Memphis is coming to BG on fire

[tigerfanbritt]

After Tuesday’s practice, like almost every Tuesday practice, Memphis coach Justin Fuente was asked about how his team performed that afternoon.

“Not very good,” he said.

“What wasn’t very good about it?” a reporter asked.

“Anything,” Fuente replied.

The Tigers are 2-0 for the first time since 2004, but in four days they will face a dangerous Bowling Green team that beat Maryland last week and played Tennessee close the week before. The Falcons have one of the most dynamic offenses in the country, led by talented senior quarterback Matt Johnson. And they’ll be playing at home for the first time in 2015.

That’s why Fuente said he was so concerned about Tuesday’s poor practice.

“It’s pretty alarming to me right now,” he said. “We’ve got a decision to make. We’re going to go play a team that will run us off the field if we’re not ready to play.”

When asked if his concerns were matters of effort or execution, Fuente said it was pretty much everything, from players’ body language to verbal and non-verbal communication. Did the Tigers do anything right?

“Not much,” he said.

Fuente has said repeatedly this season will come down to two things: How the Tigers handle adversity and how they handle success. He was asked Tuesday if the team’s poor practice had something to do with that, an inability to stay focused after two blowout wins.

“I don’t know,” Fuente said. “I would say yes, because we won our first two games, but I’m not sure. We’re going to have to figure it out. I know that. I’d tell you if I knew. We’ll look at it and talk about it as a staff and hopefully we can press the right buttons and get them going.”

Fuente also abruptly declined to make players available to speak to the media Tuesday. During a typical game week, Tuesday is the final day in which they are available for interviews.We did not have a good day in preparation of you guys. Here is what our local paper had to say:

[tigerfanbritt]

I hate we are having a tough time at practice leading up to facing an offense as good as yours. I hope we get it together by Saturday. Looking for an epic clash.

[MarkL]

We had a former women's basketball coach who always said his team would be underdogs in every game, that the team didn't have the skills or experience to win, they'd be lucky to hit .500, etc etc etc. All he did with those teams was win the conference regular season and/or tournament title like 6 or 7 straight years.

Memphis fans, I wouldn't read into it too much. It sounds like classic coach-speak. Memphis will be ready. I hope our guys are ready.

[kdog27]

I for one hope he is right and they did look awful

[WilliamDuVOL]

This is a tough game for me, as I was raised a UT fan, but as I mentioned a while back I am a Memphis grad. I'm having a hard time deciding who to pull for, as a Memphis win is good for my alma mater, but a BGSU win is good for UT's strength of schedule. That being said, Memphis will be another good test for your O line and QB, and they will test your defense. On the other hand, you will be by and large the best offense they have faced to date, and maybe the best defense considering they've only played an FCS team and a terrible Kansas team that lost to an FCS team. It should be a good, high scoring game.

Both teams will be tested immensely. BG's defense will undoubtedly have to prove the Maryland game wasn't a fluke and will need to carry over a good performance. Offensively, fireworks galore. This will be a track meet if everything goes as planned.

This game deserves better than ESPN3/American Sports Net, IMO. Hopefully some of the Vols decide to check it out since I'm sure many of you stay aware of what Memphis does.

Oh absolutely, I'm going to watch it if I can. I watched your MD game too to figure out if our defense was that bad or your offense was that good. Good to know it's the latter. Unfortunately it appears we're still lacking depth in certain areas, as was showcased by late shortcomings versus Oklahoma. This is a very intriguing matchup for me to watch.

[UM_Blue_Gray]

Based on Fuente's recent assessment, maybe the Tigers will be heading to BG smoldering a bit. Hopefully he can rekindle the fire.

Congrats on having a great team this season. Hoping the Falcons take care of business the rest of the way. You'll have to forgive me for hoping the Tigers take care of business this weekend.

[tigerfanbritt]

What shall be the most fun to be is watching how differently both offenses operate in order to get the same results. From what I have seen of BG you guys stretch the field very well. Memphis relies on short throws & bludgeoning runs with a mix of misdirection.

The big concern for Memphis is whether our DB's can meet by far our biggest challenge of the year. I see the big concern for PG is if they can stop the running game for Memphis.

Should be a great one!

Thanks to your fans for being so hospitable this week as some of our fans stopped your website. I know you have picked up a fan in me going forward. Hopefully one of us (more us) crashes the access bowl sooner than later.