Go Tigers Go! 2005 Season
 

First off, thanks to everyone who read the 2004 Season, and for sticking this one out.

This was my first ever TCY dynasty, and learning some of the Utilities, Prints, Exports and even Message Board formatting are tough.

I will be focusing on a better story line this season, and I will try and provide cleaner stat imports for your reading.

2005 - New Season, New Hope

Sitting in my office, pouring over depth charts, performance charts, grade sheets and more, I hear a knock on my door, I look up, to see O.J. Williams, our Southeast Region Scout standing there.

"Come on in O.J., take a seat"

You can tell he is nervous by the way he is wringing his old hat in his hand. He was never seen without it. The Bear Bryant style cap, he claims it's his lucky charm. I have a feeling, this isn't going to be good.

"You know coach Thomas, I ain't been seeing much of my grandkids. I haven't done much fishing either. Both are dear to me"

That deep ball in your throat that tends to creep up on you, when you turn into an emotional wreck, and have fear at the same time. It just hit me.

"I am thinking coach, it's time for me to hang up the clip board, and put my suitcase into the closet. It's time for me to take the grandkids fishing whenever I can."

I just sit there, and nod at him, speechless. Here is the man, the main reason, we were able to assemble one of the greatest recruiting classes Memphis has ever seen, and he is walking away...no wait...he isn't. He is leaving a hero, this man, has found his golden ticket.

Slowly, I sit back in my chair.

"You know, O.J., Part of me wants to talk you out of this. Look at what we just assemble this past season. The best recruiting class in the history of this school. But another part is saying, let him go, he has earned it. This is the part I will listen to, my heart, cause obviously O.J. you are doing the same."

"Thank you coach, it has been extremely hard. You kept me on, knowing my age and such, but I knew we could do it."

With that, he stands, shakes my hand, then reaches across the desk and hugs me, and he turns and walks out of my office.

Slowly, I slump into my chair. This now poses a problem, will I see others? Can I replace the talent and abilities that O.J. Williams provided this school in assessing the recruits?

Naturally, this set off a chain reaction, New England Regional Scout, Lewis Carbajal retired as well.

Then, as I was packing up for the day, the phone rings, Great Lakes Regional Scout, Sammy Wise, telling me he is leaving Memphis, for Washington State.

Heading out the door, my secretary hands me my stack of inter office mail. I start thumbing through the papers on the way out to my car. The first one to catch my attention is a suspension notice. I knew three of these would be coming.

QB Artie Petersen, G Kelvin Hansen, and WR Donny Wallace have all been suspended for a year due to failing a class. I threw several extra blocks of time at them, trying to help them out. They not only failed the class, but they failed the team. I will talk later with the players and coaches on the team, to see if they will want them here in 2006.

The other disturbing letter I received was a letter of transfer from P Ted Heaton, he was a decent kid, but the verbage of this letter, had me thinking otherwise. He was upset with the lack of playing time...well, I can only have one punter on the field, and he wasn't the better of the two.

Looking into the future, what are going to do?

Well, what a wild and crazy period recently.

My initial inclination that the following week was going to be a crazy firestorm was when I received the phone call from Celeste, the syndicate coordinator.

"Coach, this isn't panning out for me, I am not able to focus, this just isn't my thing. However, I know somone that would be a perfect fit. His name is Clyde Espinosa."

"Whoa, slow down Celeste." was I hearing right? Did she just quit on me, and tell me about a replacement? I managed to get the info from her that her marriage was in the toilet, her husband has had several affairs, and she is moving to get her life in order. Clyde, was an understudy of hers several years ago, and moved to take the reigns at a Div II school. So I called him, interviewed him, and the rest is history, this man impressed me.

As I roll back into the office on Monday, I have close to 36 voicemails from various scouts agents. But the shocker was an agent representing two new young coaches, that no one has ever heard of. They had been coaching in the Juco ranks. I figured, whats the harm, and set up appointments.

