Three Trap Games on the Memphis Football Schedule

They’re on every college and professional sports schedule. Fans, players, and coaches alike try not to over-analyze them, but at the same time, these games can’t be taken for granted. They make for some of the best college football memories or greatest heartaches each season. It is the infamous trap game.

One platform defines the trap game as “when a stronger opponent overlooks a weaker opponent and the weaker opponent overcomes adversity, potentially winning the game.” The trap game has given us Appalachian State versus Michigan, Georgia State versus Tennessee, and Marshall versus Notre Dame. Tiger fans know as well as anyone the highs being the victorious underdog brings; but too, you want to do all you can to avoid being “Goliath” in these situations.

What sneaky-difficult games should Memphis watch for this upcoming season? Here are three matchups in which the Tigers better come prepared.

at UAB (October 21)

The Battle of the Bones returns for the first time since 2012, and while we’ve yet to even see the first game of the Trent Dilfer era, the Blazers will undoubtedly have the game against Memphis circled on their calendar. In what’s already been dubbed by UAB athletics as “the most highly anticipated home game of the season”, Ryan Silverfield and staff will have to keep the Tigers amped following their toughest slate of the year against Missouri, Boise State, and Tulane. In 2022, the Blazers ranked 8th nationally in rushing offense behind the RB duo of DeWayne McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. With McBride now in the NFL, UAB will look to Brown Jr. as the lead back in 2023. He’s been named a Preseason First-Team All-Conference selection by PFF, Phil Steele, and Athlon Sports, as well as a watchlist nominee for the Doak Walker and Maxwell Awards. In 2019, Dilfer took over a 2-9 Lipscomb Academy team and led the Mustangs to an undefeated state championship season by 2022. Regardless of how the college football jump goes for Dilfer, Protective Stadium will be rocking when the Tigers come to town in Week 8.

at North Texas (October 28)

The Tigers know quite well what the Mean Green are capable of. In 2022, the North Texas defense frustrated the Memphis offense most of the day, limiting Seth Henigan to a 29.4 QB rating. While a mutli-touchdown effort by Tiger defense kept the Mean Green at arms length throughout the game, first-year head coach Eric Morris would do well to remind his team just how close they were to toppling the Tigers a season ago. Led by Southern Miss QB transfer Chandler Rogers, the Mean Green will probably look to air it out most of the year. While they lost their best offensive weapon from 2022 in TE Var’Keyes Gumms, the Mean Green return a solid stable of running backs in Ayo Adeyi, Ikaika Ragsdale, and Oscar Adaway III. North Texas HC Eric Morris spent one season as Washington State’s OC prior to making the jump to North Texas. The former Texas Tech QB went 24-18 as Incarnate Word’s HC from 2018 to 2021.

at Temple (November 25)

All Tigers fans should know why this has trap game potential. Since the formation of the American Athletic Conference in 2013, the Tigers are 1-3 at Lincoln Financial Field. From debating whether “Joey caught it” in 2019 to the epic meltdown to the Owls in 2021, Philadelphia hasn’t been a particularly friendly place for the Tigers. After trailing the Owls at halftime in 2022, the Tigers roared late to soundly defeat then first-year HC Stan Drayton’s squad. While they finished a lowly 3-9 last season, the Owls lost by a single possession in five of those games. Temple QB E.J. Warner returns for his second season after ending the year as the AAC Rookie of the Year in 2022. With the Tigers hopefully being in conference championship contention coming into this game, they’ll need to avoid yet another slip-up to the pesky Owls.

The big-name games against Missouri, Boise State, Tulane, and SMU will get all the attention from the fanbase and national media, but the Tigers must take care of the trap games for the big matchups to truly matter. With every mentioned trap game being away from Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis will also need to improve their performance on the road. The Tigers are 3-11 in true away games in the Ryan Silverfield era.