Memphis defensive lineman Elijah Kinsler (15) celebrates after a 27-21 win over UNLV. Image courtesy of Memphis Athletics.

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How about the Memphis Tigers? 

The Tigers were underdogs in this game, but they came out and showed they shouldn’t have been. After a somewhat rocky first few drives, starting quarterback Marcus Stokes really settled in well. He finished the game with 223 passing yards and two touchdowns with no turnovers, which is quite good considering it was his first-ever Division 1 college football game. 

The turning point of the game was his 48-yard touchdown pass to Stonka Burnside. Stokes showed about as much promise as you could reasonably expect from a guy with so little experience at the D1 level. If he played this well in Week 0 in his first career D1 football game, imagine how good he could be in a few months after weeks and weeks of experience at this level of play. If Stokes hits his ceiling this year for Memphis, we could be looking at a really scary Group of 5 squad to have to play Round 1 of the playoffs.

The real MVP of this game was Memphis’ defensive line. They completely took this game over in the second half. The defense finished with 6 sacks and 11 tackles for loss, with Elijah Kinsler and J’Mond Tapp leading the way with 2.5 and 2 sacks, respectively. They also finished this game with an absurd 17 QB hits and 29 QB hurries. 

The defense of Memphis has always been their weakness, even in great seasons. When you think of all-time Memphis football players, you think of Issac Bruce or DeAngelo Williams, or more recently Paxton Lynch and Kenneth Gainwell. This season could be the year that Memphis takes that final leap into Group of 5 playoff stardom, and it may be due to this defense. 

The Tigers proved that they’re a real threat in this race after knocking off UNLV, with another GO5 clash in the cards against Boise State on Sept. 12.