Bo’s Bits: Expect Points When These Teams Visit Texas

By Bo Carter

Anyone who has seen Memphis and Utah State play in 2022 or over the last three decades-plus knows that there should be ample scoring in the Dec. 27 SERVPRO First Responder at 2:15 p.m. (CST) at Gerald Ford Stadium on the Dallas campus of SMU. 

Memphis, in fact, is all too familiar to DFW area football connoisseurs after taking homestanding American Athletic Conference opponent SMU down to the final seconds on Nov. 26 at Ford Stadium before falling to the Mustangs 34-31.

The Tigers were driving for a possible tying field goal or winning TD and got stopped by a pass interception in the end zone. That concluded a regular season where the Tigers, paced by Denton Ryan (Texas) QB Seth Henigan (who has told UM coaches he will return for 2023), closed 22nd nationally in team passing offense with 3,345 yards on 270-of-425 passing with 20 touchdowns and just eight interceptions (two against SMU).

Utah State has been just as potent behind starting QBs Cooper Legas and Logan Bonner, who hails from Rowlett, Texas, and came to the Beehive state via Arkansas State. Utah State has the nation’s 48th-leading passing attack with 3,282 yards on 270-of-406 via the air and a sterling total of 29 TD passes.

The Aggies made their presence felt in nearby Frisco, Texas, in 2019 with a 51-41 offense fest and setback to air-minded Kent State, which captured its first bowl victory in the Tropical Smoothie Café Frisco Bowl with 1,056 combined yards of total offense – 317 passing by the Utes – and 92 points.

USU is a frequent visitor to the Lone Star State with past games against Texas State, Texas Tech, UTSA, UTEP, North Texas, TCU, Texas, and West Texas A&M and utilizes the Southwest area as a key recruiting pipeline.

And the two opponents played seven times from 1965-77 with the Tigers winning four of the seven contests with such personalities as National Football Foundation Hall of Fame head coach Billy Jack Murphy guiding the Tigers, Chuck Mills and Bruce Snyder coaching Aggies teams, and multiple All-America or All-South Independent teams playing in these seven tussles.

Now they bring their combined 12 triumphs, 700 composite team points and 9,284 yards of total offense in ’22 into the Dec. 27 encounter and promise to light up the Ford Stadium scoreboard during the nationally-televised (ESPN) clash.

Utah State also is coming off the 2021 Mountain West Conference championship, a 10-3 record and 24-13 Jimmy Kimmel Los Angeles Bowl win over Oregon State of the Pac-12 Conference and used that as a springboard to a third bowl trek over a four-year period from 2019-22.

Memphis as well is coming off its most productive span of postseason play with nine straight bowl invitations– three consecutive under current head coach Ryan Silverfield. Silverfield was chief mentor in his first game in the 2020 Goodyear Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas – the Tigers’ first trek to a traditional New Year’s Day/New Year’s Six Bowl in school history against Big Ten Conference powerhouse Penn State.

For tickets, the new and improved Bowl Tailgate Party on bowl day and related game activities, please access Firstresponderbowl.com.