Well, when all was said and done I had a new DC, a new OC, a new Syndicate Coordinator, and the 3 scouts to replace those who left.

All of them are vast improvements on what we had previously, except for thr scout in the SE region, I do not think anyone, will replace O.J.

Once I finalized my staff hires, I had to look into filling up the schedule, I needed two games this year.

My weeks open were

Week 1
Week 2
Week 4
Week 5
Week 14
Week 15

I wanted to reward the bulk of the guys that are still with us, and so I figured a trip to Hawaii would be great, so I scheduled an Away and Home with Hawaii on Week 1.

Buffalo then called, offering to travel on over on Week 4. I immediately agreed. I do not think we will have the toughest schedule this season, but I think it will help us get the blood following this year to prepare for a crazy ride next.

Now I have the season schedule finalized, it looks like it might actually be a fun season

This pre-seasons Top 25

And now...the unveiling of the 2005 Memphis Tigers!

Now, I want to sit back, relax, and look at the starters

Right now on Offense we have the following starters.

QB Martin Drake FR
FB Johnnie Zolak SR
RB Carlos Carruth FR / Amos Evertt SR
WR Darell Emmons FR
WR Billy Jo Perkins JR
TE Mercury Poole SR
LT Jumbo Austin SR
RT Levon King SR
C Victor Matthews SR
RT Cris Barton SR
RG Hunter Hatcher SO

K Johnnie Ramirez JR
P Tony Pierce JR
PR Nicky Wooden JR

KR Billy Jo Perkins JR
KR Eugene Pfingsten SO

As you can tell, 3 of our recruits break the starting lineup, including the RB, who puts Redshirt JR Amos Everett into a RB by committee role. Carruth will be playing 3rd down back right now, and might even propel himself ahead.

FR Martin Drake will have a veteran line to play behind, this looks to be a good learning season for him,

Moving onto defense we see the following starters:

LE Kendall Crane JR
LT Brian D'Antonio SR
RT K.C. Erickson SR
RE Cornell Abrams FR
WOLB Johnnie Blackwell JR
ILB J.J. Urban FR
SOLB Darrin Whitten SR
CB Nicky Wooden JR
CB Mickey Gangi SR
FS Donovan Landry JR
SS David Jarvis FR

We are looking at 3 freshmen starting on defense with J.J. calling the shots, it's a young defense that isn't to deep, but in the next couple of seasons, they will become quite deadly.

Week 1

Well, the first game into my 2nd season as a head coach is going to be televised on ESPN+ for the Hawaii and Memphis markets as we will be playing late.

Currently, Hawaii is 6 point favorites over us, and the we hope to surprise them.

Recruiting
I definately have to shore up our OL as we are losing all but 1 of our starters and then, the interior of our DL is needing to be taken care of.

Obviously, we will try to win the recruting battle in our state, however, I am going to try and focus on picking up the recruits where our strengths lie.

QB - NE,NW,DS,SE
RB - MW, GL
WR - SW
K - NE
OL - NW, SW
DL - SW,SE,GL,MA
LB - NW,MA
DB - SW

Injury Report

TE Mercury Poole is Questionable due to the ACL Damage to his knee he sustained last season (7 weeks)

Week 1 Box Score

Memphis at Hawaii


There must be something and my 1st game. I tend to get my ass handed to me on a silver plater this one wasn't anything different. TOP was ours, we just couldn't generate shit.

Once I review game film, I will find out where the holes are and fill them.

Week 1 Individual Stats

Week 2

After reviewing the game film, we didn't do to bad, we were outclassed it appears. Our defense is pretty weak this season, and it doesn't help that we were trying to figure out the right QB fit.

We have made those choices now, and we are sticking with them, through thick or thin.

We have a bye this week


Recruiting Report

Scrambling to gather OL with this years recruiting class, it's becoming a bit of a chore.

Injury Report

DE Andre Baily is probable with Turf Toe, it is unknown when he will get over it.
WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer with a compound leg fracture
QB K.C. Beauregard is probable for 4 weeks with a Bruised Sternum
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 5 more weeks from last seasons injury.

