Story by
What did Charles Huff say after Memphis’ overtime win over ECU?
- Story by
- What did Charles Huff say after Memphis’ overtime win over ECU?
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
It was a tale of two halves Thursday night for Memphis, but it did enough in the second half to secure and overtime win over East Carolina. After the seven-point victory, Charles Huff spoke to the media about the game and the week of practice leading up to it.
Before he got into the game, Huff shared that running backs coach Telly Lockette isn't with the team right now after his mother passed away 30 minutes before kickoff against the Green Wave.
Advertisement
Huff talked a lot about what happened over the four quarters against the Pirates, but he also talked about how the team responded to the loss last Friday night in their preparation throughout the week.
Memphis started the game extremely slow and found themselves in a 16-3 hole at halftime. Huff said he was ready to rip into the team and coaching staff, but then he heard the team rallying around each other during the break and could feel the energy was turning.
The Tigers scored five times in the second half to send the game to overtime, where they won after a Marcus Stokes touchdown and a game-sealing interception from Ellis Ellis Jr.
Bounce back from the loss against Tulane:
Advertisement
Huff spoke at length about the way that the team responded to the loss against Tulane, and how it started early in the week during their preparations.
"Unbelievable job by our players," Huff said. "They made a decision once we got back from the last game of what they were going to do. They showed up to practice with the right mentality."
While it was an ugly start to the game, you could see the Tigers played with a lot of energy and drive in the second half to make sure it wasn't a repeat from last week.
Marcus Stokes' performance:
Stokes was one of the weaker points of last week's loss, but Huff couldn't have spoken higher about his quarterback after Thursday's game. He said that he stepped up early in the week, and the team was ready to ride for him.
Advertisement
"Marcus Stokes," Huff said. "Unbelievable. It had nothing to do with his performance tonight. It's how he showed up this week and took ownership, took the beatings, took the bruising. He's our quarterback. I think Terrell Owens said that, right?"
Stokes threw for 320 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, and he added 31 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
"When you've got the fire that you've got in that kid, you trust him," Huff said.
Conservative play calling in the first half:
Memphis punted the ball six times in the first half and elected to punt on a few fourth-and-short opportunities. Huff said after the game it was a strategic move to punt in those situations.
Advertisement
"I knew we were going to have to play complimentary football," Huff said. "That's why in the first half on some of those short yardage I punted it to give our defense a chance to settle a little bit."
He added that he trusted the defense to get stops and knew the Pirates' defense would wear down in the second half.
Decision to go to overtime/Overtime:
After East Carolina scored late in the fourth quarter, Memphis got the ball back with 1:30 left in the game, but the offense went back to the conservative play calling from the first half. After a penalty, Huff said that he made the decision to take the game into overtime instead of taking a deep shot on the final play.
Advertisement
"In camp, we do an overtime synopsis," Huff said. "I chose to go into overtime after we got the penalty around mid field. I trusted our process that we would be in better shape than the other team physically, mentally, emotionally. So, instead of throwing a hail mary or trying something crazy, pop a screen and see what happens."
Memphis scored on its first possession, and they got the stop when Ellis picked off quarterback Mitch Griffis.
"The crazy part is I felt like the closer they got to the end zone, the better chance we had to win the game," Huff said. "We've been really good at red zone defense. When the field gets condensed down there, there aren't many options. So, our players have a good feel for what comes down there."
