Memphis — American Athletic
HC
Charles Huff · Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium · Memphis, TN · 58,325 cap
PPA off / def
0.25 / 0.17
2025
Class rank
#72
class of 2026
Returning PPA
6%
returning production
2026 schedule
| Wk | Opponent | All-time series | Venue |
|---|
| wk1 | vs Arkansas State | leads 19–8–3 · W5 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
| wk1 | at UNLV | | Allegiant Stadium |
| wk2 | at Boise State | leads 1–0 | Albertsons Stadium |
| wk3 | vs UT Martin | leads 2–1 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
| wk5 | at Charlotte | leads 2–0 · W2 | Jerry Richardson Stadium |
| wk6 | vs UAB | UAB leads 11–7 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
| wk7 | at Tulane | leads 25–15–1 | Yulman Stadium |
| wk8 | vs East Carolina | East Carolina leads 18–8 · L3 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
| wk9 | vs Army | leads 4–1 · W4 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
| wk11 | at South Florida | leads 10–4 · W5 | Raymond James Stadium |
| wk12 | at Navy | leads 6–5 · L2 | Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium |
| wk13 | vs Temple | leads 5–4 · W2 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium |
2025 results (8–5)
Statistical comps — 2025 Memphis's closest analogs
Nearest neighbors by z-scored success rate, explosiveness, run rate & havoc (offense + defense), 2015–25.
2025 leaders
Transfer portal — 2026 (51 in / 47 out)
Origins
Williams ran for 6,026 yards and made Memphis worth watching. The 2019 team beat two ranked opponents and won the AAC, and the program has spent a decade auditioning for a power conference.
Founded 1912 · West Tennessee State Normal School, created to train teachers · first football 1912 · defined by DeAngelo Williams
All-time record
All-time
379–398–9
1921–2025
Win %
48.8%
83 seasons played
Winning seasons
35
42% of seasons
By level: ii/iii 2–20–1 (1921–1954) · FBS 377–378–8 (1955–2025)
| Best seasons | W | L | Conference |
|---|
| 2019 | 12 | 2 | American Athletic |
| 2024 | 11 | 2 | American Athletic |
| 2023 | 10 | 3 | American Athletic |
| 2017 | 10 | 3 | American Athletic |
| 2014 | 10 | 3 | American Athletic |
Season records from CollegeFootballData, which is why the span starts at 1921 — that is where its coverage of this program begins, not necessarily the first year it fielded a team.
Play-calling tendencies (2025 · garbage time excluded)
| Situation | Plays | Run % | Success % | Nat'l | Avg yds | Expl % |
|---|
| 1st down | 369 | 57% |
43% | 74 of 136 | 6.2 | 12% |
| 2nd down | 273 | 43% |
48% | 15 of 136 | 6.5 | 12% |
| 3rd & short (≤3) | 42 | 83% |
69% | — | 8.5 | 19% |
| 3rd & medium (4–7) | 44 | 23% |
36% | — | 5.7 | 14% |
| 3rd & long (8+) | 64 | 16% |
27% | — | 6.8 | 20% |
| 4th down | 23 | 48% |
61% | — | 4.1 | 9% |
154 drives · 39% ended in points · 7.2 plays and 43.2 yards per drive · 1.39 PPA per drive
Success: 50% of yardage needed on 1st, 70% on 2nd, 100% on 3rd/4th. Explosive: 12+ yd rush / 16+ yd pass. National rank is shown only for 1st and 2nd down, where every team has 100+ plays; the later buckets average 18-43 and a rank there would be noise.
League leaderboard →Most valuable plays (by PPA, 2025)
| Wk | Opp | Play | Yds | PPA |
|---|
| 5 | Florida Atlantic |
Greg Desrosiers Jr. run for 90 yds for a TD (Gianni Spetic KICK) |
90 | 6.96 |
| 12 | East Carolina |
(05:42) Shotgun #5 S.Smith rush right for 84 yards gain to the ECU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 05:3… |
84 | 6.58 |
| 5 | Florida Atlantic |
Brendon Lewis pass complete to Cortez Braham Jr. for 73 yds for a TD (Gianni Spetic KICK) |
73 | 6.53 |
| 4 | Arkansas |
Sutton Smith run for 64 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed) |
64 | 6.11 |
| 11 | Tulane |
(10:47) Shotgun #2 B.Lewis pass complete deep middle to #9 J.Hawkins caught at TUL12, for … |
55 | 5.94 |
| 10 | Rice |
End of 2nd quarter. |
52 | 4.42 |
| 11 | Tulane |
(10:09) Shotgun #2 B.Lewis pass complete deep right to #4 C.Braham Jr. caught at TUL27, fo… |
32 | 4.04 |
| 14 | Navy |
(01:48) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 B.Lewis pass complete deep right to #4 C.Braham Jr. caught at… |
38 | 3.88 |