Week 3

We have Mississippi State coming into town.

TE Poole is going to be playing backup duty, Drake is the QB for quite a while, and we are going to have a RB heavy run day. Let's see if Carruth can earn his keep.

As for defense, we will be rolling into a 4-6, getting enough up in the box, I have faith our DB's can handle things on the edge.

Recruiting Report

More visits, no rejections, however, there is a lot of negative flak being circulated about us throughout...I think we scared a lot of people with our recruiting class last season.


Inujry Report

DE Andre Baily is probable with Turf Toe, it is unknown when he will get over it.
WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer with a compound leg fracture
QB K.C. Beauregard is probable for 4 weeks with a Bruised Sternum
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 5 more weeks from last seasons injury.

Week 3 Box Score


What a game, we have still yet to complete 4 full qtrs this season, we started and ended tough. We forced a lot on our defense with Drake turning it over 3 times.

He is young, and it is understood. We were able to see a glimmer of what Drake and Emmons can do as they connected for 138 yards and 3 TD's.

We have some flashes, and hope the carry over through the conference.

Week 3 individuals

One thing, I will go through and clean up week 3 and week 4 when I get a chance.

Week 4
We welcome Buffalo in, but the scary thing is, we are only 3 point favorites.

We will keep everything the same offensively, but I think we might tweak up the defense a bit. Run either a 5-0 or 3-4.

Recruiting Report

Well, I think it has been the fastest I have been told to screw off by a coach, only 3 weeks into the season. It looks like that recruit will not be at Memphis

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer with a compound leg fracture
QB K.C. Beauregard is probable for 3 weeks with a Bruised Sternum
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 4 more weeks from last seasons injury.

Week 4 Boxscore


Dear lord, this is turning out to be worse than I thought it was. Time to take a few steps back and look onto this from a high level perspective....we just lost to Buffalo....this hurts the pride, recruiting, and anything else I can think of.

Week 4 Individual Stats

Week 5
Another bye, and time to reflect on our team, there is no way we are going to a bowl unless we rattle of some unprecedented wins this season

Recruiting Report

Crossing our fingers, hoping the losing doesn't affect us.

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer with a compound leg fracture
QB K.C. Beauregard is probable for 2 weeks with a Bruised Sternum
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 3 more weeks from last seasons injury.

Recruiting Report

Well, as we roll into week 5, I am heading back to my office from film session, and I see Jay Fisk, his father, and his head coach talking to my secretary, I head over to them, a little excitement. I shake their hands, and ask them to come into my office.

Sitting down, the discussions turn to the season, and how Jay knows we are a young team, but the glimmer of talent is there, and just adding it in, to where I was lucky to catch it.

"I look forward to playing with this squad next year"

Sitting there, the excitement builds a little.

"What was that Jay?"

"Coach, I am looking forward to joining the Memphis Tigers next season.

And with that, I had my first recruit this year.


C Jay Fisk 6'4" 270 lbs
White Station High School
Memphis, Tennessee
3.40 GPA
1262 Test Score

Report from Jerry Gray
Strength: Run Blocking
Weakness: Pass Protection

Ranked 42nd at his position nationally
Ranked 27th overall in the state
Ranked 2nd at his position in the state

A big strong kid with a decent attitude, that is I feel is better than what Jerry has reported on him. He is a local kid, and this helps the local recruiting scene out a lot. But what is even more important, he beefs up the interior for us.


I also received several other messages on some recruits that have made their decisions to go else where.

C Norman Fox decided on Virginia Tech
S J.T. Brandt decided on Utah
DE Neil Allen decided on California

Week 6
Time to welcome in #25 TCU, as they visit the Liberty Bowl, and guess what, a regional television broadcast as well. Oh, and one more thing, we are 36 point underdogs. I would love to beat them.

