Tigers face Rebels in opener for both teams

The two scenarios, plus the long rivalry between the schools, was attractive enough to draw the national stage of ESPN. The Labor Day afternoon game will be the season-opener for both.

“I would expect them to be excited, just crazy excited,” Memphis coach Tommy West said of the Rebels. “They’re playing an opening game. They’ve got a new coach, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm around their program.

“On the other hand, I would expect us to be excited. Playing at home, playing an opening game and playing one of our rivals. I think you’re looking at a really, really exciting football game.”

But that excitement has been tempered by the damage to the Mississippi Gulf Coast from Hurricane Katrina.

Both teams have players from the affected areas, and they have been trying to contact family members while concentrating on the game. Orgeron, who’s from southern Louisiana, said most players have reached their parents, but not some extended relatives. Several players missed practice Thursday to deal with the deaths of family members.

“In our program, family comes first, and we’re going to take care of these young men,” Orgeron said. “… As long as we can stay focused on the game, that’s the task at hand, and we can do what we can do.

“I think the guys are going to rally and make this into a positive.”

Memphis is coming off an 8-4 record and its second straight bowl appearance — a 52-35 loss to Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. But the loss did not detract from the turnaround West has engineered since taking over a struggling Tiger program four years ago.

While Mississippi holds a lopsided 42-10-2 advantage in the series, the Tigers have won the last two outings with Williams running for more than 100 yards in both.

“Maybe they had a little more focus than we did the past couple of years,” said Rebel running back Jamal Pittman. “… I really can’t say the reason we lost the last two, but we’re a different team now.”

Williams, Conference USA’s Player of the Year the past two seasons, is the Tigers’ marquee player. The 5-foot-10, 217-pound senior already holds the school records for rushing yards and touchdowns in a season. He has had 10 games of more than 100 yards in each of the last two seasons.

But the key for the Tigers may be the emergence of Patrick Byrne at quarterback, replacing departed Danny Wimprine. Byrne, a junior, spent his first two seasons booting kickoffs and never took a snap.

“Patrick’s got to throw the ball well,” West said. “We’ve got to throw it and catch it. And that’s what we do. I would be really shocked and terribly disappointed if we don’t throw it and catch it well. That’s kind of the nature of our offense. We throw the ball first.”

The Rebels came out of the 2004 campaign with a disappointing 4-7 mark leading to the departure of David Cutcliffe as coach.

Orgeron, a defensive line coach at national champion Southern California, made everyone from starters to walk-ons battle for positions. That led to some player departures, but toughened those who decided to stay.

“We are pumped up and pleased with the way camp went,” Orgeron said this week. “Our guys competed. We had a very tough camp.”

Apparently, that competition will continue at quarterback until game time. In the days before the opener, Orgeron said he still is deciding between senior Michael Spurlock, who appeared to be the front runner, and Robert Lane, a sophomore making a late run at the starter’s spot.

“We will go into the game with one starting quarterback,” Orgeron said. “We feel as a staff that both quarterbacks could play for us. In the event one guy is not doing the job, we feel comfortable putting the other guy in.”