenway Bowl, shelved in Boston because of COVID-19, was moved to the Capital City for this season only and renamed the Montgomery Bowl. The Camellia Bowl will be held on Friday, featuring Buffalo and Marshall.
The runner-up to Marshall in Conference USA East was Florida Atlantic (5-3), which will enter tonight’s Montgomery Bowl as a nine-point underdog to Memphis (7-3). Kickoff on ESPN is set for 6 p.m.
The Owls are playing in their third bowl game in the last four years but their first under Willie Taggart, who had previous head coaching stops at Western Kentucky, South Florida, Oregon and Florida State before taking over for Lane Kiffin in Boca Raton.
Florida Atlantic features six players from Alabama, including former Jeff Davis standout and FAU starting cornerback Zyon Gilbert and former Autauga Academy lineman and FAU backup right guard Adarius Tolliver. The offense also includes graduate transfer T.J. Chase at wide receiver, who won national championships over Alabama while at Clemson in 2016 and 2018.
A 10-6 win over Western Kentucky earlier this year is indicative of the Owls’ style of play, which relies on a defense that ranks 11th nationally in passing yards allowed, fifth in red zone defense, ninth in scoring defense and seventh in pass efficiency defense. Senior linebacker Leighton McCarthy ranks second in career sacks and in career tackles for loss and third in career quarterback hurries.
“We’ve got to stop the run and try to make them one dimensional,” Taggart said. “It’s tough to play a team when you allow them to do both and we saw that the last time we went out and played and we weren’t able to do that. Being able to stop the run and not give up explosive plays for touchdowns … when we play that way defensively, good things happen for us.”
FAU earned a bowl bid in its first year of bowl eligibility in 2007, beating Memphis in the New Orleans Bowl in the only previous meeting between the two teams. FAU (4-0) has never lost a bowl game.
Memphis, on the other hand, is making a school-record seventh consecutive bowl appearance but has lost the last five, including a game to Penn State in the Cotton Bowl last year.
“A lot of our guys understand the recent history of what has happened here in bowl games,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. “I think that’s huge for them. It’s a chance for a lot of them to go out as bowl winners, which is something we haven’t been able to do here lately.”
The Tigers average 31.6 points per game (but allow 29.7) and 310.3 passing yards per game (but allow 303). Keep an eye on special teams, where Memphis has returned 11 kickoffs for touchdowns in the last five years. The Tigers rallied to beat Central Florida 50-49 after trailing by 21 points in the third quarter and rallied past Temple and South Florida as well, while using a walk-off field goal to beat Houston in their last game.
The roster includes backup quarterback Peter Parrish, a former Central-Phenix City star who transferred from LSU; defensive back John Broussard, a Central teammate of Parrish who transferred from Auburn; and former Mr. Football Asa Martin, a running back from Austin High who signed with Auburn, transferred to Miami and then to Memphis, where he currently serves as the backup.
Figuring more heavily in the outcome is sixth-year senior quarterback Brady White, a 24-year-old California native who redshirted in 2015 with Arizona State, played three games in 2016 before suffering a season ending injury that sidelined him for 2017 as well and is now in his third year at Memphis, where he owns the career passing yards record (10,406) as well as passing touchdowns (87). White earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Arizona State in 2017, a master’s degree in sports and leisure commerce from Memphis in 2019 and is currently working on a PhD in liberal studies. He is one of 12 finalists for the Campbell Trophy, presented to the nation’s top scholar athlete.
One of White’s favorite targets is another success story, former walk-on receiver Calvin Austin III, who has 100-plus receiving yards in six of the last eight games and 1,025 yards this season, becoming only the fourth Memphis receiver to go over the 1,000-yard mark.
Together, White and Austin are part of a senior class that has a school-record 37 wins.