3-4 Defense with my coordinators calling all the shots...I am taking a higher view on this. I have told the boys, we need wins, and we need them bad. 4 full qtrs, all the time, every time. I will not quit on them, as long as they promise not to quit on me.

We need a win to help increase recruiting.

Recruiting Report

1 signing so far, and a glimmer of hope

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(36 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
QB K.C. Beauregard is probable for 1 weeks with a Bruised Sternum
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 2 more weeks from last seasons injury.

Week 6 Box Score


What can I say!! These guys didn't let me down...it took an all out effort, and this one came down to the 4th qtr.

A great game was called offensively, as the offense placed the burden onto Carruth's shoulders and rode him to the win. Drake's passes were all short, allowing our WR's to turn them into longer gains.

And the Punt Return for a TD in the 3rd qtr to bring us within three, brought the momentum back over.

WOW! lets hope this helps recruiting.

Week 6 Individual Stats

Recruiting Report

Wish I had more positive news this week.

All I have are additional signings of recruits we were after else where.

S Ben Stephens went to Arizona State
CB J.R. Romo went to Illinois
CB Artie Blackweel went to Maryland
ILB Dan Threats went to Utah
ILB Thomas Reynolds went to Miami.

Week 7
Well, this week, we travel to Louisville and look to take on the 16th ranked team in the nation. We provided the upset to TCU, I am hoping to provide the upset here as well.

Recruiting Report

1 signing so far, and a glimmer of hope

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(35 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
TE Mercury Poole is still probable for 1 more week from last seasons injury.
WR Ernie Cochran is probable for an undetermined amount of time due to turf toe.

Week 7 Box Scores


Well, Louisville proved to us our win last week was possibly a fluke, not to sure that I enjoyed this ass beating and lessson. If it wasn't for the 2 big plays that our defense gave up right off the bat...we would have actually been in the running on this one.

Also, Ramirez hit a 62 yard field goal, and we are seeing more and more NFL scouts for him at the games.

Week 7 Individual Stats

Recruiting Report

No new signings to announce. However, a couple of more recruits signing on else where

S Herb McWilliams decided on Arizona State
ILB Jessie Archie decided on Oregon State

Now what has me scratching my head are the number of SE Regional recruits going to the Pac 10 and Mountain West schools.

Week 8 Box Score


Another win coupled with Drake, Emmons, and Carruth, all three freshmen powerhouses looking to prove something. These kids have a few more years with us...I think our future offensive situation is looking very bright.

Week 8 Individual Stats

Recruiting Report

Well, this recruiting session can be two things to me. It is going to be the worlds biggest bust, or I will find some major diamonds in the rough..Memphis is getting their butt whipped in recruiting this year.

We do have one commitment to tell you about

WR Rodney Ogden 6'5" 202lbs
Jackson Central-Merry High School
Jackson, Tennessee
2.85 GPA
996 Test Score

Scout Report from Jerry Gray
Strength: Yardage after Catch
Weakness: Catching in traffic

Ranked 568th overall Nationally
Ranked 45th at his position Nationally
Ranked 14th overall in the state
Ranked 1st at his position in the state

Jerry hasn't had a lot of experience with WR's but he say this big tall kid, that opposing teams had issues bringing down. He brought me out to meet the kid and watch a game. The kid is much better than what Jerry had told me, and I think will be a nice catalyst to the offense, matching up perfectly to the other side of the ball with Emmons.

In 9 games he had 62 receptions for 1420 yards and 7 TD's, what is impressive is his ypc avg at 22.90.

Defensively, he rotated in at the Saftey positions and had in 9 games, 42 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 6 INT's

As for recruits commiting elsewhere, this week hurt us the most.

QB Chester Paeth decided on Boston College
CB Marcus Hoying decided on Bowling Green
CB Jose Lightfoot decided on Maryland
ILB Glen Henderson decided on Louisiana Tech
ILB Jermey Holmesd decided on Utah State
DE Trevor Davis decided on Tennessee
T Brandon Mussgrove decided on Tennessee
G Victor Almonte decided on Oak Ridge
G Bernie Whitfield decided on Fresno State
RB Vernon King decided on Syracuse

I will clean up the stats and such today from work when I get the free time.

