Memphis routs Chattanooga, 59-14
The senior running back, who was part of a Tiger offense that struggled in the season opener against Mississippi, ran for 205 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night to lead Memphis to a 59-14 victory over Chattanooga.
Williams scored on runs of 15, 9 and 20 yards in the first half as Memphis (1-1) showed the offensive strength missing in the 10-6 loss to Mississippi. The Rebels held the Tigers to 268 yards in the first game.
“I was a little upset,” Williams said of his 85-yard rushing performance against the Rebels. “Some of the things didn’t play out our way. We didn’t play up to our full potential. …The (offensive line) took it personal.”
The Tigers had 592 yards against the 1-AA Mocs, and the 59 points marked the most by a Memphis team since a 62-20 victory over Tulane in 1992.
“I thought we’d play them a little closer,” said Chattanooga coach Rodney Allison. “I was hoping we could stop the run. We didn’t. But I knew we weren’t going to stop (Williams). He’s good, and he made us look silly at times. And we’re not the only team he’s going to make look silly.”
Chattanooga (2-1) matched the Tigers’ first touchdown but were never in it after a scoring burst by Memphis in the second quarter.
Eldra Buckley scored twice for the Mocs on runs of 38 and 2 yards and carried the bulk of the Chattanooga offense, rushing for 143 yards on 20 carries. The Mocs had 332 of total offense.
“We did things right,” Memphis coach Tommy West said. “We blocked the right people and stayed on people. Once we got our running game going, I thought (quarterback Will Hudgens) did a nice job of throwing the ball.”
Memphis led 35-7 at the half as Williams got untracked early, rushing for all three of his scores before the break. On two occasions, the running back, who led the nation with 22 touchdowns last season, took direct snaps at the quarterback position and reached the end zone on sweeps.
Williams had 147 yards in the half on 16 carries. The 205-yard performance marked the fifth 200-yard game in his career. Quarterback Will Hudgens caught himself admiring Williams’ runs from the backfield.
“It’s like playing a video game at home,” Hudgens said. “He’s amazing. He does things where you’ve got to blink your eyes a few times to make sure he really did that stuff.”
Hudgens tried to keep pace with the offensive show, throwing touchdown passes of 62 yards to Maurice Avery and 27 yards to freshman Maurice Jones, who made his first collegiate catch on the score. Hudgens, a redshirt-freshman making his first start after starter Patrick Byrne broke his leg against Mississippi, completed 10-of-14 passes in the half for 139 yards. He threw only one pass — an incomplete — in the second half as the Tigers went to their reserves with about four minutes left in the third quarter.
The reserves, behind quarterback Billy Barefield, who completed 7 of his 8 passes, managed three scores — a 30-yard field goal from Stephen Gostkowski, a 26-yard pass to Brett Russell and an 11-yard run by Jamarcus Gaither.