The American Conference championship race is as crowded as ever, and for the first time since 2021, the team that emerges on top has a legitimate shot to qualify for the College Football Playoff. One program
in the thick of the heated race is the Memphis Tigers, which sport an 8-1 record, a 4-1 conference standing, and a No. 22 rank in the AP Poll heading into their final quarter of the regular season.
Memphis likely controls its own destiny for a CFP bid, but a challenging matchup awaits as fellow American contender Tulane pays a visit Friday night. The previous Friday night on Oct. 31, Memphis housed Rice in 38-14 fashion, but early in the fourth quarter, the fanbase collectively gasped when quarterback Brendon Lewis exited the game with a lower-body injury with under 12 minutes remaining, limping off the field.
This wasn’t Lewis’ first experience with a lower-body injury this year, also exiting the UAB game on Oct. 18 with a limp. However, the quarterback returned seven days later to start and spearhead a signature win over a ranked South Florida team, erasing a 14-point fourth quarter deficit thanks to a career-high 307 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Less than two full weeks after limping in Birmingham, Lewis’ mobility returned to full form, leading the Tigers with 87 rushing yards at Rice in a stellar outing.
Memphis head coach Ryan Silverfield provided an update earlier in the week on Lewis’ status for the upcoming home matchup vs. the Green Wave.
“We’re gonna have to wait and see,” Silverfield said in a local media availability Sunday. “We’ll probably get more answers from doctors as the week progresses, especially early this week.”
One day later, a positive update was provided by offensive coordinator Tim Cramsey, as Lewis practiced Monday — less than 72 hours after leaving the Rice game with the injury.
“B-Lew is great, had a great practice today,” Cramsey said in a local media availability Monday. “We just gotta get him dialed in on this gameplan that we’re doing. It’s a little bit different style defense from some other teams. We just got to get him dialed in, but he had a really good practice today.”
Signs are pointing toward Lewis remaining in the lineup based on Cramsey’s comments. But if Memphis needs to utilize a backup quarterback at any point, who gets the nod? The Tigers have shifted between backup quarterbacks this year, utilizing redshirt freshman Arrington Maiden in some instances and true freshman AJ Hill in another.
“Both are capable, and I’ve told everybody the future’s very, very bright at the quarterback position,” Silverfield said postgame Friday night. “It’s unique because they have such a great relationship. They’ve got inside jokes. They’re as close as can be, and I appreciate that. Because this day and age in college football, you don’t find that at a lot of positions, especially quarterback. So they feed off each other, trust each other, try to help each other.”
When Lewis’ helmet came off before a game-deciding 3rd and 8 vs. Arkansas in Week 4, forcing him to take the sideline, Maiden entered the contest and provided a game-sealing first down by churning his legs through a pile of Razorback tacklers. However, when Lewis suffered an injury in Week 8 at UAB, Hill provided relief duties, finishing 13-of-25 with 175 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in his lone appearance of the season. But Friday night at Rice when Lewis exited, Maiden reverted to the backup role for the final 11 minutes of action. So how does Silverfield decide which quarterback is the true No. 2 behind Lewis?
“We’re gonna be smart with AJ Hill if we have the opportunity to save a redshirt just like we were with Arrington,” Silverfield said Friday. “Arrington’s a redshirt freshman, and next year he’ll be a redshirt sophomore. Next year AJ Hill will be a redshirt freshman. That’s part of it going into that thought process. I feel very, very comfortable with either of them going into the game based off of situations. We’ve kind of discussed how the week goes — if one has a significantly better week of practice and preparation, that’s who we’ll end up playing. But at this given situation, we felt like it was time for Arrington to go in.”
Still, if available, the dual-threat Lewis — who already has the most rushing yards by a Memphis quarterback since 1990 — should get the nod, equipped with 44 games of collegiate starting experience dating back to his days at Colorado and Nevada. The quarterback has not missed a single start this year and looks to continue his quest to becoming the first Memphis signal caller to lead the Tigers to an American championship since 2019.
