Memphis football's present and future: 3 takeaways from the Tigers' spring game

“Necessary” and “critical” were the words Laird Veatch chose Friday.

The day before the Memphis football program wrapped up spring camp with “Friday Night Stripes” at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Tennessee’s General Assembly officially breathed new life into the university. On Thursday, it approved Gov. Bill Lee’s budget for fiscal year 2024, which includes $350 million set aside for the City of Memphis’ large-scale renovation project for several publicly owned stadiums. On Friday, the General Assembly also passed a series of tax increases that is expected to generate another $300-plus million that will go toward the same project.

How much of the total will go toward each facility (FedExForum, Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, AutoZone Park and a proposed soccer only venue that would serve as the permanent home for Memphis 901 FC) is still to be determined. But that’s another benchmark for another day. For Veatch and for the Tigers, finally crossing this week’s threshold could be monumental for an athletic department striving to advance in the great conference affiliation race.

“It’s not just that we need to look like we belong, but it’s also about the message this sends,” said Veatch. “That we have the capacity, the commitment and the people here that care to invest those kinds of dollars in our football program.”

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In terms of actual football, coach Ryan Silverfield split the spring roster in half and gave Tigers fans a show under the lights. The Blue team defeated the Gray team 13-10 in what was a controlled intrasquad scrimmage that lasted two quarters and included a series of untimed plays.

Here are three highlights from everything that was said and done at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Friday.

‘The last piece’

The approval of the state’s budget, in Veatch’s mind, checks the last box on the list of obstacles keeping the school from elevating itself into a league more attractive than the AAC.

The University of Memphis has spent years creating established success in multiple sports, including football, which is the only Group of Five program to have made a bowl game in each of the last nine years. Memphis’ men’s basketball program is one of only three in the country to win at least 18 games in each of the last 23 seasons. The school recently achieved Carnegie R1 status, a prestigious achievement that designates Memphis as a top-tier research university.

The only thing left, in Veatch’s mind, was demonstrating to Power 5 conference officials a commitment to football.

“One of the reasons I’m so bullish about our potential opportunities moving forward is because, in many ways, it is sort of the last piece that we feel like we can bring to the table,” he said. “When I’m out there talking to other athletic directors or conference folks or president (Bill) Hardgrave is talking to his folks, this is one of the last big pieces that those kinds of folks are looking for.”

Construction is set to begin following the 2023 season and is expected to conclude before the 2025 season.

Explosiveness

The offensive highlight of the spring game belonged to quarterback Tevin Carter and receiver DeMeer Blankumsee.

Carter, the homegrown product and backup to starter Seth Henigan, hooked up with Blankumsee, the Toledo transfer, on a 70-yard touchdown pass that gave the Gray team a 10-7 lead it held until the latter stages of the scrimmage.

Blankumsee has emerged this spring as a potential go-to playmaker for a receiving corps that needed a shot in the arm after the 2022 season, which saw former Tiger tight end Caden Prieskorn lead the team in yards.

“He was one of those guys that you bring in from the transfer portal and you’ve seen what he’s capable of on tape,” Silverfield said of Blankumsee. “But I think it’s unique for the fans to see. I can talk about it all I want. But if it doesn’t show up on the field, it doesn’t matter.

“So, that was a flash of hopefully things to come for him this season.”

Narrowing down the backfield

Friday’s spring game didn’t necessarily reveal much about the Tigers’ plans at running back for the 2023 season.

Brandon Thomas missed all of spring camp recovering from an injury that ended his 2022 season early. Old Dominion transfer Blake Watson did not participate either due to injury.

Jeyvon Ducker, Sutton Smith and Ke’Travion “Bull” Hargrove showed flashes of ability throughout spring, up to and including Friday. Which pleased Silverfield. But he’s hoping to narrow things down by the fall.

“We’ve said all along, really the last tow years, our running game hasn’t been what we’ve wanted,” he said. “We don’t want to be running back-by-committee. We’re gonna be much more productive at the running back position. We just gotta find our two-to-three guys that we can really hang our hat on and move forward with the season.”

Reach sports writer Jason Munz at jason.munz@commercialappeal.com or on Twitter @munzly.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis' present and future: 3 takeaways from Tigers' spring game