Week 9
Heading to South Florida where we are 16 point underdogs...lets hope we can win this one out.



Recruiting Report

2 signings is looking like a pretty meager and weak class.

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(35 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
WR Ernie Cochran is probable for an undetermined amount of time due to turf toe.

Week 9 Box Score


This is one of those games you wish you could have won...fighting back from behind, tying it, giving up the lead, and tying it again, then giving up the lead...it hurt.

What hurt even worse was the fact that one of the trainers pulled me aside.

"Carlos took some serious shots while he was running today....He seperated his shoulder and didn't tell anyone...."

This was followed up by a loud painful yell, as I look over, someone is helping Carlos take his pads off.

This hurts us bad, we will get a status report on Carlos later.

Week 9 Individual Stats

I didn't know you started a new thread!!


Todd

Recruiting Report

Well, another recruit signed to bring our total up to 3

Carlton Gilmore 6'7" 259 lbs
Lake Worth High School
Lake Worth, Floride
2.71 GPA
915 Test Score

Scout Report by Jerry Gray
Strenth: Defending the Run
Weakness: Rushing the Passer

Ranked 894th Nationally
Ranked 83rd at his position nationally
Ranked 48th overall in his state
Ranked 9th at his position in his state

A big fast kid that has done well. He has in 9 games, 59 tackles, 9 sacks, and an INT. If we do not have the talent, he may be moved to the interior at DT.

As for people not loving the University of Memphis, we have 7 more.

S Kelly Furman decided on Maryland
S Johnnie McDaniel decided on Marshall
CB Oscar Lyon decided on Louisville
OLB Brant Hardy decided on Union City
DT C.J. Twisp decided on Clemson
G Frank Mueller decided on Pittsburgh
WR Clifton Perez decided on Marshall

Yeah...new season and all....I am getting whipped on.

Week 10
East Carolina is travelling into Memphis, we are welcoming them to the Liberty Bowl. We are still 10 point underdogs, it's said, and it hurts.

To compound to that, Carlos is done for the season more than likely with his shoulder.



Recruiting Report

3 signings. This is truly killing me mentally, I know we can do better.

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(35 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
DE Cornell Abrams out for 6 weeks due to a sprained back
RB Carlos Carruth is out for 9 weeks with his sperated shoulder

Week 10 Box Score


Gotta say, the defense impressed the hell out of me today, they may have allowed a lot of yards but they didn't allow the points.

Ramirez went hog wild at his kicking, and is more than likely going to the draft.

Week 10 Individual Stats

Recruiting Report

Hey another recruit, this one another DE.


Kevin Donaldson 6'4" 253 lbs
Wynne High School
Wynne, Arkansas
2.86 GPA
965 Test Score

Scouting Report by Matthew Hitchcock
Strength: Defending the Run
Weakness: Rushing the Passer

Ranked 874th Nationally
Ranked 80th at his position nationally
Ranked 9th overall in the state
Ranked 2nd at his position in the state

Another big quick DE that has the ability to move to the inside if needed. In 9 games he has 65 tackles, 8 sacks and an INT. It looks to me like he is better than scouted as well.

We only had 4 people move on elsewhere

CB Derek Thompson decided on Ball State
K Ian Hasselbach decided on Chattanooga
K Teddy Shepard decided on Jackson
WR Bryan Carlisle decided on Northwestern

Week 11
Cincinnatti is coming to the Liberty Bowl and we are now 12 point underdogs in our house. We have to turn this back into our house.

Injuries have hurt us and DE Moore, who has stepped in for Abrams is receiving a scholly this week.

Recruiting Report

4 signings. This is truly killing me mentally, I know we can do better.

