Marcus Stokes Throws Four Touchdowns as Memphis Rolls UT Martin
Four touchdown passes, 26 completions on 32 attempts, and Memphis was never in danger. Marcus Stokes threw for 258 yards, and the Tigers beat UT Martin 45-21 to move to 3-1. The Skyhawks fell to 0-2.
Memphis scored first on a 30-yard field goal and never gave the lead back. Stokes then found Tychaun Chapman from 26 yards late in the first quarter, Jaylin Carter from 17 early in the second, Jonathan Harding from 9 just before halftime, and Hunter Tipton from 7 to open the third. That made it 31-7 heading into the fourth, and UT Martin's only first-half answer was Tate Surber's 8-yard pass to Makhia Sherrard.
The ground game did the rest of the damage. Memphis ran 40 times for 299 yards and finished with 572 total yards, 273 of them through the air. The one blemish was an interception, thrown by backup Air Noland, who also managed a 3-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Joseph in the fourth. (A quarterback who throws a pick and a touchdown on three attempts is having an interesting day.)
UT Martin did not go quietly. Surber hit Kaleb Washington for 7 yards early in the fourth quarter and Tommy Ansley added a 1-yard run, so the Skyhawks scored twice in the final period. It was not enough, and Jordan Thompson punched in a 1-yard score with 36 seconds left to put the margin where it ended.
For fantasy purposes, this was a Stokes afternoon with 34.5 points, a season high, and Thompson was a surprise second at 17 points on six carries. Anyone who started a Memphis pass catcher got something; the touchdowns were spread across five different receivers.