Sophomore Desmond Ridder is expected to start at quarterback. He missed the regular-season finale between the schools due to an injured throwing shoulder. In 11 games this season, the right-hander completed 56.2 percent of his passes and threw for 1,836 yards to go with 17 touchdowns. He’s also added 432 yards rushing.<\/p>\n
Coach Luke Fickell said at an AAC press conference Friday it may end up becoming a game-time decision on Ridder, who was the conference’s top freshman last season.<\/p>\n
I got a lot of respect for him,\u201d Fickell said of Ridder. \u201cI think we respect him enough that he\u2019ll be honest with us, and then we have to evaluate it as well, even in warm-ups.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Should Ridder be unable to go, Ben Bryant would get the call. Bryant went 20-of-32 for 229 yards while accounting for two scores (one rushing, one passing). But he had three costly turnovers in the second half that kept the Bearcats from keeping up with Memphis.<\/p>\n
The Tigers, meanwhile, have no questions about their signal caller coming into Saturday. They\u2019ll be led by Brady White, a Manning Award finalist who has thrown for 3,307 yards and 32 touchdowns while completing 219-of-330 passes (66.4 percent).<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s played at a high level this year, I think he\u2019s one of the best quarterbacks in the country,” Memphis coach Mike Norvell told reporters Friday. “You look at what he\u2019s done to lead this team, the way he\u2019s developed in the consistency, the way he\u2019s been able to push the ball down the field, making the right decisions, protecting the football.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It won\u2019t quite be d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu on Saturday afternoon in Memphis when the Tigers host Cincinnati for the American Athletic Conference (AAC) championship. The two teams will be playing each other in the same location for the second time in eight days. The host Tigers beat the Bearcats 34-24 on Nov. 29 at the Liberty […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":121729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Favored Memphis Faces Familiar Foe in Cincinnati for AAC Championship<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n