| Big man on campus |
| DeAngelo Williams, who made numerous appearances in this category throughout his career, stepped back into it one last time. Williams rushed for 233 yards -- his ninth career 200-yard game -- and scored three touchdowns to lead the Tigers. His 67-yard run to the Akron 2 was textbook Williams, churning and slashing while answering a big-play score by the Zips early in the fourth. |
| The game changer |
| After Akron had scored on a 72-yard pass play from Luke Getsy to running back Brett Biggs to cut the Tiger lead to 23-17 early in the fourth quarter, DeAngelo Williams responded immediately with the kind of run that marked his spectacular career. On first-and-10 from the Memphis 31, Williams darted and dashed 67 yards to the Akron 2 and scored on the following snap, his third touchdown of the game. Quarterback Maurice Avery's conversion run made it 31-17 with 10:41 to go. |
| Upon further review |
| Williams' powerful 2-yard run, in which he carried two defensive linemen to the goal line, was reviewed, but officials ruled the TD stood. |
| The rundown |
| DeAngelo Williams as MVP was an easy enough call, but his contributions might not have mattered without the magnificent performance of the Tiger special teams, especially the kicking game. |
| First there was kicker Stephen Gostkowski, himself one of the all-time Tiger greats, booting three field goals, including a soaring 50-yarder, and six touchbacks on kickoffs. |
| Then there was his holder, punter Michael Gibson, averaging 47.8 yards on four punts, three of them inside the 20 (two inside the 10). Even quarterback Maurice Avery got in on the act, quick-punting to inside the Akron 5. |
| "It was great to hit that 50-yarder, but even better to be a part of this football team in a winning effort," Gostkowski said. |
| • • |
| Speaking of Avery, the receiver-turned-QB should have been wearing a leather helmet with no facemask, the way he played all-round football. |
| He hit long passes, intermediate passes and ran with authority. He waylaid an Akron defender with a block for his buddy DeAngelo Williams. He broke up a pass from a receiver on a gadget play. And then there was the punt. |
| If it was 1953, he'd be a Top 10 pick in the NFL draft. |
| • • |
| DeAngelo Williams ended his record-setting Tiger career by setting the NCAA mark for most 100-yard rushing games. |
| With his 18-yard run late in the fourth quarter -- on a first-and-10 from near midfield -- he passed former Heisman Trophy winners Archie Griffin and Tony Dorsett, who had 33 100-yard games each. |
| For Williams, it represented his 10th straight 100-yard game of the season. The only game in which he played and didn't rush for 100 this season came in the opener against Ole Miss. |
| • • |
| In the game, Williams also became the fourth player in NCAA history to surpass 6,000 career rushing yards. His 233 yards gave him a career total of 6,021. |
| • • |
| Blake Whiddon, a member of the Tigers special teams, was injured on a first-quarter kickoff return by Joe Doss and carried off the field. |
| Whiddon injured his left ankle after he was struck from behind at the end of the play by Doss, who was pushed by an Akron player. He did not return. |
| Also in the first half, Tiger defensive back Wesley Smith, a first-team All-Conference USA selection, had a mild concussion diagnosed and did not return. Smith watched the second half from the sideline. Former Germantown High standout Brandon Patterson took his place. |
| • • |
| Although it wasn't officially reviewed, the Pac-10 crew changed a first-half call after watching replays on one of two big video screens. The crew incorrectly whistled Akron receiver Jason Montgomery for a personal foul after he was pushed from behind by Memphis defensive back Jamaal Rufus at the end of a short pass play. After several replays and a chorus of boos from the Akron fans, the officials whistled Rufus for the personal foul. |
| • • |
| There wasn't a Motor City Bowl category for Best Block Thrown By a Quarterback, but if there had been, the UofM's Maurice Avery would have been a runaway winner. |
| On a first-and-10 play from the Akron 23 midway in the second quarter, DeAngelo Williams took a handoff, reversed his field and set up Avery for a head-snapping block of Akron defensive back John Mackey. |
| • • |
| With the UofM's victory, Conference USA upped its postseason record to 2-3. C-USA placed six teams in the postseason. Southern Miss, which beat Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl, had owned the lone victory. |
| UTEP lost to Toledo, also of the Mid-American Conference, in the GMAC Bowl, Houston lost to Kansas in the Fort Worth Bowl and Central Florida dropped an overtime decision to Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl. |
| • • |
| U of M officials estimated that 3,000 officials, cheerleaders and fans made the trip to Detroit for Monday's game. |
| Not all of that group, however, bought tickets through the Tiger athletic office. UofM athletic director R.C. Johnson said the school needed to sell about 3,000 tickets to break even. He said the school sold more than 2,200 of its allotment of 9,600. |
| Akron, about a 31/2 -hour drive from Detroit, sold out its 9,600 allotment and an additional 250 tickets. |
| • • |
| The Motor City Bowl sold 50,616 tickets and a crowd of 45,801 attended. The bowl's executive director, Ken Hoffman, termed the game a success. |
| ''It was our third-highest crowd in history,'' Hoffman said. ''It was very positive. It was a good day, a great day and one of our top crowds overall.'' |
| The record for ticket sales is the 52,552 sold to last year's game between Toledo and Connecticut. The game surpassed 50,000 in tickets sales for the third straight year. |
| Yappin' |
| ''I was nervous. I didn't want to be the only coach in the country to get a Gatorade bath and lose the game.'' Tiger coach Tommy West, whose team gave up 14 points in the final three minutes after he'd been dumped with a Gatorade bucket. |
| -- Phil Stukenborg and Zack McMillin |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Go Figure |
| 23-5 |
| Memphis' record under coach Tommy West when scoring 30 or more points. |
| 3:43 |
| The time of possession for Memphis in the opening quarter, one in which the Tigers managed but 46 yards. |
| 470 |
| The number of yards the Tigers gained in the second, third and fourth quarters. |
| 59 |
| The number of pass attempts, a Motor City Bowl record, by Akron quarterback Luke Getsy |