Riley Ferguson, No. 22 Memphis roll over Tulsa 41-14
TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Riley Ferguson passed for 298 yards and four touchdowns as No. 22 Memphis shut down Tulsa's rushing attack on its way to a 41-14 victory on Friday.
"Very proud of our football team," Tigers coach Mike Norvell. "We knew that was one of the keys to the game, stopping the run, and our guys did a great job in doing that. We put some pressure on our defensive backfield, they played a lot of man coverage and we were able to attack, trying to load the box and trying to make them one-dimensional."
The Golden Hurricane rushed for 97 yards in the first quarter and then just 48 the rest of the game. While Tulsa sputtered offensively, Darrell Henderson ran for 123 yards on 14 carries and contributed six receptions for 50 yards and a touchdown in Memphis' fifth straight victory.
"Tough game," Tulsa coach Philip Montgomery. "I thought we played a pretty good first half. Got to be more consistent. ... I've got to do a better job coaching, and we've got to come out and do a better job in the second half."
Luke Skipper completed 18 of 31 passes for 157 yards and ran for a score for Tulsa, which has dropped three in a row.
D'Angelo Brewer gained 119 yards on 21 carries but the Golden Hurricane's ground attack was held in check after beginning the day ranked 12th in the nation with 260.2 yards rushing per game.
Chad President's 7-yard touchdown run for Tulsa tied it at 14 just 2:20 into the second quarter, but the Tigers surrendered just 69 yards of total offense -- 32 rushing -- over the entire second half.
"I think our relentless effort played a role, we practice being a physical team," said linebacker Austin Hall, who led the Tigers with six tackles. "Tulsa, they got a good running offense and we held them under 150 yards, so that's great. We talk about pursuing the ball and that's what we did tonight."