Memphis football flips the script again and figures out how to beat Temple | Giannotto

Gut reactions from Memphis football's 24-3 win over Temple on Saturday at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium.

Foreign formula works again

It wasn’t just bad, it was boring.For the better part of a decade, Memphis football has rarely been either.

For the better part of Saturday’s game against Temple, it was both. Especially on offense.

But when an opponent expected to be among the worst in the American Athletic Conference this season gave Memphis an opening, it did just enough to pull away and avoid what would have been a deflating setback.

The Tigers' win over Temple shined a spotlight once more on a Memphis team that prevailed using a formula mostly foreign to 23,239 fans in attendance. Its once-powerful offense mostly sputtered again and its once-punchless defense delivered again.

Memphis (4-1, 2-0 AAC) didn't score until late in the third quarter, taking advantage of a bad Temple punt and good field position. A key third-down completion by quarterback Seth Henigan to wide receiver Eddie Lewis set up a short scoring run by tailback Brandon Thomas. The Tigers eventually scored 24 unanswered points.

The lack of style points, or many points at all, doesn’t change that Memphis will enter a national television showcase at home against Houston next Friday riding a four-game winning streak and atop the league standings.

It’s exactly where most hoped these Tigers would be after five games, even if the path they’ve taken to get there feels increasingly tenuous. There are questions and concerns looming, but it could be a whole lot worse.

Memphis has itself in position to make noise in the AAC race. That's enough, for now.

More:Memphis OL Jonah Gambill, Austin Myers out vs. Temple, WR Marcayll Jones no longer with team

More:How Memphis football's Caden Prieskorn went from walk-on QB to scoring machine at tight end

Offense didn't work until late

This was ugly. More so than last week against North Texas, and that was no work of art for the Memphis offense.

It may well be true that the Tigers are running the same scheme they had so much success with under Mike Norvell, as Silverfield has said previously. But the imagination, the play-calling and and the dynamic playmakers feel like a memory of the past, replaced for large portions of Saturday's game with a unit that had to rely on quarterback Seth Henigan's legs and pass interference penalties to move the ball.

Memphis hasn’t looked right on offense since it lost the left side of its starting offensive line to injury right around the same time against North Texas last week. Left tackle Austin Myers and left guard Jonah Gambill didn’t dress Saturday, and the rearranged unit that took the field without them had issues.

So Henigan found himself uncomfortable and on the move during a second-straight subpar performance, finishing with a career-high 19 rushing attempts for 60 yards. The more concerning part, though, may be how his wide receivers largely struggled to get separation or win battles in the passing game. Memphis came out throwing against a tough Temple defense, and really didn't have much success.

The first nine Memphis drives of the game ended with either a punt or a turnover on downs. A lot of questions deserved to be asked given the lack of production, and another game plan that didn't click.

The Tigers did eventually seem to wear down the Owls, putting the game away when Asa Martin ripped off a long gain to set up a touchdown pass from Henigan to tight end Caden Priestkorn. Popping those runs in the ground game late appears to be the only sustainable aspect of the offense Memphis has put on display this season. The Tigers ran nearly 30 more plays than Temple.

It's not the worst identity to be developing, but it's likely not good enough with what's coming on the schedule the next few weeks. Henigan has to be better, the offensive line needs to get healthy, a big-play threat at wide receiver has to emerge, and the coordinator must figure out what's going wrong.

Defense rules the day

We may have just witnessed a two-game stretch as impressive as any the Memphis defense has put together in recent years. It has dragged the offense along to consecutive wins, a striking development after so many matchups in the past that devolved into offensive shootouts in which the Tigers had to out-score opponents.

Indeed, this was the first time since blowing out Bowling Green in 2016 the Memphis defense held an opponent without a touchdown. The stakes were significantly higher against Temple, with the Tigers needing every stop they could get.

The Temple offense came in with pedestrian numbers, and Memphis by and large kept it that way. When the Owls did reel off a big play, Memphis responded. It had a red-zone stand in the first half when Temple coach Stan Drayton made a curious decision to go for it on 4th down from the 4-yard-line rather than kick a field goal.

It forced eight three-and-outs and three turnovers, keeping Temple out of the end zone while the Tigers finally figured out some of their offensive woes in the fourth quarter.

That dominance made what happened on offense a lot easier to digest. That sort of effort might well be necessary with Houston, ECU and Tulane on the horizon.

You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football flips script again and figures out how to beat Temple