The day after he turned the ball over five times in Memphis football's dispiriting loss to Tulane, quarterback Marcus Stokes was watching football by himself when something clicked.
So he organized a players-only meeting for the Tigers' offense.
"I told the offense that I took sole responsibility, whether they liked it or not," Stokes said. "I didn't really care what they thought. I wanted to put it in perspective to them how important it is just doing your 1/11th. The coaches say it, and it's like when you're a kid and the adults say things over and over again, it starts to become white noise at some point. And (offensive coordinator Kevin Decker) explained that to us. And I feel like that's what we have to get back to."
Stokes tossed three interceptions
and lost two fumbles in the 31-17 loss to the Green Wave on Oct. 16. The West Florida transfer had been playing well for Memphis (5-2, 2-1 American Conference) all season and had not turned the ball over much, but the Tulane game was a disaster for Memphis' offense throughout the 60 minutes.
Even though there were other issues on offense, Stokes made it clear that he took responsibility for all the mistakes.
"I took the sole responsibility of the reason of why the offense played like it did," Stokes said. "I guess it's just the competitor in me. When stuff wasn't going our way, I felt like I needed to do more. And in the process of doing more, I actually did less. And my own competitiveness can be my worst enemy sometimes. I love my competitiveness, and I hate it sometimes."
Memphis coach Charles Huff said he didn't think about pulling Stokes in favor of backup Air Noland, echoing his comments from the summer about wanting his starting quarterback to feel confident and not have to look over his shoulder when he makes a mistake.
But he also said he told Stokes that he needs to play better.
"As the competitor in me, we believe in you," Huff said. "That's why we left you in the game. But as the organizational head coach, if any other position had that many mistakes, we would have to look at rotating or changing a player or changing plays."
Memphis has a short week ahead of a matchup with East Carolina (3-3, 1-1) on Oct. 22 (6:30 p.m. CT, ESPN2). Stokes is ready to get back out there.
"I know I can't play like that," he said.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Why QB Marcus Stokes called players-only meeting for Memphis offense after loss to Tulane
