2023 Ultimate College Football Preview Memphis

Welcome to the Ultimate College Football Preview for 2023. Every team in FBS Football will be covered in this daily blog release. All of your favorite teams from the ACC, AAC, Big 12, Big 10, C-USA, MAC, Mountain West, PAC 12, SEC, Sun Belt & even every Independent. Think of these daily college football previews as a cheat sheet going into next year.

2022 Recap:

Memphis had what I would call an up and down season in 2022. They started the year hot going 4-1 and 3 of their wins were in dominant fashion. They played North Texas close and lost to Mississippi in Starkville, that is not a bad loss. Then shit didn’t quite hit the fan but they lost 4 conference games in row. Losses are losses but they only lost by a combined 20 points in those 4 games. Three of which were one possession games. Then the Tigers went on to win 2 of their last 3 games to go 6-6 and eventually win their bowl game to end 7-6. This team puzzles me a bit, lets discount the Mississippi State game. Their 5 losses, all conference games the Tigers only lost by a combined 23 points, with 4 being one possession games. Sometimes that is just football, great teams win those games. Good teams split those games and bad teams lose them. I don’t think Memphis was bad, I think it was just that kind of a year. Their Offense was ranked 22nd and the Defense was 60th, that is pretty damn good for a Group of 5 team.

Head Coach:

It is alway hard to step into a coaching job replacing a great coach. Ryan Silverfield has done just that at Memphis. After Norvell left for Florida State, Silverfield was promoted from within to head coach from Assistant Head Coach/O-Line Coach. In his first 4 seasons, he does not have 1 losing record and has 2 bowl victories. No matter what size school you are at that is pretty damn impressive. His defense has been average and the offense has been well above average since he has been there. I think with teams leaving the AAC for the BIG 12 it is only going to make Silverfield look better. Memphis now should always be a top 3 team in the AAC. Silverfield should not have a problem landing great recruits, being positioned in a hot bead of great talent. I can see a way that Memphis turns into that new Boise State/Cincinnati team. By that I mean multiple years with double digit wins and in the playoff conversation under Silverfield.

Key Players:

When doing a college football preview everyone wants to know who the players are that we should watch out for. While again I say I am not an insiders on any of these teams, I can tell you Memphis has a stud at QB. Junior Seth Henigan is back at the helm of the Tigers offense. Last year Henigan completed 64% of his passes for 3,559 yards. Seth had 22 touchdowns and 8 interceptions with his arm and had almost 300 yards rushing with 4 more touchdowns on the ground. Those are damn good numbers for a first year starter. Right now though there is only 4 WR’s on the depth chart. Roc Taylor, Joseph Scates, and Drake Kolby are the only contributors in the passing game that are back. Once again another team whose roster is no where near done and ready for the year. They are thin at the receiver, both tackles, tight end and we don’t know who is playing backup QB. When you go to the defense they have to replace Xavier Cullens, the LB last year had 111 tackles, 7.5 TFL’s, 2 sacks, 3 interceptions and 2 forced fumbles. That is a lot of production to replace. The do still have stud DE Jaylon Allen who had almost 60 tackles, 10 TFL’s and 5 sacks last year. The same problems exist on defense with depth, they have no strong side line backers and only 1 will and on middle LB on the roster. Also they only have three DT’s and 2 Safety’s on the active roster. I know a lot of these postions will be figured out in fall camp, I just don’t know what level of talent will be in those spots.

2023 Prediction:

First most important thing in a college football preview is the players coming back, then it is the schedule. This team maybe the biggest parameters in wins and losses I have done so far with these college football previews. Memphis can go out and win 9 games and I wouldn’t be shocked or they could 6 it is crazy. Depending on how they fill out the roster in fall camp will determine the season they have. If I were I betting man, and I am I would say 7.5 wins will be there line and I’ll take the over. I think 8 wins sounds perfect for the is team this year, 9 when they win their bowl game.