| Shawn Schacht slowly made his way through the mob of Tiger fans at Jillian's Restaurant Tuesday night, proudly shaking the hand of any person within reach. |
| "This is great, isn't it?" Schacht asks, moving on to the next person. Schacht didn't care that all his friends were partying in New Orleans. He didn't care that he hadn't made the trip because of work. |
| Winning had made it all OK. |
| "I was a band member from 1996 to 1998, so I suffered through some heartbreaking losses with these guys," said Schacht, 28. "But this? This is great." |
| Schacht was one of about 400 or so Memphis football fans packed into Jillian's Tuesday night to see the Tigers in their first bowl game in 32 years. |
| And when it was over, and the Jillian's crowd had lovingly watched Memphis coach Tommy West get bathed in Gatorade by his players, a collective "Whoooooohooooo!" ripped through the restaurant. |
| "Goooooo Tigers!" shouted someone on the far side of the room. "I can't believe we won!" answered another. |
| Thirty-two years of waiting was finally over, but it hadn't been a breeze to watch. |
| Earlier in the night a capacity crowd at the Fox and Hound in East Memphis had been silenced late in the third quarter when North Texas's Patrick Cobbs burst through the Memphis defense for a 35-yard score to help pull the Mean Green within a touchdown. |
| "Thanks a lot, Coot!" one fan exclaimed, harping on a missed interception by Tiger linebacker Coot Terry just before Cobbs's score. |
| "Here we go again," said another. |
| Fox and Hound manager Rob Meyer had no predictions. He was more concerned with whether his staff of 30 could handle a still-swelling crowd. |
| "I have no idea how many people we have here," Meyer said. "But we were pretty prepared for it." |
| They were similarly prepared at Gill's Bar and Grill on Highland near the U of M campus. |
| Owner Scott Gill pumped the Tiger fight song through the restaurant each time Memphis scored Tuesday. |
| "They're looking very good," Gill says midway through the second quarter. |
| "I was kind of scared of them going down there to New Orleans in their first bowl game and having too much of a good time, but they're doing a great job." |
| A few minutes later Tiger quarterback Danny Wimprine throws a 10-yard strike to receiver Chris Kelley in the end zone for a 14-3 lead, and Gill's rocked again. |
| "Go Tigers, go!" the crowd sings in unison to Memphis's fight song. |
| But it was far from over. |
| Two quarters later at Jillian's, the crowd is hushed again when Cobbs drives in from two yards out to pull North Texas within a touchdown. |
| Expletives ring out. Heads drop. |
| "We've got to score on our next possession," one man tells his buddy at the bar. |
| Then it happens. |
| A 43-yard, 11-play drive to the North Texas 25 sets up Tiger kicker Stephen Gostkowski's 42-yard field goal. |
| The crowd rises to its feet and Gostkowski's kick sales through the uprights with 2:26 left. |
| Schacht begins his round of handshakes. |
| - Jason Smith: 529-5804 |