Memphis has played three games this season but took it’s first loss of the year last week against Boise State. The Tigers’ defense allowed 578 yards of total offense, including 357 yards on the ground.
It was a surprising performance after two impressive outings against UNLV and Arkansas State. In the first game, Memphis’ defense completely shut down the Rebels’ offense in the second half, and in the second game against the Red Wolves, Charles Huff’s team grabbed four interceptions to secure a 22-point win.
Pro Football Focus is a site that “analyzes every player and every play of every game to deliver player grades, stats, and rankings” for college and the NFL. The produce player grades for every game and a season as a whole.
Looking at the game against Boise State, Ian Foster and Ellis Ellis Jr. led the team with defensive grades of 72.1. Obviously, the lower player grades are reflective in the overall defensive performance, allowing 38 points and nearly 600 yards of offense.
Defensive lineman Devan Lowe was the only other player to receive a defensive grade higher than 70, but he registered only five plays in the game.
Star defensive end J’Mond Tapp finished with a 67.8 defensive grade, but a 31.5 tackle grade after he logged two missed tackles.
Tackling was a major issue on Saturday, and the Tigers missed 21 total tackles, according to PFF. After the game, Huff immediately talked about the missed tackles and how it’s something they will focus on moving forward.
“Just running through tackles,” Huff said. “We didn’t tackle well. We probably missed 157 tackles today. We’ve got to tackle more at practice to put our guys in a better position.”
Huff noted that the team did a better job wrapping up in the first half, but as they got tired late in the game, the fatigue led to multiple missed opportunities.
“We tackled decent in the first half, which put us in some positions in third down to get off the field,” Huff said. “We didn’t tackle well enough in the second half, and if you don’t do that in college football, you’re going to struggled, especially with teams that run it.”
On the season, the Tigers have missed 41 tackles, according to PFF, and it will be interesting to keep up with the tackling throughout conference play.
For the season, Ellis Jr. leads the team with a 76.4 defensive grade followed by J’Mond Tapp and Zach Ruffin. Ellis has six tackles on the year and has only been targeted three times this season, but he has only allowed one reception for four yards.
The defense is viewed as the strength of the team, and they’ve shown the potential to be one the best groups in the conference. The defense should thrive in conference play, and it will be interesting to see where they sit at the end of the season.
