| Held to a 6-6 halftime tie by a battling bunch of Buccaneers, Memphis shook off the effects of the biting cold and punched across three touchdowns in the third period for the margin of victory. |
| Light snow flurries fell during the early part of the game and again near the end. East Tennessee State scored first as quarterback Howard Tippett passed 14 yards to halfback Bob Lindsey climaxing an 80-yard drive. |
| Before the Buccaneers could score again, Memphis rang up 32 unanswered points. But only six of those came in the first half, when Bob Schmidt cracked over from two yards out late in the first quarter. |
| Memphis penetrated several times in the second quarter once losing the ball on the East Tennessee State 1-yard line on a fumble. But it was not until the second half that the Tigers found themselves. |
| The first time Memphis received the ball in the third quarter, fullback Bobby Brooks sprinted right up the middle, veered to the left and went 45 yards for a touchdown. And before that decisive period ended, the Tigers also scored on a one-yard plunge by Eddie Gebara and a 64-yard screen pass from Bubba Leonard to Gebara. |
| Andy Nelson took a pitchout four yards for the final Memphis touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth period. Leonard converted after the third and fourth touchdowns. |
| East Tennessee's last touchdown came midway in the fourth period when quarterback Joe Dixon ran in from 1-yard out. |
| The Tigers ended the season with a 5-4-1 record, while East Tennessee State dropped to 4-5 on the season. |