Memphis football's loss at Mississippi State was bad enough to make you worry | Giannotto

STARKVILLE, MISS. — Gut reactions from Memphis football’s 49-23 loss at Mississippi State to open the 2022 season.

A really bad start

This was bad.

As bad as anyone could have imagined for awhile there.

So bad the only time it didn’t appear as if the Tigers would leave Mississippi State with a loss came when there seemed a chance this game wouldn’t finish during a 2-hour, 15-minute lightning delay.

So bad that the halftime score – 28-3 – was somehow the best outcome of a first half in which Memphis gained only 29 yards, picked up just one first down to Mississippi State’s 21, and looked as bad before the weather arrived as it did after.

So bad that at times it harkened back to the woebegotten Larry Porter days, and the beginning of the Justin Fuente era.

There were bad signs on defense. There were worse signs on offense.

Not bad enough to think this Memphis football season is a lost cause just yet. Not after one game the Tigers were supposed to lose.

But bad enough to wonder anew where this program is heading under coach Ryan Silverfield.

Perhaps this setback was as simple as an overmatched team playing on the road against an SEC opponent that was a 16-point favorite and looking for revenge after losing in Memphis last season.

But this was enough of a bludgeoning that you can’t help but consider whether the situation is more dire than that.

The Navy game next week always loomed large, from the moment this Memphis schedule came out. After this walloping delivered by Mississippi State, it feels like a moment in which we'll find out if this really can be the bounce-back season Silverfield said he could deliver.

Wanted: More imagination, playmakers

Most disturbing as Memphis got thrashed was how familiar much of it looked, despite the debut of new coordinators on offense and defense.

The offense, in particular, is of the highest concern considering how Memphis picked itself up from the ashes as a program over the past decade. A team that produced NFL draft picks at the skill positions like Anthony Miller, Tony Pollard, Darrell Henderson, Kenny Gainwell and Calvin Austin III in succession looked mostly devoid of those sorts of playmakers.

The run game never gained much traction, aside from a 50-yard touchdown run by Northern Illinois transfer Jey Ducker, and the busload of receivers Memphis used either couldn’t get separation or dropped passes when they did. The offensive line watched redshirt freshman left tackle Makalyn Pounders gets carted off the field with an apparent leg injury.

The Tigers didn't get past midfield on their own until midway through the third quarter. Their strategy of stretching Mississippi State horizontally with screen passes seemed misguided just as soon as they started throwing them. They need to unleash quarterback Seth Henigan sooner.

For their sake, hopefully this can eventually be chalked up to facing a veteran Mississippi State defense that also held them to a season-low in yards last year. But the Memphis offense, once among the most mighty and feared in the entire country, has been an afterthought too often of late. It was again Saturday until the game was out of hand.

What exactly is the formula for success moving forward if the Tigers can't rely on a high-scoring, big-play offense like they did under Fuente and Mike Norvell? It's a question nobody at Memphis should want answered.

Certainly not after what the defense showed Saturday.

The unit looked small on the defensive line and slow on the back end, giving up 450 passing yards That's probably to be expected to a certain extent against Mississippi State's Air Raid offense.

But it’ll be concerning until the Tigers can prove otherwise, particularly since a lack of pressure and a lack of difference-makers in the secondary contributed to many of this team’s defensive problems a year ago.

Could've been worse

The Tigers showed just enough late. Too late to even come close to threatening Mississippi State. But given the stakes attached to next week's trip to Navy, when Memphis will be looking to avoid an 0-2 record for the first time since Fuente’s second season, they badly needed something positive to happen.

But Memphis did force two turnovers. The Tigers mustered three touchdown drives after halftime. Their new placekicker hit a 42-yard attempt. They didn't totally wilt.

They just got more cowbell when they could've used more lightning.

It was bad, but could've been worse.

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 loss at Mississippi State bad enough to make you worry