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(31 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
DE Cornell Abrams out for 5 weeks due to a sprained back
RB Carlos Carruth is out for 8 weeks with his sperated shoulder
WR Ernie Cochrane's turf toe is back...probable for undetermined amount of time
CB Nicky Wooden is Questionable for 2 weeks with a pulled groin
ILB Lonnie Brewer is probable for 5 weeks with a broken hand.

Thats 3 freshmen starters down for the count...

Week 11 Box Score


I am proud of these guys, they were clicking and our decision to do a RB by comitte helped out majorly as the 2 main backs gave us a solid shift, we did the same with the FB's too. I think they were confused more than anything.

Our DL held them to only 12 rushing yard....just gave me the chills to see their RB screaming and yelling because he was frustrated.

Week 11 Individual Stats

Recruiting Report

Best Week ever on recruits calling us. We had 3 commit to us

QB George Appel 6'3" 195 lbs
Tivy High School
Kerrville, Texas
3.61 GPA
1151 Test Score

Scout Report by Matthew Hitchcock
Likes To Run All The Time
Strength: Medium Passing
Weakness: Touch Passes

Ranked 198th Nationally
Ranked 27th at his position Nationally
Ranked 16th overall in his state
Ranked 2nd at his position in the state

This has to be the best recruit we have picked up so far. He will red shirt, and get 2 nice starts under his belt after Martin Drake. It looks like we are set for a while at the QB position. I don't think Memphis has had a QB Class this good in a while.

Passing Stats

9 games, 120/187 and 2008 yards, 10 TD's and only 1 INT

Rushing Stats

9 games, 48 rushes for 423 yards and 2 TD's

OLB Nate Stuart 5'10" 190 lbs
Turner Ashby High School
Bridgewater, Virginia
3.76 GPA
1406 Test Score

Scouting Report by Jumbo Sellers (Terrific with LB's)
Strength: Defending the Run
Weakness: Man to Man

Ranked 80th at his position nationally
Ranked 37th overall in his state
Ranked 2nd at his position in his state

Small kid with talent, heart, and determination. He has the brains, and heart to survive, and we are excited to get him.

In 9 games he has 81 tackles, 4 sacks and 2 INT's, this kid flies to the ball and I truly think he is better than what Jumbo has shown.

G Warren Mahoney 6'6" 280 lbs
Caroline High School
Milford, Virginia
3.34 GPA
1290 Test Score

Scout Report from Jumbo Sellers (Lousy with OL)
Strength: Pass Protection
Weakness: Run Blocking

Ranked 75th at his position nationally
Ranked 24th overall in his state
Ranked 2nd at his position in his state

A very big and bright kid that has some great potential, he is a great blocker for the QB's offhand side. I know Jumbo's strong suit isn't OL, however, I think this kid is Much better than what Jumbo has said.


We have also had 2 more recruits choose other schools and they are:

DE Kerry Heaton decided on New Mexico
K Jay Walton decided on Clarksville

Week 12

We travel to Southern Miss and will be viewed on ESPN+ Regionally.

We have a chance to even at .500, however we are 18 point underdogs.

I know we can do it, and as we are starting to mesh, the team is definately getting better.

Injury Report

WR Jeffrey Tubbs is out for the season, if not longer(30 Weeks) with a compound leg fracture
DE Cornell Abrams out for 4 weeks due to a sprained back
RB Carlos Carruth is out for 7weeks with his sperated shoulder
WR Ernie Cochrane's turf toe is back...probable for undetermined amount of time
CB Nicky Wooden is out for 10 weeks with torn knee cartilage
ILB Lonnie Brewer is probable for 5 weeks with a broken hand.

George Appel will be a monster for you...if he doesnt pan out he can come over to mizzou and Qb our sorry pass offense ;) i think you will become a real power in a few seasons, as you have some great young talent on your squad! Good luck buddy, and ill be reading!

Week 12 Box Score


Ouch this loss hurts... What can I say, we have a young but talented D, and we have managed to do as well as we have has shocked me...